The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-04-18
Guest Speaker

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 Guest Speaker
 keener, better and sounder under standing of his fellow man.
 20 Years Ago!
 Let us go back twenty years and think of the veteran as he was then-in what has aptly been des- cribed as the bloom of life," in his late teens, or early tWenties, at that age of ideals-not sullied nor soiled by the bitterness of the realities of life-pretty pure in mind, in heart and body, with that deathless faith, in the just ness and goodness of things. These boys were taken from various types of environment, home conditions, the rich, the poor, of all religious beliefs, political shades and con- victions, and different racial back grounds-all thrown together in the one huge melting pot" as it be called, into a crucible fused together by the molen mass to emerge a solidified body of true Americans - bound together by friendship, comradeship and un- derstanding, the joy of which they would have never known, had they not thus been put through the crucible. Love Thy fellow man." has been the teaching of the sages since preaching began.
 The foundation of our faiths, our nations, our civilizations, are pre- dicated upon a degree of brother ly love, affection, respect, and here, into that melting pot" in 1917 and 1918, pulled from the far corners of the country, made to live under like conditions, wearing the same clothing, eating the same food, doing the same things, were the sons of our wealty and our poor, our literate and our Hitter ate, OUT educated and our unedu- cated. Cords of restraint, which encircled US in our home lives, and directed our paths down a very narrow roadway, were broken. We found that the fellow who ordinarily never would have come in contact with us, whose social and economic standard may have differed greatly from ours, was our Buddy-and because our pal. That group of young idealists, brought abruptly to an under standing of some of the vicious ness of life, were compensated for it, in the form of a clearer, a bet ter and deeper understanding and affection for his fellow man. We obtained more of an under standing of friendship and broth erhood. whether it was on the battlefieldS of France the canton mentS of this country or the war ships on the seas, than is the usual lot of men. Brotherhood was born in our war service and you of the I'D have been instrumental in nurturing and developing it for nearly twenty years.
 War Time Unit
 The Yankee Division came into being in August 1917, by the amalgamation of all National Guard units in New England, into the 1O1st, 102nd, 1O3rd and 1O4th regiments of infantry; the 101st, 102nd and 103rd battalions of ma chine guns; the 101st, 102nd and 103rd field artillery; the supply trains, 101st Engineers and all other component parts that went to make up war time division.
 It began the long trek across the ocean, through submarine in- tested waters, during the first week in September, 1917 and was entirely placed in training quarters in the VoSges section of France by the middle of October. Divis- ional headquarters was located at Neufchateau, a name that has mank pleasant and fond merories for you I'D boys. As you will re- member, intensive training under the supervision of crack French veterans followed for several months. Then, the first week in February, the division was order cd to the front.
 On February 5. 1918, the first units entered the front line trenches in the Chemin des Danes sector near Soissons. Here, the 102nd Infantry underwent, on St. Patrick's Day, 1918, the worst gas attack it had ever been the experience of American troops to suffer. More than 35,000 gas shells of every description were rained down inside of 25 hours. The oc- cupation of this sector marked the fact that the 18th was the first American division in its en- tirety to be placed in the front line. Parts of the First and Second regulars had been in, but it was the 26th that went in as division.
 "Kaiser's Own"
 The latter part of March the division moved over to the Foul sector to relieve the First division. Here, on April 2Oth, the first pitched battle between the Ger man Sturmtruppen, the Kaisers Own, and the American Army took place at Seicheprey. Incid- ently, there was one of the com panies, half of which was com posed of Waterbury boys, who took a glorious part in resisting the attack. It was at Seicheprey that Hs Ez . Ill V ~ IzI D-DArD OD-%