USA > Indiana > Jefferson County > Jefferson County in the World War : an historical and sociological study of one Indiana county during the war period, 1917-1918 > Part 8
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Soldiers' Letters.
"Nor do they stop at the destruction of property. The inhabitants of this reconquered territory who were unable to escape the rush of the Huns are in much the same condition as their property ; battered and maimed but a living proof of the barbarism with which the Hohenzollerns hoped to rule the world.
"I tell you, dear parents there can be no peace until this menace to civilization is so utterly destroyed that it can never endanger the peace of the world again, and any man who fails to do his part in bringing this about can only be classed with the advocates of Kultur."
JACOB THENES.
--
This from Private Jacob Thenes, Co. 6., 47th Infantry ; written August 20, 1918.
"Dear Folks:
"I guess you think I have kicked but I am still alive and feeling fine.
"The reason I didn't write sooner was because we have been chasing the Huns for the last two weeks. We took part in the big drive. I know you heard about it before now. We took part in two of the largest battles the Americans have fought yet .. I was sure lucky and came out without a scratch. It is real interesting at the front. Something doing all the time. When we got the Dutch started it was some job to keep up with them. The boches sure can travel some. We are taking a rest now and having a good time. We have plenty to eat, lots of cigarettes and more money than I can find a place to spend. We are close to a little town and can buy eggs and fruit. I am learning to talk French a little. I would like to tell you more about the war if I could. If I could tell you where we fought you could tell by the papers that we sure made them get a move on. They are not so much on the fight as they say they are. I know one thing they won't let the dough boys get very close to them and they are very careful about coming out in the open, for if they do
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the Yanks are pretty good shots and they seem to know it."
R. C. HUFFORD.
Graphic, also, is this description of the battle front from behind the batteries by Sergeant Maj., R. C. Hufford, of the F. A., written to Dr. W. A. Millis, of Hanover College Septem- ber 25, 1918:
"All in all there is something about the artillery game that makes it the most interesting and the most fascinating of all."
"For instance one can stand beside a convenient hole (for safety's sake) and watch the various operations and get an impression of how wonderful, and at the same time how devilish, are the forces at play. Off to the front are flares and search lights with darting stars beneath and between."
"There are the infantry and close up organizations ; back of them around and behind are the intermingled flashes and roars of the various sized heavier pieces, mixed with these are the whispers of the shells sent Hun-ward and the growing tone of the arrivals that are bursting everywhere.
"Over all of this one hears the various types of planes, with their machine guns cutting and slashing at each other or darting slivers of death at the crowded trenches below.
"A growler comes over, someone yells gas, you adjust your mask, and have not missed a bit of the great activity. Messengers are darting hither and thither, linemen are go- ing out, ambulances are pushing forward, trucks are crowd- ing forward and to the guns with the needed supplies, for communication must be kept, the wounded cared for, the fighters fed, and supplies kept up all the time that the Mas- ter Dealer is shuffling the deck and dealing each man his card -.- and to many of each side he deals the marked card, death.
"Gradually the noise dies down and only the distant in- termittent spatof the rifle or pistol is heard. The battle is over, day breaks, and the work of repair and burial follows."
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Soldiers' Letters.
SAMUEL VAUGHN.
According to Private Vaughn "Its wonderful the way the American soldier fights. The minute he smells powder or hears a gun, why, each and every man is just a fighting demon. They dont give a damn for anything-just up and at them, and away goes the Germans."
To show, however, that the American soldier is not all raw beef and gunpowder he tells of "one poor little kid," a French lad, whose mother and father were dead and his broth- er a prisoner.
"When we first came here," says the letter, "he was sell- ing papers for his meals and sleeping wherever he could, but now my comrades and myself are taking care of him. We bought him shoes and a whole new outfit and keep him in eats and got him a room with some French lady to sleep in. He is the happiest kid in France now and will do anything for us. We call him Humpy, for he is a little hunch back and 15 years old.
"He stays in at nights and reads and is learning to speak English real good and understands a lot more than he can speak. My comrade says he is going to take him back to the States and put him on his father's ranch. £ My buddy lives in the west and is the best hearted fellow I ever knew. He has been in the army for five or six years."
JOHN W. BUCHANAN.
Says Pvt. Buchanan, of Machine Gun Company, 50th Infantry :
"I have been through four campaigns and in three of the fiercest battles fought. The Huns have always beat it though. Its surely hell, but we enjoy it just the same .I haven't gotten a scratch but a fellow don't know when his time is coming.
"One letter I wrote you was while on Hill No. 201. 1 suppose you remember something about it. There surely had been some fierce battles on it. Every inch of dirt seem-
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ed to have been turned over by shell fire, but the Yanks soon histed them off."
THOMAS LUCKETT.
Apropos to German atrocities, Private Luckett has this to say :
"On the road to the city of St. Julian the other day, I saw an old lady who lost her mind. Her home is between the camp and Pauillac and she roams around the country all the day long. She lost her two sons in the war and was taken prisioner by the Germans. As a punishment to her they cut off her breast and turned her away to suffer. Is it any wonder her mind is gone?
"There are so many of the same kind of cases in this country. It is wonderful how cheerful the French people are with all their loss."
GUY HOAGLAND.
Private Hoagland, who received a severe gassing from which he has never fully received, writes of his experience. "Dear Mother:
"Well I just got word that the war is over. I am still in hospital but I am well enough to come home and that kind of news is enough to make anybody well. They keep us in the hospital until we get good and well since the war is over.
"I will tell you things that will make you feel proud of me. I wouldn't tell you before. Ever since July I have been exposed to shell fire and have been in the battle, over the top, and seen some hot times. I have hiked all over France with my heavy pack and have sure suffered .
"I will be proud of my wound stripe. The kind of gas I got was mustard gas. It burns on the inside and outside. I was blind for four days but my eyes are perfectly well now. As soon as my lungs get a little better I will be all O. K. It is just like a cold works, but I am well enough to come home any time.
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Soldiers' Letters.
"I have lost lots of my friends over here but with the help of God I have had good luck, living through it all, and now I expect to meet you soon .
"I don't know yet whether I will get back to my company or not. It is according to how long I remain in the hospital. Don't worry about me being in the hospital. I am better off here, good and warm and not exposed to any bad weather .
"You know how father used to tell how he had to do in the civil war. We have hiked from eight o'clock p. m. till six a. m. in a down pour of rain. Then laid down on the wet ground and went to sleep. Some life. Then next morning hiked further and dug a hole in the ground to keep from get- ting hit with shrapnel. At night, looked up in the sky, expecting a big shell to hit you and wondering if it will tear you up. I thought about my feather-bed at home and it almost made tears roll down my cheeks".
LESTER T. LEE.
A variation from the experience of field and camp is that of Lester T. Lee, of the navy, who was in the mine-laying service. He says :
"We laid a barrage of mines off the Norway coast to Scot- land with from five to eight ships abreast, each dropping a mine from every five to twelve seconds so you see a sub would have but little chance of getting through. Also after the main barrage we laid two wings reaching out into the North sea.
"At first it was excitement but soon became real work; loading mines, steaming, watch, then coal ship each time put- ting on from 300 to 550 tons of coal, and in the bunkers the dust so thick you had to put a handkerchief over your mouth to get your breath; you could not tell your mate working by your side nor see an electric light ten feet away.
"Then was turn to clean ship, work and more work. Believe me we realized we were not at home.
"Our only danger was torpedoes, German mines laid by subs in front of us, or our own mines becoming loosed from
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anchor and floating in our path, or collisions in the fog.
"One trip we kept the after searchlight burning in day- light to keep the ship back of us from ramming us. One trip the Roanoke, the senior ship of one division, ran on a rock and two boys were killed by falling timber, some ships not making port that night, but the Dizzy Quinne as our ship was called always made good.
"We also had rough windy weather, for which the North sea is noted and cruised about for two days and nights for calmer weather to drop our mines.
"It seemed Providence was with us and never failed us. On one occasion coming through a channel at the Orkney islands in the roughest weather we encountered, our steam- ing apparatus broke and for a short time old Quinne was in fair shape to be dashed against the rocks, but we made to a nook of calm water and was left behind to our own self with one destroyer as convoy, but we were only four hours repair- ing and made Inverness without a halt.
"Of course it is impossible to relate all, am just giving a few incidents. Now that it is all over we are pleased for it was real work."
MISS MARY A. SHIPMAN.
Here we have an interesting glimpse of hospital exper- ience at the front as told by Miss Mary A. Shipman, a nurse in Base Hospital No. 25, France. Says Miss Shipman writ- ing under date of August 17, 1918:
"And last night, the biggest drive of all was started, so an officer told us today. That means more work for us but we don't mind a little extra work. I'm glad to do for the boys, they are splendid. I love to hear them talk to each other of their work at the front, their trips out into No Man's Land, or of how some brave lad risked all, to go back for his 'Buddy' (chum) and have him cared for, and of how they went 'over the top.' The more serious their condition, the more cheerful they seem to be and they love a joke.
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Soldiers' Letters.
"My first day in the ward, I was fixing them up for the night, rubbing their backs and making the beds up, brushing out crumbs and smoothing the sheets. I came to one boy down near the end of the ward where we usually have up pat- ients, and I asked him if he could sit up in bed to have his back rubbed.
"He smiled and said, 'Oh yes, I'm about all right, now, can do most anything but play golf.' I rubbed his back but when I went to straighten the sheets, I found his left leg was in splints and he had been in the hospital but two days.
"When our last hospital train came in one patient receiv- ed in our ward was a sergeant with both arms broken, a piece of shrapnel in one side of his head and a bullet hole through his right side. In caring for him I asked the ward master to help lift the patient. The sergeant looked up, laughed and said, 'Oh, I can sit up alone,' and he would have tried it, too had I let him.
"All the boys seem to get on so well. We have the best surgeons and doctors and they do wonders saving the boys' legs and arms and getting them well in much less time than we ever did back in the states.
"I am well, happy and busy. Two weeks ago today, I ate my first meal in camp. I've been shopping in Allery. With an English-French dictionary and many gesticulations I made myself understood and it was lots of fun."
BOYCE R. MORROW.
Several letters describing the close of hostilities are of interest. Says Lieut. Boyce R. Morrow, of the Q. M. Corps, writing a few days after the memorable 11th of November: "Of course you have read the glad and welcome news long
You can't imagine the celebration such as the French ago.
are putting on.
I say 'are putting on' for they have just one
fete after another. No one knows how long they are going to celebrate and I don't think anyone cares. They surely have a right to all their gladness for there is hardly a family
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that has not been in some way affected by the war. They were greatly excited and glad when the big news arrived. I went in a store on the afternoon of the big day and the mad- am said that was very necessary that she be embraced on the occasion of our allied victory. £ She was pretty good look- ing and not very old so naturally a fellow could not refuse."
GUS HOWARD HYATT.
In a very similar vein is this one from Gus Howard Hyatt:
"Today is Sunday and a very pretty day. I have been sleeping most all morning. Read a little while after dinner and just happened to think of writing a letter to you, as there is such good news to tell you, and that is that the war is all over. They quit fighting Monday.
"I had a fine time when we heard that the war was over. I was on pass that day in a little town near our camp. I and three more soldier boys were the first to ring the church bells in the town and the French people nearly went wild.
"We rang the bells till we got so tired we couldn't ring them. Everybody was in the streets by that time and we paraded all over the town, men, women, kids and everything else that could follow.
"That night they gave a big dance. Of course I and the three other soldiers went and of all the good times of my life I never had any to beat that one. There was nothing too good for us boys. We danced with the French 'demozelles' till we were dizzy.
"Well, I don't think there is any one that didn't enjoy such good news as that unless it was old Bill. I would have liked to see them celebrating in the States. I guess they had a time also, didn't they ?"
HARRY F. SHADDAY.
Private Shadday writes that "On the 10th of November we were called to the front to make a big drive if the armis- tice wasn't signed,
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Soldiers' Letters.
"On the morning of the 11th we were in the front lines at a town called Saul, ready to go over the top with the infantry, when we received the message of the signing of the armistice.
"At 11 a. m. every gun ceased firing and we were out of danger once again. Some boys and myself went over that night and talked with the Dutchmen, ate bread and drank coffee with them. They seemed very glad the war was over.
"We have been working some lately but the work doesn't seem bad when it isn't under shell fire."
Before closing this chapter it should be said that many of the over-seas letters contain animated descriptions of Eng- land and France and of life on the ocean, full of keen interest, and revealing the educational side of the "great adventure." Some are so well written that it is regrettable they can not all be reproduced here, but lack of space forbids.
TOM LUCKETT tells of Brest, France, "certainly a beau- tiful place, * * built on a high hill overlooking the water, which is dotted for miles with ships of all kinds and shapes -sailboats, battle ships, schooners, transports and many other kinds." "I am," he adds," seeing a great deal of the country, and it is all very, very interesting."
JAY SIPE is enamored of England, which he affirms to be "the most beautiful country I ever expect to see,"with its hedge fences and stone walls, its green lawns and spacious parks.
CHARLES WAINSCOTT wields an eloquent pen in ap- preciation of the wonders and inspirations of Paris and the scenic beauties of southern France, where the blue Mediter- ranean and the French Alps vied in their fascinations.
ROBERT E. WILLIAMS gives an account of his trip up the Mediterranean to a beautiful, quaint old town "somewhere in Italy," and of the ovation that awaited them there. When the troops debarked several Americans met them, their child- ren bearing baskets of red, white and blue button-hole bou-
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quets for the visitors, and Italian troops were drawn up at "present arms" as guard of honor, and between these the American troops marched.
"The streets were narrow and crooked," says the writer, "so we only had room to march four abreast and the crowding people sometimes made that impossible. Every balcony and housetop was crowded and we were simply showered with flowers. We literally walked on roses. Cries of 'viva l' America,' 'viva Wilson' and 'viva l'soldati' rang out on every side and one woman cried as she thrust out a rose, 'viva l' Yankee". And these people didn't know we were coming until we arrived.
"I have seen parades in the States where enthusiasm ran high, but our reception here was the most spontaneous expression of good will and welcome that I have ever seen."
RICHARD C. HECK'S account of a Fourth of July dem- onstration in London (which certainly seems rather anoma- lous) makes such sprightly reading that we copy the most of it as a finishing feature to this series of letters.
This particular Fourth, 1918, says Mr. Heck, "the sun rose in a clear blue sky, and everything gave promise of a per- fect day. Reveille at 5:15, mess at 6:15, then we all dolled up and beat it to town. That is most of us went. About thirty of the boys had C. B. on the fourth and were out of luck.
"Reached the Eagle Hut which was the center of activity about 8 o'clock and events followed in quick succession. First there was a band concert followed by a "flag raising" dur- ing which the band played the national anthem and we all stood at attention and saluted.
"Burton Holmes himself took movies of the event and if you watch the Holmes Travelogues closely, you will see my shining face (talcum is scarce in England) just in back of the flag staff.
"Ten o'clock saw us loaded on large busses, or sight-see- ing wagons, ready for a tour of the city. There were about
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· forty of the busses all filled with yelling Yanks.
A battery of Fritz's forty-two centimeter guns in full action could not make half the noise that we Yanks made as we pass- ed through the principal parts of town. Passed through Charing Cross, the Strand, Aldwich, Kingsway, Mark Lane, Mansion House, Cheapside, Holborn, in fact, through all the principal parts of London, even taking in Petticoat Lane.
"During the entire trip we yelled, cheered and sang in true Yankee style and we were told that London had seldom, if ever seen such a noisy, enthusiastic crowd. Each of us would try to out yell his partner, and to say that we made some' noise is putting it rather mildly.
"Twelve o'clock saw us at the Baltic Y. M. in High Hol- born, where we enjoyed a delightful luncheon, after which we assembled in the busses and resumed our tour. Went through St. James and Hyde Parks. Buckingham Palace is in the former, and as we passed the palace the king and queen stood out on the balcony and greeted us, while we made the air ring with our cheers.
"At three-fifteen we arrived at Chelsea athletic grounds, where a great army-navy ball game was scheduled to start at three-thirty. This park has a seating capacity of sixty- thousand, and it was crowded at that. It is a very nice stad- ium, where all the great English cricket and foot ball matches are played.
"Promptly at three-thirty the king walked out into the field amid a battery of movie machines and handed the ball to the umpire. Amid the cheers of the vast crowd, the game be- gan, and I may add that it was the best game I have ever seen. And it all ended too soon, with the score two to one in favor of the navy. During the game I yelled and cheered so much that I lost my voice entirely and could not speak above a whisper.
"The game over, we all fell in the busses again, and were driven to Kensington Gardens, where we were to be entertain- ed at tea by the lord mayor of Kensington. On arriving here
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we started a snake dance, led by an old man dressed as Uncle Sam; this snake dance furnished amusement to the thousands of people who were watching the performance. They had nev- er seen anything as utterly foolish and amusing as the spec- tacle of hundreds of fellows in single file writhing and twist- ing their way over the field.
"We had just finished this when Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, was seen coming across the park, in company of the lord mayor of Kensington, and several dukes and lords. The band played 'God save the King' and we all stood at at- tention as the royal party approached. 'As the Princess drew nearer, we all saluted, and just as she was passing me, she stopped and walking over to me, said: 'How do you do, I suppose you played in the ball game this afternoon.'
"It was quite embarrassing to me as I could only answer her in a whisper. Happily one of the fellows explained that although I had not played in the game, I had yelled so much that I had lost my voice, and could only speak in a whisper. She expressed her sympathy for me, and trusted I would re- cover my, voice in a few days; which was very kind of her. She is very interesting and democratic and is a daughter of her royal highness, the late Queen Victoria.
"Well we had tea, during which the princess and lord mayor made short speeches, and after we had finished an all round good time, we marched to Kensington town hall where we were booked for an entertainment.
"In the hike over the 372nd led all the other squadrons and I was No. one in the first squad. The No. one rear rank man and I carried a large flag stretched between us and we made quite an appearance as we hiked along. At Kensing- ton hall we were royally entertained for several hours by artists from the different London theatres.
"The programme ended about eleven o'clock and after three cheers for the lord mayor, we beat it, and came strag- gling into camp about twelve-thirty or one o'clock. This ended the happiest fourth I have ever spent,", :
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MILITARY HONOR ROLL.
Author's Note-In compiling this "Honor Roll" I have been guid- ed by the official record of the "Committee on Enrollment"-a body authorized by the Council of Defense and consisting of Messrs A. D. Vanosdol, Edward M. Prenatt and Walter Caplinger. I am informed that it was not possible to make the roster complete because a number of men who belonged to Jefferson county entered the service from other places or were already in the regular army and could not be traced. The total number of names in the record mentioned, together
with some I have added, is about 560. It is estimated that the coun- ty furnished something like 700 men in addition to the Home Guard units, but this does not pretend to accuracy. The record in type- written form and substantially bound in a book includes additional data with each name and the whole is given into the permanent cus- tody of the county historical society and is available to any one who desires fuller information. The separate roster of Company I is ac- cording to arrangement of the record. Company K and the Liberty
Guards are not in the record and were secured separately. The mem_ bers of 'Hanover S. A. T. C. who are residents of Jefferson County are included in the general roster. The Gold Star list was completed only after diligent inquiry, and the accompanying sketches were, for the most part, secured by personal interviews with the families of the men.
THE GOLD STAR LIST.
"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldiers last tattoo; No more on Life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few. On Fame's eternal camping-ground Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round, The bivouac of the dead."
HARRISON B. BUCKNER.
Of the 804th Pioneer Infantry. Took sick on shipboard going over and died in France, of pneumonia, October 3, 1918, ten days after landing. On board ship Harrison made friends with another man, Charles Browdie, and each agreed that if the other died the survivor would write to his friend's people. Browdie kept this promise.
WILLIAM BUCKNER.
Died of pneumonia on shipboard when on his way to France, and was buried at sea. His brother, Harrison Buck- ner, died of the same disease, also contracted on shipboard, on another vessel, and their deaths were three days apart. A letter from Private Buckner before shipping gave his address as Co. E, 809th Pioneer Infantry, Camp Dodge, Iowa. His mother had no further information about him. The Buck- ner brothers were residents of Madison.
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