Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-11-11
RANDLE Of
CAMP JONES TALKS
BEFORE K|WAN|ANS

by Capt E. II. Randle, of the 25tn
infantry, Camp Harry j. Jones, fea-
tured the regular luncheon meeting
of the Kiwanis club which was held
at the Gadsden Wednesday instead OF
today because the regular day OF
meeting falls on Armistice day.
/ A report on the Kiwanis distrlc,
convention held Monday and Tuesday
n Bishee .was read and approved
Fred Nichols, lieutenant governor elec:
OF the southwestern district and a
brother of c. A. Nichols, local XII
wanian, gave a short address
John Williams, accompanied at the
piano by his wife, entertained the
T<iwanians with two pleasing vocal
/ solos.
| Nominations Of officers oy me local
/ club for the coming term were turned
I in and it was stated that election OF
officers will be held at the first
! meeting in the month of Decemper
Nominations VII be made known at
the next meeting of the club
| DR.. j. r. Newcomer, chairman of
the day, presented Captain Randle
whose interesting and inspiring ad-
dress on the true Significance of
| Armistice day was greatly appreciat-
/ cd by the gathered K;wanians
| Captain Randle's address follows:
! Lawrence Stallings, the author of
the war novel, "Plumes," and the
Joint author of the popular play,
What Price Glory" was making the
rounds of editors offices few years
ago trying to get some of his work
accepted. Finally, to be rid of him.
/ cne editor explained that the public
didn,t, want war 2stuff; It had had
enough and wantedeto forget the war.
The sooner they forget this war,
| just that much sooner will they have
another" fired back Stallings, as he
marked out of the room.
| Tomorrow is Armistice day. Eight
years ago tomorrow morning the
fighting stopped. For many, the war
had lasted too long and even among
, those who had seen only little fight
| ing, there were no regrets over it's
! close. Some people far behind the
Hines showed their manhood, at a
safe distance, by loudly grumbling
that the armistice mas a mistake and
should have been signed in Berlin.
The men in the front line, who woulG
! have had the fighting to do, did not
hold that opinion. Nothing further
could have been gained by continu-
| ing the war except vengeance and an
increased casualty list
I One of the greatest deficiencies In
our preparedness plans before tRe
war was the lack 2of provision for the
j training of junior officers. In 1911
when our armed forces We're expand
ed, all of the officers of the regular
establishment because ,4of their years
of preparation and study were ad-
Vanced to higher grades, leaving the
junior grades to be filled by hastily
trained young men from civil life.
Platoon and company commanders
cannot be trained in three months
and it is criminal to send men into
any kind of battle led by sucho ineM :
perienced and unframed officers. In
all wars troops and officers receive
their most valuable training on the
field of battle and this was true IN
1917 and 1918. But wNn Orgy three
months in a training camp and a
fsw additional months before sailing,
that battle training was purchased at
too great a cost, as testified to by
burg, who. in his book, "Out of MY
Life" in speaking of the last days of
the war says, "* the pressure
which the fresh American masses
were putting upon our most sensitive
point in the region of the Meuse
was too strong. Yet the inexperi-
cnces OF these masses will have taught
the United States for the future that
the business of war cannot be learn
cd in a few months, and that in a
crisis, lack of this experience costs
streams Of blood"
do not wish to belittle the er-
forts and achievements of those Of
ficers who wert to war with only
a few months training. I was one
of them. We worked hard and gave
our best willingly, but our lack OF
training most many lives, which with
more experienced leadership would
have been spared. 1t is great re-
sponsibility to lead 2C< men IN battle
and not an easy task that can be
learned ir three months. This want
of knowledge was not. the fault of
the officers themselves. The faui.
lay in the lack of a policy to give
military training to those men quail
fed through Intelligence and educa-
tion to lead platoons and companies
and even battalions in battle
This defect in our military policy
is being remedied to some extent
Ve now have an officers reserve
cor1s composed of men who had eX-
ferience in the war, or who have re-
ceived some training and have be-
come qualified to receive commissions
in the reserve corps. Our great prob
lem now is to maintain interest in
the corps, and to keep those who
telong, in touch with the service.
Congress appropriates onl yenough
money for a relatively few OF the re-
serve officers TO receive two weeks
training each year and then, unrcss
the appropriations are increased, II
will be eight or ten years before they
can get another two weeks. Train
ing is now being given under tho
direction of regular officers in
greater number of colleges and Sec
ondary schools. Citizens military
training camps are held each year
for the primary purpose of develop
ing second lieutenants in the reserve
AS reserve officers pass the age
limits, become physically disqualified