It would be belittling the bravery of our own men and the men of the Allies to pretend that the enemy lacked courage. The Germans and Austrians fought brilliantly, scientifically, ruthlessly. Individuals displayed the purest heroism and chivalry. But since it is impossible to catalogue everybody, I imagine that this omission, at least, will be indulgently regarded. America entered the war late but at a time of peculiar desperation. Her appearance on the field changed the whole balance of power. Before this time, the _generalissimo_, Foch, was like a gambler trying to break the bank with his last remaining gold pieces. Immediately after, he was a man with an inexhaustible supply of remittances. What would have been insane recklessness before now became good strategy, and he could at last follow out his life-motto: “Attack, attack, attack!” On the other hand the Germans, having entered the war as cold-blooded business men, and conducted it with all the soullessness of the proverbial corporation, realized speedily that the investment was a failure and made every effort to get out as cheaply as possible. The Allies realized that their victory would be wasted if Germany were permitted to retire with any prestige. A crushing and undeniable defeat was of the utmost importance. Hence the Americans were called upon to attack with human sledgehammers the hinges of the German defense and the strong points of rearguard action. Their losses were therefore huge for the brief time of engagement, since they ran to meet danger with an amazing fire. Heroes sprang up, as from sown dragon’s teeth; so fast that there was no recording them. In air, on land and sea, and under the land and the sea, our men wrought so godlike well that it is pitiful to leave any of them without his meed of praise. A word ought to be said also, for the prevented heroes, the unwilling absentees from the battle, those who ate their hearts out in America as instructors in camps, as dealers in supplies, plodders in paper work. Of the Regular Army officers, who had dedicated their lives to valor, made bravery their profession, hardly more than one-third were even enabled to cross the sea, and a large mass of the small portion that got across was never permitted to come within earshot of the fighting line. War has no bitterer cruelties than the fate of such men. There were National Guard men and officers, too, who had given a large part of their leisure to military training only to find themselves condemned to inaction. There was a vast amount of plucking by surgeons, for disabilities that had not prevented men from earning success in civil life. But trench life was so searching a test of strength that youth was almost as essential as in the prize ring.