New Britain herald., 1929-04-20
D0UGHb0YS RECALL,
 'SEICHEPREY DAY
Hours Of Horror Under Heavy
 Fire Burned on Minds
RY GERALD F. CREAN

tuTe IS printed lndeIlDly on the soul memory can but retain in it's minutest detail, the vision of a hor- TOT oneo experienced.
 So it is that to a number of young men in this city, today mark the anniversary of an event which can never be forgotten and in the years 10 come will stir the heart and soul to their very depths although time has eased the wounds both physical and mental. April 20, to the men of the 102nd regiment. o6th Division, A. F.. F.. during the World War, will always be recalled as Seiche- prey Day, the anniversary of the battle fought on that date in 1918, between Germany's crack shock troops, and the first and third bat talions of the 102nd regiment.
 Although by no means the great est battle in the war and in the final summary considered only a minor engagement the battle of Seicheprey will remain in their memory when other strifes have been dimmed be- cause it was the first real action between German and American troops, the first test to be given the untried but not untrained legions who stepped on the shores of France with the jaunty hail; Lafayette, we are here"
 Bristol and N'ddletown Losses
 Bristol and Middletown. more ntrticularly. can remember this day above all others because out of that battle came many a gold star sign- flying the supreme sacrifice; many I gold stripe dcnoting wound and many a shattered. nervous wreck Companies c and D stood the brunt of the blow which fell in the misty dawn of that cventful day Com panies A and F withstood the sec ond wind attack of the Prussians while MILK. the third battalion wits. carried the counter attack in tho evening. after a blood-rel day that regained every inch of ground end proved 10 the world that the United States, as a nation, vas ready.
 Scicheprey, now the scene of a shrine erected through contributions hy men of the 2Gth division,bwas a peaceful village before the thunder of war broke in 1914. Later it was not hing but shattered, shell de- serted and wrecked by countless ex- plosivcs which had fallen on it sine" Kaiser Wihelm's hordes had mad" their drive and had esta blished the g.. Nihiol salient
 II lay in little valley, just west Of inc Remiere Woods only q few miles north of Toul DvershadoNing il ike grim and forcbodine mon stcr, just 10 the north, reared Mont Sev, like it's name dry and gloomy, one of the strongest fortified places in the entire salient. France had lost thousands in killed and wound cd in vain attempts 10 storm th" steep sides of this natural fortifca- ton. Thousands of guns presented their ugly mouths to view to the in- tont glances cast almost unceasingly up it's rocky craiss.
 This was the picture that greeted the New F.nglandcrs of the 2Gth, the Yankee Division, as they silent crept up in the night to the front lines 10 relieve the First division under or oers 10 help the British at tantigny
 The war hadn't really come 10 the men of the 1o2nd regiment as vet. Here and there brush with the enemy on the "rest scCtor' on tll" Chcmin des Danes, had given them baptism of fire. A terrific and long gas bambardment on St. patrick's day, 1918. had left them groggy but still standing.
 Advance Like Vast Shadow
 Up through the night the long lanes of doughboys. the Infantry, with the dirt behind their cars,' the long line of machinc-gun carts and the one poundcrs. sweating hCrses and softly cursing men. the soft swish swish Of thousands of hob mailed boots squashng through the oozy mud. kept coming and coming hiIe units of the First Division were stealing out.
 Here. a chapter in the war un- lcralded and unsung. was taking place. the first meeting Of the reg
 
 yerted National Guard. Scorn and epithct were hurled from one rank 10 another in hu"hcd voices lest ;hc movement he made known 10 the enemy Later, this was all 10 be changed and Seichcprey was to be the turning point.
 Into the Dillets in Eernecourt. Ndndres- Aux Quatre- Tours, Beau mont. Eambucourt. Grosrouvres. even back to Meni- la-Tour the di- Nisional seat. poured the 3G GOO men, many of them never to come out.
 On 10 the support lines and over l,arbcd wire cntanglements. through the Scicheprcy Bayou. the com luunication trench. into the chalk mines immediately behind he front lines and on into the firing and lis tening posts and filthy dugouts strung III front of and through Soicho prey. went th" ong and seem incly never end'~s line.
 nit after lInIt. in a seeming con- fusion, yet orderly distribution, pick cd ifs spot to rest weary backs but there Was no stopping for the third battalion Of the 1o2nd in which was Co. l. a. great part of whose men were recruited in this city. until the last line was reached and nothing but no mans land and fritzic lay ahead.
 Lcug Vigil Before Dawn
 Taking up their positions with rifles. guarded against the eyer present wet. strung out along the Jarapets, hand grenade dumps se- trcted in scooped- out places in the walls. one-pounders placed at ad- vantageous positions and machine guns cunningly concealed under camoufage, the last of the men took