The War Romance of the Salvation ArmyHill, Grace Livingston
History
The War Romance of the Salvation Army
Hill, Grace Livingston
World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Salvation Army
While all this was going on the Salvation Army friends over at
Raulecourt had been watching the shells falling on Boueq, and been much
troubled about them.
These were stirring times. No one had leisure to wonder what had become
of his brother, for all were working with all their might to the one
great end.
Up north of Beaumont two aviators were caught by the enemy’s fire and
forced to land close to the enemy nests. Instead of surrendering the
Americans used the guns on their planes and held off the Germans until
darkness fell, when they managed to escape and reach the American
lines. This was only one of many individual feats of heroism that
helped to turn the tide of battle. The courage and determination, one
might say the enthusiasm, of the Americans knew no bounds. It awed and
overpowered the enemy by its very eagerness. The Americans were having
all they could do to keep up with the enemy. The artillerymen captured
great numbers of enemy cannon, ammunition, food and other supplies,
which the trucks gathered up and carried far to the front, where they
were ready for the doughboys when they arrived. One of the greatest
feats of engineering ever accomplished by the American Army was the
bridging of the Meuse, in the region of Stenay, under terrible shell
fire, using in the work of building the pontoons the Boche boats and
materials captured during the fighting at Chateau-Thierry and which had
been brought from Germany for the Kaiser’s Paris offensive in July. The
Meuse had been flooded until it was a mile wide, yet there was more
than enough material to bridge it.
As the Americans advanced, village after village was set free which had
been robbed and pillaged by the Germans while under their domination.
The Yankee trucks as they returned brought the women and children back
from out of the range of shell fire, and they were filled with wonder
as they heard the strange language on the tongues of their rescuers.
They knew it was not the German, but they had many of them never seen
an American before. The Germans had told them that Americans were wild
and barbarous people. Yet these men gathered the little hungry children
into their arms and shared their rations with them. There were three
dirty, hungry little children, all under ten years of age, Yvonne,
Louisette and Jeane, whose father was a sailor stationed at Marseilles.
Yvonne was only four years of age, and she told the soldiers she had
never seen her father. They climbed into the big truck and sat looking
with wonder at the kindly men who filled their hands with food and
asked them many questions. By and by, they comprehended that these big,
smiling, cheerful men were going to take the whole family to their
father. What wonder, what joy shone in their eager young eyes!
Strange and sad and wonderful sights there were to see as the soldiers
went forward.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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