| SOLDIERS WHO DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES AT THE FORTRESS OF METZ. GROUP BELONGING TO 365TH INFANTRY ARRIVING AT CHICAGO STATION. |
| HOMEWARD BOUND IN A PULLMAN CAR. NO "JIM CROWING THERE." THE NEGRO BEARS ON HIS SHOULDER THE CITATION CORD AND EMBLEM DENOTING VALOROUS SERVICE. |
Lieutenant Walker, who arrived just at this time, took hold of matters with admirable coolness and presence of mind. Sergeant Atwood tried out the switchboard and found all lines broken. He also found on trying it the buzzerphone out. Lieutenant Walker gave orders to Private White to stay on the switchboard and Corporal Adolphus Johnson to stay on the buzzerphone. The twelve-cord monocord board was nailed up by White and then began the connecting up of the lines from outside to the monocord board. All this time the shelling by the Germans was fierce and deadly. Shells struck all around the boys and one struck a nearby ammunition dump, causing the explosion of thousands of rounds of ammunition, which created a terrific shock and extinguished all the lights.
But still the men worked on and would not leave the dangerous post, a veritable target for the enemy's big guns, until the lieutenant of the Military Police arrived and ordered them out.
The 325th Field Signal Battalion was a great success. What the boys did not learn about radio, telephonic and telegraphic work would be of little advantage to anyone. It will be of great advantage to many of them in the way of making a living in times of peace.
By the time the armistice stopped the fighting the different units of the 92nd Division had taken many prisoners and gained many objectives. They finally retired to the vicinity of Pont a Mousson, where time was spent salvaging material and cleaning equipment, while the men, knowing there was to be no more fighting, anxiously awaited the time until they were ordered to an embarkation point and thence home.
The trip home in February, 1919, was about as perilous to some of them as the war had been. It was a period of unusually rough weather. The north Atlantic, never very smooth during the winter months, put on some extra touches for the returning Negro soldiers. An experience common to many on several different transports has been described by Mechanic Charles E. Bryan of Battery B, 351st Artillery upon his return to his home, 5658 Frankstown Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. Asked about his impressions of the war, he said that which impressed him the most was the storm at sea on the way home.
"That storm beat the war all hollow," he said. "Me and my buddies were messing when the ship turned about eighteen somersaults, and we all pitched on the floor, spilling soup and beans and things all over the ship.
"The lights went out and somehow the automatic bell which means 'abandon ship' was rung by accident. We didn't know it was an accident, and from the way the ship pitched we thought she was on her way down to look up one Mr. Davy Jones. So we made a break for the decks, and believe me, some of those lads who had come through battles and all sorts of dangers were about to take a dive over the side if our officers had not started explaining in time."
Stories of varying degrees of interest, some thrilling, some humorous and some pathetic to the last degree, have been brought back.