Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-11-21
An American Doughboy
In France
Nv ELLIOTT F. HOFFMAN
.fu;stor;a nof Alexandria Post, No.
"a, American Legion)
(For the Alexandria Gazette1
Meuse-A rgone Offensive

Our SO1Ourn at tniS iS's -
IN no sense a pleasenet one. II was
late in October and the nights were
,arv cold We had not received our
Winter oyerecoats and although we
s,ant with orr clothes on, even on
shnes we were far from comfortaole'
cleen;np as we were on the ground
with but one blanket each Tor cow -,
ing. Numbers of the boys chose ~ ~
sit ND all night by camp hres ra.n ..
than try to sleep under such u''eo''
Portable conditions. :.
We tried, enthusiastically, in TINS als-
comfort to count over our ,S 1Ies;l,s ~
three meals a day and no detall ~ 70
do We were having a chahge n ~
uo,,+;na # not a rest. These so-caIie9
auast ner;ods" were times that caileu
fo,. . Stout heart. Nothing to 60 Al
aov hnt TO sit around the ire III
uH and talk of home and loved
enes Time to read over and over
orein the latest home letters ana
time for gloomy forebodlngs; "3 Th =
we ever see that home again ihs
soldiers mind was "back home" "nen
,',a had time to think. You had onsv
- 500 the delight with which a paper
euo,n the States bearing any da'e'
however old, was welcomed, to Kho"
.hat with the soldiers it was Hom :,
AGAIN. home again, America Tor me.
One afternoon. after mess was w.,
tha several companies were llnea up
and we were informed that treat
was in store for US, we were to nave d
hath We hiked for some TWO "
threa miles to a bath house "hich
NOD been fitted up in hamlet near
Enr;mont Here we had our tirst PAIN
IN over two months. lncidehtaiis'
This was the first time we mao r.
movod our clothing in the same ionS
nar;o1 Il was great to have pam
80 more. but as clean clothing was
not obtainable the comfort was ohIs
nov 49, "Cooties" came back home
that night. r,ore
The meals in this rest area "e ere
substantial and plentiful. InaV IS ne We
could always get seconds on on 'l ns
awning "Slumgullion" stew. once OF
twice we even had sugar IN our COZ
fsa and occasionally butter was sei zen,
Oh although the gang. was never VIM
no. n concede that it was outter-
thew called it "axle grease. Al ,uas-
nar time. on one occasion, the mess
sergeant poured brownish substance
~ orr tin plates and produly an
,n,,nced hat it was candy! he eN-
nIa;ned that said candy had failed 10
barden-a whilly unnecessary eAPaa
nation. This delicacy which the ser
peant had so generously prosiueu'
failed to produce mucn enthusiast.
instead the shell fire of compliments
went something like this-"Hey, oerg.
wbcre did you get the soup! how GO
Won drink this candy-wlth Iunhei
and sponge?" "What you think our ~
.tmmmies' are made of-cast IRON ,
And the sergeant replied-(words de-
1a+ed nv the censor.) Yes, the rest
area was great place from the n!
standpoint of board, loding ana a'-
version! " NJ
q representative who was with our
battalion had gone to a distant Iomi'
for a supply Of chocolate y, COOKIES
cigarettes and chewing gum. we turll-
ed our attention to our nnahces ny
wav of preparation, which means that
most of us set out to borrow some
francs. for with long delayed pay
davs and the pittance they brought
hovs were usually dead broke. VI
co,rse. there were always 1e"
"financiers" and geniuses of the three
rnidan halls, from whom the price OF
. cigarette might be obtained by one
means or another Indeed. to md a
soldier who was not willing to help
comrade out Of financial straits
was indeed uncommon. On this oc-
casion recouping our finances dld no
GOOD for when the looked-for delect-
ables arrived and we fell in line to
purchase only a few doughboys cou!o
get any. Why? Officers Only: Or SO II
appeared from the method OF d'strl,
button. But we were not to be denleo
our sweets and smokes. Our chaplain
made q trip and brought to each man.
free of cost, several packs of cigar.
cites. four cigars and one bar OF
chocolate. A better friend the buck
private never had than that chaplain
-Robb. was his name. He seemed al
wavs to carry our troubles on his
heart. 1t was never too early in the
morning nor too late at night for Inn
to go out of his way to make our rug
ged path bit smoother. Every lncf
a man, was this brave, noble, conse
Grated chaplain of ours.
We had only 3S men in our com
pany and the other companies Were
equally depleted in man power. prac
tically every one was suffering from
one ailment or another and no on
thought, not even the officers, that W
would be again put back in the lin
but we were. On our last day a
the rest area we were supplied wit
overcoats, all excess equipment wa
turned in, teams were harnessed an
the battered remnants of the Rain
bow division infantry with the l49t
Field Artillery in the rear, starte
one cold November morning on it
last days of fighting-the advance o
Sedan