I was there by C. LeRoy Baldridge
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C. LeRoy Baldridge >> I was there
And I know damn well there's stragglers
That'll ride up on a truck--
Guess if you ain't born a quitter,
You're just simply outa luck.
I suppose we'll keep on going--
Huh? The Skipper's faced about?
Halt!... I'm dreaming ... in the daisies ...
You don't need ... to say ... "fall out!"
[Illustration: (tired soldiers)]
[Illustration: For some of us The War will never end.]
[Illustration: In an old Roman cellar...]
In an old Roman cellar two floors underground where civilians went
during air raids as bombing planes passed over on their way to
Compaigne, Paris, and interior cities. This "cave" was considered
absolutely safe, but in October 1918 was completed demolished by one
"155" shell.
[Illustration: Mess and distribution of mail...]
Mess and distribution of mail at the "non-com" school for the M.T.C. at
Longpont
[Illustration: Far from Broadway]
Far from Broadway--S.R.O.--Christmas 1917 at a YMCA hut
[Illustration: Dressing a gas burn case]
[Illustration: "Mission Ambrine"]
"Mission Ambrine"
Compiègne
Hospital for the treatment of burns
[Illustration: Americans quartered in the old abbey...]
Americans quartered in the old abbey St. John de Vine of Soissons in the
spring of '18
[Illustration: All the Same Family]
Henri, who tends sheep with his assistant (Leroy)
She teaches us French
Jean, who comes around at mess time for "confiture Americaine," and who
has learned how to say "chewing gum" and "cigarette."
And Pierre picked the spuds
[Illustration: Their last war]
Chateau Thierry--France 1918
[Illustration: The town of Cuffies...]
The town of Cuffies (sur Aisne) held by the Germans till 1916, when the
old inhabitants began moving back in; they were assisted in
re-establishing their life there by the American Red Cross
[Illustration: The site of the home of Madam Crépin...]
The site of the home of Madam Crépin where the Red Cross set up a
barrack cottage for her.
[Illustration: The Glory of Reims]
[Illustration: Cut off from rations for three days...]
Cut off from rations for three days in the wood--with one can of
tomatoes for both food and drink--
[Illustration: A sixteen year old volunteer]
[Illustration]
"MADELON"
It seemed years since I had seen one,--
Years of hiking, sweat and blood,
Didn't think there was a clean one
In these miles of men and mud.
Well, I stood there, laughing, drinking,
Kidding her in bon fransay
But the things that I was thinking
Were a thousand miles away.
Sewed my stripe on like a mother,
Gee! She was a pretty kid....
But I left her like a brother,--
Shake her hand was all I did.
Then I says: "Vous, all right, cherry--"
And my throat stuck, and it hurt....
And I showed her what I carry
In the pocket of my shirt.
[Illustration: "Maison Comtois"]
[Illustration: A second floor billet]
[Illustration: Outpost at Hershback Germany]
[Illustration: Madelon of the village...]
Madelon of the village, who washed our clothes--and who still has some
of those we had to leave when we pulled out of the sector in the middle
of the night
[Illustration: Neat but not gaudy]
Neat but not gaudy
As we come home--on the transport.
[Illustration: Oran Africa 1919]
Troops coming home from Marseilles go by way of Africa and stop to coal
at Oran. Here the doughboy rests the French Arab soldier with whom He
fought side by side at Soissons.
[Illustration: Ready to go Home]
[Illustration: Reading the Draft Covenant for the League of Nations--Paris]
Reading the Draft Covenant for the League of Nations--Paris
(President Wilson, center, reads, other figures labelled as)
General Bliss
Colonel House
Secretary Lansing
M. Clemenceau
Mr. Balfour
Peace Conference Feb 14 1919
[Illustration: Blue denims for the trip home]
S.S. Canada
1919
[Illustration: Outpost at Molsberg...]
Outpost at Molsberg, Germany, an ancient castle which stands just on the
edge of the American occupied area and the Neutral Zone.
NOVEMBER ELEVENTH
We stood up and we didn't say a word,
It felt just like when you have dropped your pack
After a hike, and straightened out your back
And seem just twice as light as any bird.
We stood up straight and, God! but it was good!
When you have crouched like that for months, to stand
Straight up and look right out toward No-Man's-Land
And feel the way you never thought you could.
We saw the trenches on the other side
And Jerry, too, not making any fuss,
But prob'ly stupid-happy, just like us.
Nobody shot and no one tried to hide.
If you had listened then I guess you'd heard
A sort of sigh from everybody there,
But all we did was stand and stare and stare,
Just stare and stand and never say a word.