_The Navy performed successfully every task with which it was entrusted. In not one did it fail._ _If it made mistakes--(and some were made)--not one of them had any serious or disastrous result._ _If there were delays--(and there were some unavoidable ones)--not one of them had any material effect upon the trend or duration of the war._ _If all the criticisms, of whatever kind or character, that have been made be lumped together, they would not tilt the scales one degree, if balanced against the Navy's achievements._ After the war was all over and the men were returning home, with time and opportunity to assess the value of the service rendered, General John J. Pershing, in command of the American Expeditionary Forces, wrote on April 21, 1919: We fully realize that had it not been for the Navy, who kept watch and guard night and day over our transport fleet, the American effort in France would never have been successful. The Navy's assistance was whole-hearted and arduous, and was always given in a most generous spirit of coöperation. CHAPTER XXXVI AFTER THE ARMISTICE NAVAL DIPLOMACY PREVENTED CLASH IN FORMER AUSTRIAN TERRITORY AND STABILIZED CONDITIONS IN DISTURBED AREAS--ANDREWS IN THE ADRIATIC--BRISTOL AT CONSTANTINOPLE--MC CULLY'S CONFIDENTIAL MISSION TO RUSSIA--MISSIONS OF ROOSEVELT AND BENSON--SHIPS AND MEN SERVED AS ALMONERS TO THE STARVING. Men in the fighting line were full of solemn thanksgiving the day the armistice was signed. At home we built bonfires and rejoiced. In Paris the celebration was a jubilee. It meant home to the Americans, with eyes turned toward our shores, coming back to firesides with the sense of a hard duty finished with honor. Much has been heard since November 11, 1918, of regret that war was not continued until Berlin was captured. There was no such feeling on the front line on that glad day in November. The Allies could have gone on to Berlin, but the victory would have been no greater, only costlier in lives. Those who think that the troops should have been ordered "On to Berlin," instead of accepting the victory through the terms of the armistice, ought to recall the statement by Marshal Foch. When the terms had been drawn up, one of the American Peace Commissioners asked General Foch whether he would rather the Germans would reject or accept the armistice that had been drawn up. The commander of the Allied armies answered: The only aim of war is to obtain results. If the Germans sign an armistice on the general lines we have just determined we shall have obtained the result we seek. Our aims being accomplished, no one has the right to shed another drop of blood.