Phillips County herald., 1922-05-18
TO ERECT MONUMENTS IN
EUROPE WHERE AMERICAN
TROOPS WERE ENGAGED

TROOPS WERE ENGAGED
The President, at the request of the
secretary of war, has 'recommended
to congress legislation providing for
the creation of Battle Monuments
commission. The composition of the
proposed commission as recommend
ed is as follows: The secretary of
war, one United States senator, one
United States representative, gen.
eral Of the United States army, the
national commander OF the American
Legion, one army officer designated
by the secretary of war, who shall
act as the secretary of the commits
sion.
1t is proposed that this commission
shall have the specific duty Of erect
ing suitable memorials to commemo-
rate the services Of American forces
in France, Belgium and Italy. It is
intended that speciH' . onuments Of
artistic design will used to mark
the following places of unusual his
torical importance in come -'-i. with
the American Expeditionaly Forces:
Where the first American soldier was
killed in E rope; where first Ameri-
can soldier was wounded at tn front;
where German raid "a First Division
November 3. 1917, took place, during
which the first three Americr- sol.
diers were killed In action and the
first American prisoners were taken;
first sector held by an American divi-
sion acting as complete unit. Were
the 11th U. s. Engineers fought at
Cambria. after the British lines had
been broken and held the Germs1n
In check until the British and French
brought up reinf0rcements: sector
where the 9Th U. s. Engineers held
the Germans In check March Fl, 1918;
sectors marking the location of the
369th. 370th, 37lst, 372d Regiments
which were brigaded with the French
ftroops: spot near Casarsa. Italy,
where the 332d u. s. Infantry was
engaged.
In addition to these special monu-
ments, bronze tablets will be placed
marking certain buildings of interest
in connection with the American
forces in France. Outline map mon.
uments will be erected showing for
mer positions of American troops In
the battle sectors. These monuments
will be in the form Of relief maps and
will show In cclored enamel battle
front lines and numbers OF Ameri-
can troops engaged The face Of the
block toward the observer will show
the coat-of-arms Of the United States
and the words. United States of
America" will be cut In bronze.
The idea OF the relief mnp showing
the topography OF the immediate To-
cality is that person looking at the
map can look out over the ground
and pick out the places where thu
various forces fought and be able TO
trace what ground was either lost
or gained. This Is n new idea In
connection with battle monuments. as
the monuments which have been
erected on battlefronts OF previous
wars do not give the visitor any In
formation which enables him 10 re-
visualize the movements OF the troops
at that particular place. For this
reason guides are necessary nj all
such places In order to give the viai-
tor an adequate idea Of the troop
movements.
II is planned to erect monuments
at sites Of former division headguar.
ters of American forces at the time
the division held sector. These
monumental viii give sketch OF tha
rnrt each division played In the war.
II is also proposed to erect an appro.
pirate building near one OF tho per.
manent cemeteries In France. IN
which building will be housed relief
maps OF nll operations OF all Ameri.
can forces during thd world war.
This In desirable because II Is he.
licved most visitors viii have neither
the timc nor the money 10 visit moro
than few OF tho hutilcAclds and VIII
be able. by consulting these maps. TO
ascertain exnctly where they wish 10
20 with thu least waste of timc and
expense. AT this building there viii
also be pamphlets that will give ad.
ditional historical information con.
cerning the movements OF the Ameri.
cnn forces IN France during tho