"Lester S. Wass, Captain U. S. Marines. July 18, 1918."
"The old crowd at St. Nazaire and Bordeaux—Wass and Sumner killed, Baston and Capt. LeRoy T. Hunt wounded. We then moved further to the rear and camped for the night. Dunlap came to look us over. A carrier pigeon perched on a tree with a message. We decided to shoot him. It was then quite dark, so the shot missed. I then heard the following remarks as I tried to sleep: 'Hell! he only turned around!' 'Send up a flare!' 'Call for a barrage!' etc.
"The next day we were back in a town for some rest and to lick our wounds."
IMPRESSION OF A FRENCH LIEUTENANT
A French lieutenant thus describes the American fighting quality:
"The finest thing in the combat was the dash of the Americans. It was splendid to see those grand fellows, with their tunics thrown off and their shirt sleeves rolled up above their elbows, wading the rivers with the water to their shoulders and throwing themselves on the Boche like bulldogs.
"Any one who has seen such a sight knows what the American army is good for henceforth and to the end of the war. At the sight of these men, magnificent in their youth, physical force, good temper and dash, the Germans fled 'with every leg' or surrendered without awaiting the order to throw away their arms and take off their suspenders, which is the first thing a prisoner is told to do, in order that he may be compelled to keep his hands employed and out of mischief.
"The Germans hurried toward our lines gripping their trousers, haggard and mad with terror.
"Would that every mother in France who has lost a son in the war could have seen that epic sight. They would have seen themselves revenged, and it would have been some consolation to them in their sorrow."
KEEPING THE GERMANS ON THE RUN