PREFATORY NOTE.
An effort has been made in this volume to state as concisely and clearly as possible the main events connected with the History of Battery D.
To recount in print every specific incident connected with the life of the organization, or to attempt a military biographical sketch of every battery member, would require many volumes.
My soldier-comrade readers will, no doubt, recall many instances which could have been included in this volume with marked appropriateness.
The selection of the material, however, has been with utmost consideration and for the expressed purpose of having the complete narrative give the non-military reader a general view of the conditions and experiences that fell to the lot of the average unit in the United States Army in service in this country and overseas.
Grateful acknowledgment is due to those who aided in the verification of all material used. Many of the battery members made suggestions that have been embodied in the text.
To A. Ernest Shafer, D. C., and Conrad A. Balliet, of Hazleton, Penna., belongs credit for information supplied covering periods when the author was on detached service from the battery. To Dr. Shafer acknowledgment is also due for the use of photographs from which a number of the illustrations have been reproduced.
From Prof. Fred H. Bachman, C. A. C., of Hazleton, Penna., who read over the manuscript, many valuable suggestions were received.
W. E. B.
Hazleton, Penna., 1920.