Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-09

power. 1t cracks open, under
its Furnishing stresses, the
shells that hide the inner
shapes Of six men and a
woman. We look into their
very souls. If what we see is
q strange mixture Of strength
and weakness, Of unselhsh-
ness and brutality, Of courage
and cowardices then the fault
is human natures. not the
authors. He has merely re-
ported what he saw. And who
can say he did not see ac-
curately?
Never Captured
The setting is the almost
forgotten Punitive Expedition
which Gen. Pershing, then a
brigadier, led into Mexico
against Villa in 1916. For IL
months Pershing's cavalry
chased the will-of -the-wisp
bandit, fought several battles
against his scattered troops.
Villa never was captured. but
his forces were shattered.
What set off this expedition
was, of course, Villas raid on
Columbus. N. Mex, on March
8, when a number Of soldiers
and civilians were killed or
wounded.
We are concerned here
with several fictitious charac-
tiers in Pershing's command.
The most important is Maj.
Thorn. Sixteen years in the
Army, he had never been
under fire until the raid on
Columbus. Then he discov-
ers that he is a coward. He
hides under a culvert while
the night attack is fought of,
the Mexican raiders routed.
There a lieutenant finds the
major. But there are no
other witnesses. and his colo
mel and even Pershing, who
Is told. decide, partly be-
cause Of their friendship for
Thorn's late father, a dis
tinguished officer, to forget
the episode. But on the punt
tive expedition he is not given
3 command. Instead he Is
made awards officers, his
duty to discover men merit
ing decorations.
For Highest HonOrs
Because the one soldier, O
private. recommended for the
Medal Of Honor for Column
bus was killed in Mexico be-
fore he could receive the dec
grafton, 1t Is decided to take
future men worthy Of honor
out Of action until they can
at least be decorated. So Mai.
Thorn is leading five--a lieu
tenant, q sergeant and three
privates - from a hacienda
where q bitter fight occurred
to the expeditions base many
miles to the north. Each Of
the five has been held to de-
serve the country's highest
decoration. With the little
troop is a woman, an Amer
lean, q prisoner, who is to be
tried for aiding the enemy"
She entertained Villaistas at
the ranch, which she owned.
But what is courage, and
What is cowardice? Before
this dreadful journey is over
the woman will tell the dis
graced major that he is the
hravest man she ever saw.
On the other hand, the five
Chvalrymen who performed
50 calamity in battle crack,
In greater or lesser degree.
under the strains Of hunger
and thirst. of sickness and
the perils Of bullets smacking
into their camp from no.
where. the harassing work Of
hidden bandits.
Good Writing
The narrative is woven
tightly; not q line could be
spared. There is a stunning
account Of what historically
was the last cavalry charge of
United States troops-the at
tack on Villistas at the ranch
Of Ojos Azules (Blue Eyes,.
'oT'he seven persons closely
involved in the story come to
life as clearly as II vast space
had been devoted to them in
stead Of the 2lS pages which
the author found sufficient.
Mr.. Swarthout. native Of
Michigan and a teacher at
Michigan State University in
East Lansing, has written one