The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-11-05

Of Champs and oe E1xrusncux1zza Axij American general con1maztd9r4n-i chief of your armies. appeared for the first time upon our front-
 One year later. the trenches to the north of Verdun between Mouse aud
 Argonne, which the French had con-
 anered. were corAdcd on the 22nd of troops fresh from their victory ill the St Mihiel Salient It was from these very trenches that the aatask three army corps of General Eu]fasd, General Liggett and General Gamer on and under General Per5hinGss oun
 orders was tc be started. This "f- fensive was only to be concluded on the day or the arnlis1cc and before Sedan.
 salute in tto cerncte-y oe IsoEnasne.
 the heroic dead who participated in
 these actions, I hes tI:at ySEi VIII as- sociate with them in slI.. hoQmag5
 which you are about to render those American volunteers who came to
 swell ou franks before the hour had
 struck for your countTy's entry ;ato the great war.
 During the entire battle about Verdun, American ambuIarccs h1-
 vcrsed this perilows Territory, ad- lines One of your exam bassc dcrs % France. MT. Bacon, in the village of Esnes. not soc metres from the front himself brought first aid to our wounded. How many heroic
 aviators. from the Urited States, flew in these skies and now sleep Among gil the glorious names .n the history of the war that of Verdun has it's own particular lustre. Her Epio is the pride of our nation, for here it was that tn csons Of France
 gave proof of possessing resources of
 heroism&auahties of sacrifice, and If indon1f;abie will-wkich had hithcr- , to been unsuspected.
 The short distance which
 ated the citadel from the full brunt
 of the German effort, placed the de- were obliged to counter and stop short the most powerful enemy at tacks at the front itself; no room was givei to resist in depth forma- , meet the shock where the blow first [ fell. There was no possibility of l breaking our line, ike the oak we might not bend but we would not i, break. The efforts demanded of our :, soldiers were indeed superhuman, the , during that first phase. later on the . casualties became almost equally , heavy in the adverse camp. Under 1, circumstances like these, final victory
 could only be brought about by 6 constant and extraordinary effort of n will, on the part both of men and . officers.
 But when, on the 27th of February, f the word of command went forth e which was to remain effective during d the entire battle; Resist e the ere t. cost,'' the soldier had already pro it nounced his magic watch-word. Ills O ne passeront pas.'' Pass they shall # not! To keep such oath, re-
 markable qualities were needed, quail # ities which heretofore had never n been considered inherent either to ,z battle of Verdun proved that the t. French soldier who had always been k judged particularly apt and ardent IT for offensive warfare. wa scapable Of If the cool and obstinate endurance = which a defensive campaign entails. e What men were these whose ,e name has become proverbial? Who n succeeded in uniting military virtues e of so contradictory a nature They d were men who had already greatly d suffered, had enduring long months le of privations. of war and wounds. re the fact that each individual exist
 ence is as nought in the great sacri- ,e fee of the nation. In this hard y citation of the martyr whom a great f. ideal has touched and illumined; and Il this was the secret of their force. y Their faith partook of a profound of consciousness of the high destiny of d their country and they accepted their e, own personal sacrifice quite simply. of perhaps even with a touch of fatal ,e ism If the youthful enthusiasm of ve sthe early days was no longer in these le mems hearts it was more than made al up for by the stern hatred of the foe IS and a fierce pride in their own re- g. sistance This new psychology had
 made them what we have come to le call the "Poilus,' a modern edition 5: of the ''Grunblers'' of the "OId 1t Guard Cool. resolute, indifferent
 to danger. silent and deaf to the hor- ie TOTS about them, except in the crown Id ing moment of the flaming hand-to-
 hand.
 It The man who has seen these sol - diers at Verdun can never forget that A' sight. Ever pressing forward sue the assault which had but one end, r. they knew a seach division took the Tt way before Verdun that for them might have been :ef inscribed the words :; to They knew the fate awaiting them on the steep plateaux or in the dead t. ly ravine, where the internal com
 bat ceaselessly ragged. And the
 went to it, firm and silent. -ne t officer who pressed on before them Il without backward glance through 8 It of poison gas might perhaps turn a ,e moment to ask his men ''how goes
 it?'' the answer always came back to What were these defensive ram- Id parts where our poilus countered and d. broke the gigantic efforts of the ene- st my Nothing but a few half denol-
 ished trenches, crumbling shel1-holes 1e i'll connected one with another, cav nt ed-in communications ,dismantled
 battery emplacements, fragile earth
 works tirelessly repaired by the de- o. lenders in the midst of chaos, where a1 the ground was torn and tossed like ut the waves of tempestuous sea. 1n i- truth it was not to such defenses as S. these that France owed her security
 but to the hearts of those who were ve her bulwark.
 Who can express all that the word of ''hold'' implied at Nerdun? What
 treasures of moral force and super st human will such resistance proved
 There is no more ungrateful task than i'll that which consists in waiting like a fit rock under tn eenemy's pitiless fire )n holding fast to the ground that has
 become a shambles, mounting guard
 with broken musket, over the most ,h frightfu1 field that history has ever r. seen. But amid heap sof dead and