The capture of Vaux, situated on the Château-Thierry-Paris highway,
marked the beginning of the check to the Germans in their drive to the
Marne in 1918. One of the big guns which fired on Paris was situated
near here.]
“I am afraid I have given but a poor picture of that splendid advance.
There was nothing dashing about it like a cavalry charge, but it was
one of the finest things I have ever seen men do. They were men who had
never before been called upon to attack a strongly held enemy position.
Before them were the dense woods effectively sheltering armed and
highly trained opponents of unknown strength. Within its depths the
machine guns snarled and rattled and spat forth a leaden death. It was
like some mythical monster belching smoke and fire from its lair. And
straight against it marched the United States Marines, with heads up
and the light of battle in their eyes.
“Well, they made it. They reached the woods without breaking. They
had the advantage of slightly better cover than Berry’s men and the
defensive positions at the lower end of the woods had not been so well
organized by the Germans as those on the western side. The first wave
reached the low growth at the edge of the woods and plunged in. Then
the second wave followed, and the third and the fourth, and disappeared
from view.”
About an hour later Catlin had the attention of a surgeon, but while he
lay there gas shells began bursting nearby and they put the gas mask on
him. “I never knew before how uncomfortable one of those things could
be. It is hard enough for a man to breathe with a lung full of blood
without having one of those smothering masks clapped over his face.” He
was got to Lucy for treatment and then taken to Paris, where quarts of
blood were drawn from his pleural cavity. The wonder is that he came
through it at all.