"We will therefore ask that the mortal remains of these young men be left here, left with us forever. We inscribe on the tombs, 'Here lie the first soldiers of the republic of the United States to fall on the soil of France for liberty and justice.' The passer-by will stop and uncover his head. Travelers and men of heart will go out of their way to come here to pay their respective tributes.
"Private Enright! Private Gresham! Private Hay! In the name of France, I thank you. God receive your souls! Farewell!"
ITALY INVADED BY TEUTONS
In the first week of October Austrian forces, heavily reinforced by Germans, opened a gigantic drive in an effort to crush Italy. It soon resulted in wiping out all the gains made by the Italians under General Cadorna on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, and in a determined invasion of Northern Italy by the enemy, with the city of Venice as its immediate objective.
The Teuton attack began on the morning of October 24, after an intensive artillery fire in which specially constructed gas shells were thrown at various places. The offensive covered a 23-mile front, from Monte Rombon Southeast through Flitsch and Tolmino and thence Southward to the Bainsizza Plateau, about ten miles Northeast of Goritz, the scene of desperate fighting in the drive by the Italians which wrested important mountain positions from the Austrians.
The greatest shock came from the North, where the Isonzo was first crossed by the enemy. At this point there occurred a weakening of certain troops of the second Italian army, which gave the overwhelming German contingents an opportunity to pass forward between a portion of the army on the North and that on a line farther South. Then began the double exposure of the Southern force to fire in the front and on the flank which required a steady falling back until the entire Italian army was moving towards newly-established positions farther West. The commanding height of Monte Nero, which the Italians had occupied after deeds of great valor, was defended against onslaughts from three sides which gradually resulted in envelopment and the capture of many thousands of Italian troops and hundreds of guns.
A general retreat of the Italian forces was then carried out, with shielding operations by rear guards, and the main body of General Cadorna's army retired to the Tagliamento. The Germans encountered stubborn resistance on the Bainsizza Plateau and heaps of enemy dead marked the lines of their advance. In one of the mountain passes a small village, commanding the pass, was taken and retaken eight times during desperate artillery, infantry and hand-to-hand fighting.
Goritz was shelled heavily and what remained of the city was further reduced to a mass of debris. One of the main bridges from Goritz across the Isonzo was blown up by the Italians and the enemy movement thus was further impeded.
West of Goritz the town of Cormons also was shelled heavily. The great German guns opened enormous craters and literally tore the towns to pieces.
The heaviest pressure began to be felt on the Carso front on Friday, October 26. The Teutons then increased their bombardment to deafening intensity and supplemented this with huge volumes of poison gas and tear-shells. The humid air and light winds permitted great waves of the deadly gases to creep low toward the Italian lines, the rear guards protecting themselves with gas masks and by hiding in caverns.