One of the first effects on the men who served was democratization. By the draft call all classes and grades of society were drawn into the service. After reaching the service, in so far as possible they were advanced into positions of responsibility without fear or favor. The effort was directed toward finding the men most suited for the individual job. The result was, in most instances, as close a reproduction of a real democracy as is possible. In my regiment there were many instances of this fact. One of my lieutenants, a gallant young fellow, was a waiter in civilian life, a captain was a chauffeur. On the other hand, many men serving in the ranks came from professions ranking high in the scale in civilian life. A lieutenant once spoke to me after an action saying that when he was leading his platoon back from the battle one of his privates asked him a question. The question was so intelligent and so well thought out that the lieutenant said to him: "What were you before the war?" The reply was, "City editor of the Cleveland _Plain Dealer_." Another private, serving as a runner in one of the company headquarters, was an ex-state senator from the State of Washington. These are isolated instances of what was taking place the army over--the waiter and chauffeur as officers and the lawyer and newspaper editor as privates. Ability to take responsibility in the present, not previous conditions, was what they were judged by. Surely associations of this sort will breed sympathy and understanding for the future. Surely these will aid the country to approach its problems without class bias. Another effect was the idea of service to the country. To most of us, up to the time of the war, the country was a rather indefinite affair which had done something for us and which we expected to do more for us in the future. We had given but little thought to what we should do for the country. During the war every man in the service did something for his country. He now is in the position of a man who has bought a share of stock in a company. He is interested in seeing the country run right and is willing to give more service. The idea that we must endeavor to approach in the United States is to create a condition where as close to our entire population as possible has a vested interest in the country. In a certain way this has been supplied to the service men by what they have done for the country. The most important effect, to my mind, was the Americanization. Those who served became straight Americans, one hundred per cent. Americans and nothing else. The regiment was composed of as good a cross section of the United States as you could get. The men came from all sections of the country and from all walks of life.