The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-10-04
ENGLISH TRIBUTE
TO AMERICANS

An Associated Press letter from
Howden, England, says: High tribute
to the courage and loyalty of the Am
orleans who lost their lives in the
RI disaster at Hull is paid in an ar
ticle of appreciation by DIR. James
Milne Hermon, medical officer of the.
Hessle district, near here. DR.. Her
mons appreciation. in part, follows:
"As an eyewitness of the tragic
end of the ZR-2, and as one who was
well acquainted with the United
States airship staff at Howden, may /
be permitted to render tribute to the
memory of the splendid men who lost
their lives in that Inflated ship, and
in doing this / am recording the SEN
t;ments of many of my friends in the
rural area between Hull and Howden
where these men were most intimate
ly known.
"When the Americans first came to
Howden, we welcomed them with open
arms, and I have no hesitation in
saying that though Howden must
now, forever, be associated with SAD
and bitter memories, we did our best
to give them all good time and make
them happy and, until the fateful day,
they were happy and enjoying Eng
land and English life.
''They were here for a long time
and all of the senior officers who were
married had been fortunate in obtain
ing houses in which they could live
with their wives and families, and
when duty was over, they had golf of
the best, tennis at any number of pri-
vate houses and dances till they must
have been tired of them. And yet they
never seemed tired.
"Their enthusiasm and energy were
only equalled by their skill and their
delightful gallantry and it was gen
orally acknowledged by the ladies
that the Americans were the best
dancers and the incest men they had
ever met
eve were much interested, and
many times amused, by their quaint
phraseology and found them all the
more delightful for what was charac-
teristic of them all, their direct SIM
pie earnestness and transparent hon.
esty.
"They were manly men, free from
all side and affection, physically very
fit, and most of them good looking.
We sometimes wondered if we were
right in regarding them as the pick
o. the navy, in all probability they
were, and certainly they were lot of
men of whom the proudest nation in
the world might well be proud.
"They were all very keen on their
work. 1t was a great joy to get one
or two of them talking about flying
and about the ships and they loved to
find man who was really interested
in what they were doing, and who
would, as it were, cross-examine them
about their work and discuss the in
situations and life of their own coun-
try.
"We saw them many times aloft in
their earlier flying craft and many
times waved to them knowing well
they could not see US and we began to
feel sorry that the time was fast ap-
preaching when their own new ship
would come and bear them away for
good.
"And then at last the new ship
came, most of the wives went home
and arrangements for a final depar-
ture and general clearing up of the
station were pushed forward
81 was in fairly close touch with
two or three. They had been many
times guests at my house and had
the greatest admiration and regard
for them but as the ship neared COM
pletion and they We're almost con-
stantlv on duty at the station I had
not such frequent opportunities of
conversation. l am not in a position
to say what they really felt about the