The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-08-19

19.--In the first newspaper in
| terview he has granted since re-
| turning to this country July OF
last year, Pvt. Anarew Mejack,
now of the United States Army
there, recently told the absorbing
story of his 12-year service in the
French Foreign Legion and
French Army that carried him
from the burning sands of the
lSaraha Desert to the wind-swepi
hills of Indo-C China and back to
tseryice in the Maginot Line
against Germany.
L Tales of battle and torture in
| the farthest reaches of Africa
Hong obscured by censorship and
lpoor communication. Stories OF
attacks by rowing bands of Chin
csc marauders in the interior OF
| Indo-C China. First hand accounts
of the French's relentless pursuit.
of Abd-el-Krim, Bel-Casen and
Ficher in Morocco. Actual expert
ences in the Maginot Line under
the fire of German bombess. AL
those are but fragments of Me-
! jacks amazing career as a sol
dier of fortune that started when
| he was but II years old.
| Today. Pvt. Mejack is attach
! ed to the Saith Infantry here al
Fort Jackson where he was sent
Immediately after his enlistment
in the Regular Army last Sep
| TENDER. He is serving as .
scouting instructor for selectees
giving them the benefit Of know
ledge that was acquired in the
campaigns against Abd-el- Krim
in Morocco where mistake:
meant death. Better still. he i:
! teaching them the science 81
presat-day scouting, gained al
sergeant Of a afeconnaissanes
squad Of the French Army ir
skirmishes with the enemy along
the Maginot Line.
Mejack, now 81 years old, was
born in Pittsburgh, Pa, one Of
four sons of Czechoslovakian i'm
migrant parents. His three broth
ers also have Army backgrounds
One is Staff Sgt. John w Me-
jack. of the u. S. Army now sta
toned at the Allegheny County
Air Corps base near Pittsburgh,
| Pa. He has been in the Army
for 20 years. Another brother,
Alexander, with nine years
Army service. is attached to the
Gath Coast Artillery in Honolulu
The third brother, Michael, re-
Gently received his discharge
after several years service with
an anti-tank unit in the Philip
pine Islands.
4 In 1922, following the death OF
| her husband in the flu epidemic
of 1918, Mrs. Meiack returned to
Europe, taking Andrew, now Ia
along with her. Thew spent
some time in Bremen, Germany
and then went on to a small
town near Prague, Mrs. Mejack'
birthplace. For three years. An
drew worked on the farnilv's S.
600 fruit farm there. Then, al
| II, he decided to look for adj
venture. Living on the proceeds
/ of the fruit farm. he travelled ex-
tensivelv through France, Poland
and Italy
/ However, normal travels soor
became too prosaic for the adj
| venture-loving American boy
| and he decided to seek new
| fields by joining the ever-entic-
| ing French FOREIGN Legion. He
lsigned up for a five-year enlist
Iment at Nice, France, in 1925 al
| the age of II
Sent to the Legion training
base at Sidi- bel-Abbes, Algeria
The completed his basic training
course and then took further in.
struction in the Army schoo
| there that qualified him as {
| corporal. His first assignment
was to the garrison at Marrackes
| Morocco, where his military adj
ventures began. For two and 9
thalf wears, he took part in the
| Legion's relentless pursuit Of the
rebel Arab chieftains, Abd-el-
Krin and Ficher.
| During the chase, he was in
| front line combat eight times as
| the French and Arab main forces
Icame to grips. After the capture
| of Abd-el-Krim in 1927, the Le-
gion continued its pursuit Of his
successor, the notorious Ficher
| When the French finally caught
iup with F'icher's forces, Mejack
Twas one Of a party Of Legion
Inaires who killed the rebel chief
tain's brother as he tried to es-
lcape.
| 1t was during the Ficher cam
Ipaign that the American soldier
Iof fortune experienced his clos