Evening star., 1924-09-28

| tation of that first contingent of the
1st Division, remarkably reassur
ing feat in itself. for our hands and
wits were all untried in the wary
eluding of the death-dealing thrusts
of the submarines. those stilettos of
the seas.
Crude, indeed, was the camp at St
NaZaire. where intensive training
was begun at once to harden the
| muscles grown soft by the 90 days
| relaxation furnished in travelling to
France.
nN July great celebration in
~ welcome of the American forces
was made in Paris, and the I'd Bat
TALON Of the 18th Infantry was Sc
iected to march in the parade. What
a thrilling sight that must have been,
those -khaki-clad Americans. self-as-
sured and trained, marching with
steady step down that most stately
of all avenues, the Champs Elysees.
amid the cheering thousands, and on
to the tomb of Lafayette.
Soon enough after that momsnt Gus
honor in Paris the men of the 1st
Division were sent by means of the
box-car method of transportation to
the Gondrecourt area for intensive
training, their camp being within
hearing distance of the never silent
guns OF St. Mihiel. The first men had
reached France in June. 1917, and by
September the ranks We're complete
tion had enrolled men from prac-
tically every State in the Union and
from the Territories as well
They developed a marked cheerful
ness IN the face Of bad weather and
untold privations and, Spartanlike.
accepted what was their lot without
complaint and without bitterness.
At the end Of a month of this in
tenSive training. the division was
placed in the trenches at the Summer
viller sector in Lorraine, the men be-
ing grouped with the French units in
order that they might put into prac-
tice what they had studied so dill
gently in theory.
A raiding party of the enemy at
tackled the trenches and shed the first
American blood in the death of one
corporal and two privates of the divi-
sion, these dead winning ageless
glory in their permanent burial at
Eathelemont under military honors
from the armies of France and Amer
ica. The French general in command
requested that these three first Of
ferings on the altar Of liberty forever
remain in the soil they bad come to
defend.
At the end of month this division
was withdrawn and returned to Con
drecourt area for further training
Gen. Pershing insisting that trench
| warfare must cease as the war drew
| to a close, and that the men must be
| instructed in the methods of open
| waffare. Mimic wars were carried on
| to illustrate these tactics.
Rv Ian1r2ry 1919 they wore ready
! to fight, nine months after the decla-
| ration Of war. A million men might
| spring UP over night willing to serve,
but intensive training. a hazardous
| delay, was an imperative corollary to
| unprepared millions of men willing to
| fight for their flag, especially when
| they must face relentless veterans on
| the field.
| Since they were rated combat
unit, their time had come to take
| over a sector for whose defense they
! would be responsible. They were
| sent to Ansauville, little northwest
| Of Toul, to relieve the 1St Moroccan
| Division. 1t was comparatively quiet
| there save for raiding parties and
their small-scale depredations. Mud
| and sleet and snow added their hard
| ships to trench life. Their casualty
| list ran almost to 500 before they
| were relieved from the sector.
| The list Division was sent into the
Gisors Area for further training, and
as they labored in their mimic wars
long troop trains filled with French
and British soldiers, recalled from
Italy to strengthen the allied line in
| the west, gave the needed touch of
| reality to their work. They knew
only too well that soon they must
! add their forces to that thinning
line on the western battlefront.
| x \: X x
IN April they were sent to take over
L and be responsible for the Can
tisny sector, where they earned
through stcadfast valor and dash
| their sohrioust Of .Xen~af Caati6ax.