South High School - Tiger Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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,- I+-at J M' fffia ' I WS 5 .jlxxx ai . 119329 fflfie Vficciiinvfg ftfijgenv WATCH ON THE RHINE Luxembourg, Nov. 28,1918 THE A i Dear Mother and Father: I have received letters from all members of the fam- ily during the last month, but have been unable to answer any until now. As you undoubtedly notice by the headlines, I am spending this Thanksgiving Day in the Duchy of Lux- embourg. I for one certainly have a good deal to be thankful for. I have come thru all the drives, alive, and what's more-untouched. Our division was one of the first to start this last drive, which had so much to do with the Germans' calling for peace. At one time during the advance our division left the divisions on its right and left eight kilometers behind. By the time the Americans reached the Meuse 2 river, the Germans begged for an armistice. By the way, you know the friend of mine whose slip I sent home for a Christmas package? Good old Powell made the supreme sacrifice in this last drive. He was killed by a machine gun bullet. We got the machine guns afterward. There were seven of them. My pal Hollis Empey was killed the night before the armistice. It was while we were trying to cross the Meuse river on a pantoon of bridges that a piece of shell hit him. He certainly was a fine fellow. A truer friend I never expect to have. After the armistice, we had the job of following up the retreat of the Germans, taking over the evacuated territory as soon as they left it. We passed thru a portion of Belgium. They sure did welcome us. All along the streets of the villages were lined up evergreen trees decorated with bright colors, tinsel and flags of the Allies. Here and there were archways with inscriptions like this, To The Sons of The True Freedom, which was the first one I saw on crossing the boundary from France into Belgium. Others had writings to this effect, Honneur aux Allies, Honneur au Liberateurf' In one village that I was billeted in, they gave us their sitting-room and brought down feather mattresses and pillows to sleep on. Bremchiel, Germany, January 11, 1919. When I last wrote our company was in Luxembourg. Now, however, we are ten kilometers the other side of the Rhine, in Germany. Our regiment crossed the border into Germany December 1. From where we started in France, which was on the Meuse river, to where we are now is over 300 kilometers. I spent Christmas in the village of Stopperich. Four of us fellows were billeted in a bakery. We decorated it up as best we could with Christmas houghs and holly. 20

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Cliffs Viioildng gigs? THE ARGONNE FOREST-THE LAST FIGHT Nov. 24, 1918. Dear Dad: The papers tell us that today we soldiers are to write to our fathers. I am glad they reminded me of it, for now that I think of it, I find that you have been some- what neglected in my list of correspondents. The censor also allows us to write anything we like except that of knocking the methods of our government. I believe that such a restriction is unnecessary, for Uncle Sam has surely done wonderful things. During the night of October 18, 1917, we left port of Hoboken, N. I., on the President Lincoln for France. There were eleven transports, two destroyers and a cruiser in the convoy. We landed October 31st fHallowe'en nightl at Saint Nazaire without any mishaps. We stayed at Saint Nazaire Eve days, after which time we traveled by train to a training camp at Coi Quedon. Here we spent three months training, and on February 18 we entered the lines of Lorraine, our head- quarters being at.Luneville. This front, compared with the others we have fought at, was quiet, yet it was here we first experienced war. We held a front of fifteen kilometers for one hundred and ten days. We were the first American division to hold sectors without French aid. During the first part of July we posted our guns in Champagne near the town of Snipper, awaiting what proved to be the last German offensive. On the night of July 18th we were ordered to move to Chateau-Thierry. You have read of our success there, also of our success at Saint Mihiel, to which IIIV see place we went after the Chateau-Thierry drive. It was at Saint Mihiel that horse was killed. I kept him three doors from where I was sleeping, so you how narrowly I escaped. I have had many such escapes, but one only gets up off his stomach and brushes the dirt off aftera shell explosion. I have found, and all find it so, that it is wise when you think a shell is going to drop close to you, to lie flat on your stomach, so that the spare parts will not take effect under your skin. From Saint Mihiel we went directly to the Argonne front, where we fought the last fight. I will not in this letter try to enumerate the horrors of warg will leave that until I return. On October 16th I was ordered to Chalons at the rear to report to the doctor because of coughing spells 1 had been troubled with for some time. The doctor sent me to the hospital, which was located near Nantes. I remained there until November 16th, when I was sent here to this casual camp at LaMans. They say that from here we are to be sent home. I hope so, much as I would like to rejoin my regiment. Some of the largest cities I have visited are Paris, Nantes, Chalons, Vitry, La Mans, Bascarret, Toul, and Saint Nazaire. I will close now, dad. Love to all, Your son, LAWRENCE MCHARDY, 151st F. A. H. Co. 19 E- . ,,..,,, GJ -A wi '+'as':' ' - 0 Li- E155 -iff 1:0 . ' .. fifflv .-W' 12,--3, J f f ' 1 J 1 f ,Ct-g -. , ,sax at x .Srila 5 rl .nl L i O EMG

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Vicifdilg Wow However, it was not at all like a Christmas at home. A year ago Christmas out Company was on M. P. duty in the city of Bordeaux. Our Regiment has been decorated twice for bravery, courage, and endurance. Once for the battle of Soissons, where it captured two thousand prisoners, twelve cannon, four hundred machine guns, and also advanced a number of kilometers. It was decorated again a few days ago for the fighting at Chateau-Thierry. Our brigade colors have been decorated with the Croix de Guerre with Palm for the Hghting at Chateau-Thierry. Enclosed you will find one of the orders that are read to us every now and then. With love to all, Your son, VICTOR E. JOHNSON, Co. K 3rd Batt., 5 Regt. U. S. M. C., A. E. F. France. THE FIRST COMMAND School-France, July 15, 1918. Dear Dad: Well, I've got a lot to tell in this letter, as I haven't written for nearly two weeks. I suppose I had better send a telegram to let you know I am back from the front and was disappointed in what little I saw. However, I had some great experiences. I left to go up there on July 5. I spent a day in Paris, which I had to go through, and then took a train as far as possible and made the rest of the trip in motor trucks. I can't tell you what part of the line I went to, but it was not far behind where Carl Wallace's marines and Bustor's outfit showed up so well. Well, I got there in the afternoon and was assigned to a machine gun outfit, supposedly for observation. I went over with the captain to his headquarters and had just got nicely started on our mess when call to arms was sounded. Then up came a runner and gave the captain orders to move out immediately. In less than five minutes all the carts were packed and on the road ready to move off. The captain, noticing me there, said: You're in charge of the second platoon, move off. It was all so sudden that it sort of took my breath away. To find myself in command of a machine gun platoon of about forty-five men and five guns was a little more than I expected, especially as I was only to be there for observation work. Well, I found my platoon, and off we started. We must have marched for about three hours when we finally halted. It was beginning to get dark. I had no idea of the lay of the land, not having a map, and knew nothing of the scheme of defense. One of the other lieutenants had been up to the position that morning to look over the gun position and had taken a ser- geant with him. He gave me this sergeant and said he would show me my gun positions. Well it was dark by this time, and he looked for about an hour or longer 21 ! 65i5'i.'.z.f Q-Qajgg 'A Ku ' .325 :ew N- Zi. I'1'- C-IL - ' 715' ' E-4 . 5 V 0 SEM