This great demonstration of character has had no other impetus than the simple declaration of the facts by Herbert Hoover, the man who fed Belgium. Hoover has told his countrymen how things stand. That is all. The Winter of 1918, he declared to them, will prove to mankind whether or not the American Nation "is capable of individual self-sacrifice to save the world." His propaganda has never descended to unworthy levels. He has appealed always to the conscience of his countrymen. He has spoken of "a personal obligation upon every one of us toward some individual abroad who will suffer privation to the extent of our own individual negligence." America has answered this appeal in a manner which marks her out as one of the greatest moral forces in the world. It should be known out there, in the farmhouses and cottages of the American Continent, that the people of this country are mindful of America's self-sacrifice, and are grateful. GENERAL STAFF OFFICERS WITH PERSHING [Illustration: Brig. Gen. Benjamin Alvord, _Adjutant_ (© _Harris & Ewing_)] [Illustration: Brig. Gen. Andre W. Brewster, _Inspector_ (© _Harris & Ewing_)] [Illustration: Brig. Gen. Edgar Russell, _Signal Officer_ (_Underwood from Buck_)] [Illustration: Brig. Gen. Harry L. Rogers, _Quartermaster_ (© _Harris & Ewing_)] PROMINENT IN WAR ACTIVITIES [Illustration: Brig. Gen. B. D. Foulois, _Aviation Officer on Pershing's Staff_ _(Press Illustrating Service)_] [Illustration: Dr. F. P. Keppel, _Recently appointed Assistant Secretary of War_ _(© Harris & Ewing)_] [Illustration: W. C. Potter, _Chief of Equipment Division of Signal Corps_ _(© Harris & Ewing)_] [Illustration: Brig. Gen. C. B. Wheeler, Ordnance Officer on Pershing's Staff _(© Harris & Ewing)_] American Soldiers in Battle How They Repelled an Attack at Seicheprey and Fought in Picardy [MONTH ENDED MAY 20, 1918] Seicheprey, in the Toul sector, was the scene on April 20, 1918, of the most determined attack launched against the American forces in France up to that time. A German regiment, reinforced by storm troops, a total of 1,500, was hurled against the American positions on a one-mile front west of Remières Forest, northwest of Toul, after a severe bombardment of gas and high explosive shells. The Germans succeeded in penetrating the front-line trenches and taking the village of Seicheprey, but after furious hand-to-hand fighting the American troops recaptured the village and most of the ground lost in the early fighting. Next morning, after a brief bombardment, the Americans attacked and drove the enemy out of the old outposts, which they had gained, and thus broke down an offensive which, it was believed, was intended as the beginning of a German plan to separate the Americans and the French. The French lines also were attacked, but the Germans were repulsed and the lines re-established.