The Prescott daily news., 1921-04-08
History Of the M. c. Co.,, Sth Infantry
 Written by Lieutenant L. C. Dill
' Lieutenant L. (. Dill

 9 on the performance of its duty there l After a four day trip through France ; Luxembourg and part of Germany the company arrived with the head quarters of the regiment in Cobenz and slept on the train in the Coblenz-
 Lutzel R. R. yards on the night of July IS, 19l9.. The next day the
 train pulled out for Rolandseck, Ger
 many, a distance of 90 kilos north of
 Coblenz. Here they were billeted in
 a large hotel on the banks of the river
 Rhine and had real beds and home
 such as machine gunnerS deserve. Al
 though the duty here was fatigue
 (loading barges with Srd army artil- lery and transportation they liked the place better than any other they had been in and were very reluctant to leave for Fortress Ehrenbreitstein on August p. 1919. Just how we'll i little Rolandseck, Germany. was loved by machine gunnerS of the Sth, can be seen by glancing over the Sunday pass list.
 On August 10, 1919, all of the per sonnel of the original machine gun company, Sth Infantry, which sailed from Hoboken, N. J., in 1918, that were left, were Captain E. T. Harri- son. three non-commissioned officers | and one cook, the others having been | transferred to units of the lst Divl- sion, for transportation to the United States.
 When the company saw the big hill and gruesome looking fortress above the little town of Ehrepbreitstein, they were a very Respondent crowd, and with the news that they would be attached to another organization 9th M. c. Bn.) decided that their life henceforth would consist of hill climb ing, thick walls and fatigue. For while there was much work in clean ing up, scrubbing, scraping, painting and whitewashing. But everyone set to work in the 8th Infantry way, to make his home and his organization the best in the American forces in Germany. and they came not so very short on succeeding in their efforts.
 Full equipment with guns, mules and carts were drawn and the real | work began. Eighty per cent of the 1 company then were men of only three and four months service and with the exception of but few, knew little about machine guns and nothing of the new Browning.
 Work then began; drilling stripping nomenclature, mechanism, besides the other things that must be learned by the infantry soldier. But all took a strong interest and tried to learn. Being attached to another organiza- tion, instead of a hindrance soon proved a pleasure and a great help. The company was treated the same
 as the other companies of the bat talion s
 The motorized machine gunners
 would kid the mule skinners" and
 asked if they had blisters on their
 feet, but the mule skinners" came
 back with jolly jests about tourists"
 and "tin soldiers" All were buddies
 Soon every company on Ehrenbreit
 stein under the command of Col w.
 W. McGammon entered into a good ? natured rivalry among themselves, but imbued with the idea that we are . all machine gunners from Ehrenbreit- stein.
 Besides becoming good machine : gunners, the company took great in terest in all the activities in the A. 5 F. in G. Especially in athletics AL ways there were at least four com
 pany men on the post base ball team.
 six men on the post foot ball squad and the "skinners" captured prizes in | horse shows with carts and mules also crediting themselves in shoots ! with both machine guns and pistols 5 The company participated in all l the maneuvers of the 8th Infantry I and although it was wet at times and awful cold, the men, without a mur.
 mur, would keep up close to the in 7 fantry, though burdened with heavy