Part 25 (1/2)
Major Whittlesey had no rockets to send up to give his location, and his men could not yell loud enough to make the aviators hear them and locate them, but their yells did help the Germans to get better range for their trench mortars and machine guns.
As the days pa.s.sed the Americans grew more and more exhausted, but their courage and hope continued strong. All would rather die than surrender. Their ammunition was getting so low that the Germans were able to come closer to them, for Major Whittlesey ordered his men only to fire when the Hun was near enough so that they were sure not to miss him.
After five days of this terrible exposure and strain, the battalion was rescued by a relief party. Of more than six hundred men at the beginning, three hundred and ninety-four survived at the end of the five days' fighting and suffering. All were completely exhausted, and many wounded. Many were so weak they had to be carried to the rear where warm blankets, warm food, and drink awaited them.
But more than this awaited them. Their comrades were waiting for them with happy smiles and proud cheers. A place in history among the valiant deeds of brave and daring men also awaited them. They taught a lesson in pluck and endurance that the world will not allow to be forgotten.
To those who read this story of _The Lost Battalion_, Colonel Whittlesey and Lieutenant McKeogh send the following messages:--
The most striking memory of one who returns from abroad is the memory of the enlisted men, who bore the real hards.h.i.+p of the war and did their work in a simple, cheerful way.
Charles W. Whittlesey.
America's greatest contribution to the World War was--the enlisted man.
His calm valor, his smiling self-sacrifice can never be told.
Arthur McKeogh 1st Lieut., Inf., U.S.A.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Messages from Colonel Whittlesey and Lieutenant McKeogh.]
UNITED STATES DAY
United States Day was celebrated in Paris on April 20, 1918.
On that day, exercises were held in the great hall of the Sorbonne; on April 21, a reception was given the American amba.s.sador, and a great procession marched to the statue of Lafayette. The Stars and Stripes flew from the Eiffel Tower and from the munic.i.p.al buildings on both days.
At the exercises in the Sorbonne on April 20, M. Millerand, president of the French Maritime League, ranked Wilson with Was.h.i.+ngton and Lincoln.
”Was.h.i.+ngton, Lincoln, Wilson--these are immortal types of the presidency of a democracy--men who, conscious of their responsibilities, a.s.sume the duty of guiding the people at whose head they have the honor to be placed, thus realizing the necessary harmony in human affairs between the principle of authority and the principle of liberty. Yes, history will a.s.sign to President Wilson a place among the great statesmen of all time, for he has been able to make clear the reasons why honor condemned neutrality and commanded war in order to a.s.sure to humanity the blessing of peace.”
Following the speech, the American and French flags were held aloft, touching each other. Then a French poet, Jean Richepin, recited with great emotion and telling effect, a poem he had composed for the occasion, ent.i.tled, ”The Kiss of the Flags.” Amba.s.sador Sharp saluted the great republic of France and her Allies.
In London, the American flag flew on April 20, 1918, where no flag except the British flag had flown in all history, at the top of the Victoria Tower over the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. A solemn and beautiful service was held at St. Paul's Cathedral. The King and Queen and England's greatest men and women attended.
These celebrations in Paris and London and elsewhere are of importance to America, because they proved that the world was beginning to realize that the people of the United States were more than money seekers looking only for selfish gain, and therefore weak and unreliable. When America entered the war, a leading German paper said,
”We do not think that America's intervention will have an essential effect on the results of the war. The Allies are going to have a momentary advantage, but they will soon be aware that America is like a stick that breaks when one wants to lean on it.”
Another great German daily gave the following as America's reasons for joining the Allies:--
”First, the desire to have a place at the peace conference; second, the wish to weaken or destroy the love of different peoples for their native lands; third, the hope thereby to be able to increase her military and naval equipment; and fourth, the desire to build up a great American merchant fleet.”
Because Germany saw in the United States only the love of power and of the Almighty Dollar, she made the terrible mistake that brought about her downfall. With the declaration of war with Germany on April 6, 1917, at least England and France saw the people of America more nearly as they are, lovers and defenders of the highest ideals man has yet felt and spoken. The American soldiers showed a little later at Belleau Wood and in the Argonne forest, that they loved these ideals enough to die for them.