| Chapter 1 |
We had to make the trip to the front under shell fire, and it was about a five mile hike which I never will forget. We each carried three bombs, in addition to one rifle, one cartridge belt, one hundred and twenty-five rounds of ammunition, a gas mask, and a helmet. The weather was zero, almost chilling us to the very bone. The Huns were shelling heavily ahead as we marched onward. There were men with ashen, sombre faces realizing what was ahead. We knew the bitterness of attacks that failed - the anticipation of the uncertain - but with the strong determination "to push," so characteristic of the old 89th Division, not a man hesitated. It was a dangerous hike through mud and water and forest hills saturated with gas; continually dodging shells and steel and enemy aeroplanes that were driving, backing and circling in every conceivable manner about us. Yet our division kept pushing ahead, pushing and driving against every resistance; pushing ahead further and further, gaining ground and blasting the enemy's counter attacks. Finally, at dusk, we reached the front to join in the barrage and advance "over the top" the following morning. The night was dark; chill winds swept bitterly against us; we could not see our way and lost our sergeant. Halting up near a hillside I was put on gas guard a few moments, when suddenly Hell itself seemed to have broken loose! The Huns started in shelling us heavily while our own barrage of cannons, trench mortars and machine guns cut loose! The air was dense with smoke and gas, the woods aglow with myriads of flares and flashes across the Heavens. There was terror in the very atmosphere itself. All orders were yelled in loud commands. I shall never forget the deafening roar and vibrations of the thunder of that barrage as thousands and thousands were firing at the same moment! It was the grandest sight I ever expect to see again in a lifetime. I shall never forget the dead and wounded on that battlefield. Mangled bodies lay strewn in piles, the wounded moaning and asking for help! The air grew denser and denser, and louder and louder came the roar of the enemy’s guns. Adding to all this hellish noise the Huns opened up on us with a heavy counter barrage, their great shells dropping all around us near a little hole in which we had taken shelter and exploding with a reddish flash sending up dirt, rocks, trees and steel in every direction. I could hear mournful cries from some of our boys who got hit, I could see form after form drop helpless to the ground. How any of us came out alive I cannot tell. I did some deep thinking and wondered how many of us would travel homeward to the land of our birth; how many of us would sleep upon this ground we won? None but they who have gone through this hell of lying under a counter barrage, completely powerless, can truly realize the anguish and terror. Closer and closer the great barrage advanced, throwing dirt and branches up on the very top of our hole, while inside men gritted their teeth facing this apparent inevitable death! Here again I called upon the Virgin of Heaven with every assurance of Her all-powerful intercession, and, like a ray of sunshine penetrating the darkest cloud, the barrage lifted up a little and we started to join the rest. |