Evening star., 1923-07-23
OLD GLORY WAVES
AT BEL[EAU WOOD
battle-ground Consecrated to
Memory of Men Who
Died There.

BY the Associated Press.
CHATEAU THIERRY, France, July
rs. - Bellean wood yesterday was
consecrated to the memory of the
Americans who died there. The
French flag was hauled down to
trumpeting by French buglers and
the Marseillaise by the marine band
from the L. S. S. Pittsburgh, and the
American flag was run up to the
strains of the Star Spangled Banner
Americans from many states, rel
atives of the dead. were assembled
inside the ring of French villages.
The wood was formally dedicated as
permanent memorial by the Bel
leau Wood Memorial Association,
represented by the president, Mrs
James CafroiI Frazier, who directed
the plan to buy the land and preserve
the battlefield. with trenches and
machine gun nests, and erect mon
ument and place descriptive tablets.
Turning Point of War.
Marshal Foch reviewed the cam
the middle of July He described
the Belleau wood battle as the turn
ing point of the war. the jumping
off place of the final allied offensive
anu IHdTcn across the hnlne. 1edrS
crept down his cheeks.
Col. T. Bentley Mott, the military
attachc. representing the American
ambassador, Myron T. Herrick. who
was i'll. read a letter from President
Harding and message from Gen
Pershing. The latter referred to the
battle-ground as a patriotic shrine
where for generations to come the
traveller will pause to contemplate
the .splendor of our soldiers sacri-
In his letter President Harding
said:
The memory of Belleau wood like
the memory of York town, will always
perpetua tion of the friendship sc
long maintained between the great
French people and our country. II
will always be an inspiration to
Americans to know they are entitled
to some measure of pride in connec-
tion with their part i'm the world
war. just as | trust, it will ALWAYS
be source of satisfaction to the
French people that they were able
to make SO 2reat and unSelfish a con-
tribution to the struggle of America
for independence"
An American Island.
Mai. Gen. James G.. Harbord, who
commanded the marines, spoke of
this melancholy spot with its tangle
of wildwood, its giant bowlders. its
land, surrounded by lovely France
which American mothers will conse-
crate with their tears
This SCARED and she'll shot
ground" he continued, "by being al
the spearhead of the German thrust
for Paris. has brought undying fame
TO the marine brigade and their com
rades of the I'd Engineers, and
will be for all time mecca for pill
grims.'
He told how Gen. De Goute. the
day after the wood was captured,
ordered it renamed on all military
maps the wood of the marine
brigade"
Senator David A. Reed of Penn
s!lvania. in the course of his address,
said: We Americans whose sons lie
here, we Americans who left our com
radeS here. pledge ourselves to stand
true to the cause for which they
died. Our hearts stay with their
bodies here in France, and whatever
may be the rumors of the day Amer
lea will stand faithful to that great
cause"
Rear Admiral Philip Andrews, in
command of American warships in
the Adriatic. voiced his personal be-
lief" that there is growing feeling
among Americans at home that we
Will do something in Europe when
we know what is the right thing to
do"
A priest sent by the Bishop of
Soissons granted abSolution to the
dead, but suddenly his voice was
drowned by the whirr of low flying
close to the tree tops. scattering
flowers, and maneuvered overhead
until the marines fired a salute and
sounded taps.