South High School - Tiger Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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,- J ., J W A it fhllx ai L It i Q H9519 Qffnde Vimidgcg Wen and couldn't locate them. So finally got his lieutenant and had him go over the ground with me. Well, we finally located them and then sent each corporal back for his squad and gun and finally got them in place by about two-thirty A. M. I put on a guard at each gun and a sentry and then let the rest of the men go to sleep after they had gotten the guns up and had brought up their ammunition. When I pulled out of the old place, I hadn't had time to take even a blanket with me. However, I did take my raincoat, and so when I came to lie down myself, I didnit even have a blanket. All of the men had blankets in their packs, and so one of my sergeants loaned me his blanket, and he crawled in with two other sergeants, which was pretty decent of him. The next morning we began to improve our posi- tion, and I had the men start dugouts for each gun and one for myself, which was to be platoon headquarters. Then I started to make a map of the land we were covering, and commenced to get myself oriented with my men. At first I had a little trouble with my men not wanting to keep their gas masks with them all the time and not wanting to wash their mess kits. I soon broke them of this. When they came up for mess, if they didn't have their mess kits clean and their gas masks with them. they got no mess. After this they were more careful. Another thing I had a little trouble with was the men exposing themselves. They wouldn't keep back out of sight in the woods, especially when a Boche plane came over. This was the hardest thing to remedy. They would insist on coming out to watch the barrage which would be put up to stop the plane. I was afraid they would give not only their own presence away but would give away the gun positions, in which case they would be put out of action immediately in case of an attack. In front of us were the in- fantry who were working like beavers to get their trenches completed. We were there to protect these men and enfilade the wire and trenches in case the Boche did get in. Well, anyway, I was king for a week. The captain would not come around sometimes for two or three days. It was surely quite an experience. At the end of the week my orders relieved me. The captain and lieutenants wanted me to get an assignment to their company, if possible. . We came back by the way of Paris and were there for the fourteenth of July, which is their holiday. They had a big parade, etc. In the afternoon I went to an opera and got a train back to the school at eight that night. I got back here this morning at about seven-thirty. I reported and found that I would be allowed to take the advanced course in machine guns. Might say that I was eighth highest in the class last course with an average of ninety-four, which is good, considering that all the others were experienced men with troops. The next course doesn't start for a week yetg so it looks as though I would have a week of leisure. When I finish that course I will feel ready to tackle almost any machine gun job. Lots of love from ' JAMES BALLENTINE. 22

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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

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f.. 1. QETQQ Vieilfditw were A DIARY FROM FRANCE Get out your maps, I'll travel fast. This is to be entitled My Ninety-six Cent Tour of the Old World. Liffol-le-Grand to Neufchateau, to Toul, to Scorcy, the first town to show signs of war, to Commercy, to St. Mihiel. You have read of the wonderful successes of the Americans at this point. To my eyes, it is incredible that our boys accomplished the gains that were made here. Can you see the picture that I saw, the enemy on top of a mountainous hill with a river separating you from the bottom of it? Well, they crossed this river, then drove the Boche off the top and miles beyond. Small towns between here and Verdun are all shot to pieces. Verdun, a prosperous city of a bit over 20,000 inhabitants, rises on a. steep hill in a bend of the Meuse River, which protects it on all sides except on the west, also faces Metz, so quite naturally is a very strategic position. Verdun! You all remember the efforts of the Boche to take this well fortified position early in 1916. They outnumbered the French possibly five to one. They failed, but succeeded in destroying nearly every building in the city. Practically all the buildings are mere shells. A fine cathedral, said to have been built in the twelfth century, is a mass of ruins. An old palace did not suffer quite so much. Some buildings are a mass of brick and stone, others have walls standing. 'Tis a typical monument to wanton destruction. Etain to the east is totally destroyed. I don't remember seeing a single building with a wall standing over one story high. The country between these two cities is a mass of hills, trenches, barbed wire entanglements, dugouts, and shell holes. Shell holes that would make good cellars for a greater part of the buildings of Minneapolis 4 The best advertised city in the world. The few people that have never visited it, that is, ofthe A. E. F., are overly anxious to grace its streets now. The Flour City soldier is some booster. The only time you hear of St. Paul over here is when the Chaplain reads the name from the Bible. Its boosters died a natural death.J Saw, just outside of Etain, the defense used, in addition to pits, against tanks. They are pillars of concrete, about ten feet in diameter, placed about six or eight feet apart and joined together with heavy steel cables. No matter how powerful the tanks were, it would be an utter impossibility for them to pass. From Etain went to Conflans, thence to Briey, to Audun. Here the Germans took our train. It was in the dead of night, so saw very little as we traveled through Esch and Luxembourg. Woke up at six as we entered Treves, or Trier, as the Huns called it. Spent the day here. It is an old town, said to be one of the oldest in Germany. A bridge built by the Romans, and an old statue said to have been built in 541 B. C., also the old buildings made the day really interesting. No one would imagine that Germany had been through four years of war, and it is a pity that they could not have had a taste of what they gave to France and Belgium. They claim shortage of greases, as soap, butter, lard, fats and oil, bread of lighter grains, leather, and some meats. These at least were the only noticeable shortages. The people all dress well, look very healthy, and don't seem to mind our intrusion. They hate 23 ' 5 f.w.' , 56 ,6 Q gpg' 15.5. :pf X . 1 ' J . ,y .',?. I H: ' ' 9 1 ,f Jqei 1 -QI-1. 55' N Eli' 'gf .vit-2 .gr -7,15 I I o EM