Evening star., 1937-04-06

soon as possible, and q few days later
cabled that our goal should be
100000 men.
The Nation was called upon to ac-
complish in the briefest possible time
q task 30 enormous that, under con-
ditions less urgent, years would have
been required for its completion. 1t
was brought home to the administra-
ton and later to the people that the
most extraordinary efforts would be
necessary to make up for past delin-
quencies II our participation in the
war were not to be too late
First came the draft act, somewhat
delayed of enactment, and its applica-
tion to millions Of men as needed; then
their assembly in hastily built canton
ments, followed by their organization
and, more important still, training in
modern warfare These preliminaries,
together with the procurement Of the
vast quantities TO equipment required
and the transportation beyond the
seas Of men, equipment and supplies,
constituted an amazing task, the ac-
complishment Of which called for the
best talent available.
In the active operations in France
our combat forces conducted them
selves in a manner which deserves un-
stinted praise. They did not fight as
requirements under foreign banners
or foreign leadership in battle-worn
and well-nigh defeated armies, al
though certain Allied leaders insist
emily demanded it. To have used them
as recruits in the Allied armies, whose
customs and training were entirely
different from our own, would have
been wholly unWise.
1t was not the part Of common
sense so to imperil the lives and de-
stroy the morale of our eager young
soldiers. Instead Of feeding our men
into the weakened Allied armies, it
was plain that an independent Amer
ican Army was needed to win the war.
Therefore, we refused to parcel out
our troops in the manner that some
Allied leaders demanded. Instead, in
the beginning our troops were sent
temporarily to quiet sectors to release
Allied units for active duty. Thus they
were trained under their own flag and
under the direction of their own OFF,
GERS.
In the first battle experience, two
American divisions stopped the Ger
man advance on Paris, and several
divisions, organized into two corps,
became the backbone Of the counter
attack of the second Marine. By their
steady example in these attacks, they
not only revived the dropping spirits
of the Allies, but took the initia-
tive from the enemy and turned the
tide of war
Swiftly following this advantage,
they were concentrated as an inde-
pendent army to the number of near
ly 100000 men, and in brilliant
offensive cleared the Salient of St.
Mihiel, which had been held by the
enemy for four years. Immediately
| thereafter there began the 47-day
battle of the Meuse-Argonne-the
greatest battle in our history-in
which 100000 Americans were en-
| gagged and carried it, against the
most stubborn defense, to a successful
| conclusion.
| Intensified War Danger.
| Again, war clouds hang over un-
happy Europe. Naturally, people
everywhere fear another World War.
Ever-increasing armaments and fire.
quent warlike gestures intensity the
danger of an explosion. Yet no one
in his right mind can contemplate an
other World War without almost los
ing hope for the future of civilization
The immensity of the devastation OF
| the last war, material, moral and
spiritual, ought to prove powerful
deterrent, and, in view of the more
terrible consequences Of another ca
tastrophe, only a madman would
think Of plunging his people into war
On this twentieth anniversary OF
our entry into the maelstrom of war
Ix,t1, ~ tNt,,