had its occasional brighter thread. The American boys feel especially
grateful to Mr. Merle V. Arnold, of. Lincoln, Nebraska, the American Y.
M. C. A. man who had been captured by the Red Guards a few days
preceding their capture. He was able to do things for them when they
reached Moscow. And when he was almost immediately given his liberty
and allowed to go out through Finland, he did not forget the boys he
left behind. He carried their case to the British and Danish Red Cross
and a weekly allowance of 200 roubles found its way over the
belligerent lines to Moscow and was given to the boys, much to the
grateful assistance of the starving allied prisoners of war.
But they became resourceful as all American soldiers seem to become,
whether at Bakaritza, Smolny, Archangel, Kholmogora, Moscow or
wherenot, and they found ways of adding to their rations. Imagine one
of them lining up with the employees of a Bolo public soup kitchen and
going through ostensibly to do some work and playing
now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t-see-it with a dish of salt or a head of
cabbage or a loaf of bread or a chunk of sugar, or when on friendly
terms with the Bolshevik public employees volunteering to help do some
work that led them to where a little money would buy something on the
side at inside employees’ prices. Imagine them with their little brass
kettle, stewing it over their little Russian sheet-iron stove, stirring
in their birdseed substitute for rolled oats and potatoes and cabbage
and perhaps a few shreds of as clean a piece of meat as they could buy,
on the sly. See the big wooden spoons travelling happily from pot to
lips and hear the chorus of _Dobra, dobra._
They will not ever forget the English Red Cross woman who constantly
looked out for the five Americans, the thirty-five British and fifteen
French prisoners, finding ways to get for them occasional morsels of
bacon and bread and small packages of tea and tobacco. On Easter day
she entertained them all in the old palace of Ivan the Terrible.
How good it was one day to meet an American woman who had eighteen
years before married a Russian in Chicago and come to Moscow to live.
Her husband was a grain buyer for the Bolshevik government but she was
a hater of the Red Rule and gave the boys all the comfort she could,
which was little owing to the surveillance of the Red authorities.
And one day the sergeant met an American dentist who had for many years
been the tooth mechanic for the old Czar and his family. He fixed up a
tooth as best he could for the American soldier. The Reds had about
stripped him but left him his tools and his shop so that he could serve
the Red rulers when their molars and canines needed attention.
The American boys gained the confidence of the Russians in Moscow just
as they had always done in North Russia. They were finally given
permission to participate in the privileges of one of the numerous
clubs that the Red officials furnished up lavishly for themselves in
the palatial quarters of old Moscow. Here they could find literature
and lectures and lounging room and for a few roubles often gained a hot
plate of good soup or a delicacy in the shape of a horse steak. Of
course the latter was always a little dubious to the American doughboy,
for in walking the street he too often saw the poor horse that dropped
dead from starvation or overdriving, approached by the butcher with the
long knife. He merely raised the horse’s tail, slashed around the anal
opening of the animal with his blade, then reached in his great arm and
drew out the entrails and cast them to one side for the dogs to growl
and fight over. Later would come the sleigh with axes and other knives
to cut up the frozen carcass. On May day the boys nearly lost their
membership in the club, along with its soup and horse-steak privileges
because they would not march in the Red parade to the gaily decorated
square to hear Lenin speak to his subjects.
Was the Red government able to feed the people by commandeering, the
food? No. At last the peasants gained the sufferance of the Red rulers
to traffic their foodstuffs on the streets even as we have seen them
with handfuls of vegetables on the market streets of Archangel. Prices
were out of sight. Under a shawl in a tiny box, an old peasant woman on
Easter Day was offering covertly a few eggs at two hundred roubles
apiece.
Imagine the feelings of the boys when they walked about freely as they
did, being dressed in the regular Russian long coats and caps and being
treated with courtesy by all Russians who recognized them as Americans.
Here they found themselves looking at the great hotel built on American
lines of architecture to please the eye and shelter the American
travellers of the olden times before the great war, a building now used
by the Red Department of State. Here they were examined by one of
Tchicherin’s men upon their arrival in the Red capital. Further they
could walk about the Kremlin, and visit a part of it on special
occasions. They could see the execution block and the huge space laid
out by Ivan the Terrible, where thousands of Russians bled this life
away at the behest of a cruel government.
Or they could stand before the St. Saveur cathedral, a noble structure
of solid marble with glorious murals within to remind the Slavic people
of their unconquerable resistance to the great Napoleon and of his
disastrous retreat from their beloved Moscow.
They cannot be blamed for coming out of Moscow convinced that the heart
of the Slavic people is not in this Bolshevik class hatred and class
dictatorship stuff of Lenin and Trotsky; equally convinced that the
heart of the Russian people is not unfearful of the attempted return of
the old royalist bureaucrats to their baleful power, and convinced that
the heart of this great, courteous, patient, longsuffering Slavic
people is groping for expression of self-government, and that America
is their ideal—a hazy ideal and one that they aspire toward only in
general outlines. Their ultimate self-government may not take the shape
of American constitutionalism, but Russian self-government must in time
come out of the very wrack of foreign and internecine war. And every
American soldier who fought the Bolshevik Russian in arms or stood on
the battle line beside the Archangel Republic anti-Bolshevik Russian,
might join these returned captives from Bolshevikdom in wishing that
there may soon come peace to that land, and that they may develop
self-government.
“We finally received our release. We had known of the liberation of Mr.
Arnold and several of our North Russian comrades and had been hoping
for our turn to come. Mr. Frank Taylor, an Associated Press
correspondent, was helpful to us, declaring to the Bolshevik rulers
that American troops were withdrawing from Archangel. We had been
faithful _(sic)_ to the lectures, for a purpose of dissimulation, and
the Red fanatics really thought we were converted to the silly stuff
called bolshevism. It was plain to us also that they were playing for
recognition of their government by the United States. So we were given
passports for Finland. The propaganda did not deceive us.
“At the border a suspicious sailor on guard searched us. He turned many
back to Petrograd. The train pulled back carrying four hundred women
and children and babies disappointed at the very door to freedom,
weeping, penniless, and starving, starting back into Russia all to suit
the whim of an ignorant under officer. Under the influence of flattery
he softened toward us and after robbing us of everything that had been
provided us by our friends for the journey, taking even the official
papers sent by the Bolshevik government to our government which we were
to deliver to American representatives in Finland, he let us go.
“After he let us go we saw the soldiers in the house grabbing for the
American money which Mr. Taylor had given us. They had not thought it
worth while to take the Russian roubles away from us. Of course they
were of no value to us in Finland. After a two kilometer walk, carrying
a sick English soldier with us, my three comrades and I reached the
little bridge that gave us our freedom.”—_By Sgt. Glenn W. Leitzell,
Co. M, 339th Inf._
XXXVIII
MILITARY DECORATIONS
In the North Russian Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki, American
officers and men fought at one time or another under the field
standards of four nations, American, British, French, and (North)
Russian. And for their valor and greatly meritorious conduct, mostly
over and beyond the call of duty, many soldiers were highly commended
by their field officers, American, French, British, and Russian, in
their reports to higher military authorities. Many, but not all, of
these officers and soldiers were later cited in orders and awarded
decorations. Not every deserving man received a citation. That is the
luck of war.
It was a matter of keen regret to the British Commanding General that
he was so hedged by orders from England that his generous policy of
awarding decorations to American soldiers was abruptly ended in
mid-winter when it became apparent that the United States would not
continue the campaign against the Bolsheviki but would withdraw
American troops at the earliest possible moment.
The Russian military authorities were eager to show their appreciation
of their American soldier allies, but due to the indifference of
Colonel Stewart to this not many soldiers were decorated with Russian
old army decorations.
The French decorations were probably the sincerest marks of esteem and
admiration. They were bestowed by French officers who were close to the
doughboy in the field. And they are prized as tokens of the affection
of the French for Americans.
In speaking of American decorations we can hardly write without heat.
The doughboy did not get his just deserts. And he, without doubt, is
correct in placing the blame for the neglect at the door of the
American commanding officer, Colonel Stewart. Men and officers who died
heroically up there in that North Russian campaign, and others who
carry wound scars, and yet others who performed valiantly in that
desperate campaign, went unrewarded.
AMERICAN DECORATIONS
_Distinguished Service Cross_
BUGLER JAMES F. REVELS, “I” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in action,
Sept. 16th, 1918, Obozerskaya, Russia.
LIEUT. CHARLES F. CHAPPEL, “K” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in
action, Sept. 27th, 1918, Kodish, Russia. (Citation posthumous.)
SGT. MATHEW G. GRAHEK, “M” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in action,
Sept. 29th, 1918, at Verst 458, Obozerskaya, Russia.
SGT. CORNELIUS T. MAHONEY, “K” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in
action, October 16th, 1918, Kodish, Russia.
CORP. ROBERT M. PRATT, “M” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in action,
October 17th, 1918, Verst 445, near Emtsa, Russia.
PVT. VICTOR STIER, “A” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in action,
January 19th, 1919, Ust Padenga, Russia. (Citation posthumous.)
PVT. LAWRENCE B. KILROY, 337th Ambulance Company, for gallantry in
action, Kodish, Russia.
PVT. HUBERT C. PAUL, 337th Ambulance Company, for gallantry in action,
Kodish, Russia.
LIEUT. CLIFFORD F. PHILLIPS, “H” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in
action, April 2nd, 1919, near Bolsheozerki. (Citation posthumous.)
CORP. THEODORE SIELOFF, “I” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in action,
Nov. 4th, 1918, at Verst 445, near Emtsa, Russia.
PVT. CLARENCE H. ZECH, 337th Ambulance Company, for gallantry in
action, Kodish, Russia.
CORP. WILLIAM H. RUSSELL, “M” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in action,
April 1st, 1919, near Bolsheozerki, Russia. (Citation posthumous.)
PVT. CHESTER H. EVERHARD, 337th Ambulance Company, for gallantry in
action, April 2nd, 1919, near Bolsheozerki, Russia.
LIEUT. HOWARD H. PELLEGROM, “H” Co., 339th Inf., for gallantry in
action, April 2nd, 1919, near Bolsheozerki, Russia.
FRENCH DECORATIONS
_Legion of Honor_
MAJOR J. BROOKS NICHOLS, 339th Inf.
COL. GEORGE E. STEWART, 339th Inf.
_Croix de Guerre_
PVT. WALTER STREIT, “M” Co.
SGT. MATHEW G. GRAHEK, “M” Co.
PVT. JAMES DRISCOLL, “M.G.” Co.
PVT. CLARENCE A. MILLER, “M” CO.
PVT. ARTHUR FRANK, “M.G.” CO.
PVT. LEO R. ELLIS, “I” Co.
LIEUT. JAMES R. DONOVAN, “M” Co. 339th Inf.
SGT. FRANK GETZLOFF, “M” Co.
CORP. C. A. GROBBELL, “I” Co.
LIEUT. GEORGE W. STONER, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. JOHN H. ROMPINEN, “M” Co.
PVT. ALFRED FULLER, “K” Co.
MAJOR MICHAEL J. DONOGHUE, 339th Inf.
LIEUT. CLARENCE J. PRIMM, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. DWIGHT FISTLER, “I” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. CHARLES HEBNER, “M” Co.
PVT. OTTO GEORGIA, “K” Co.
LIEUT. PERCIVAL L. SMITH, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. WESLEY K. WRIGHT, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. GILBERT T. SHILLSON, “K” CO., 339th Inf.
SGT. HARVEY B. PETERSON, “M” Co.
PVT. HERMAN A. SODER, “I” Co.
PVT. THOMAS McELROY, “M” Co.
CORP. BENJAMIN JONDRO, “M” Co.
PVT. TOBIAS LePLANT, “K” Co.
PVT. FRANK RANK, “I” Co.
SGT. CHARLES V. RIHA, “M” Co.
LIEUT. ROBERT J. WIECZOREK, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. WOODHULL SPITLER, “M.G.” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. JOHN P. GRAY, “M” CO.
CAPT. JOSEPH ROSENFELD, 337th Amb.
SGT. JACOB KANTROWITZ, “M” Co.
LIEUT. JOHN J. BAKER, “E” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. CLYDE PETERSON, “K” Co.
CORP. THEODORE H. SIELOFF, “I” Co.
PVT. RAY LAWRENCE, “M” Co.
CAPT. HORATIO G. WINSLOW, “I” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. JOHN C. SMOLINSKI, “I” Co.
PVT. JOHN KUKORIS, “I” Co.
LIEUT. LEWIS E. JAHNS, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
MAJOR J. BROOKS NICHOLS, 339th Inf., Commanding officer Allied troops,
Railway Detachment.
PVT. SAMUEL H. DARRAH, “K” Co.
LIEUT. CHARLES B. RYAN, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. FRANK L. O’CONNOR, “M” Co.
MR. FRANK OLMSTEAD, Y. M. C. A.
PVT. OSCAR LIGHTER, “M” Co.
PVT. ALFRED STARIKOFF, “M” Co.
CORP. ROBERT M. PRATT, “M” Co.
PVT. ERNEST P. ROULEAU, “M” Co.
CAPT. JOEL R. MOORE, “M” Co., 339th Inf. (with silver star, divisional
citation).
BRITISH DECORATIONS
_Distinguished Service Order_
MAJOR J. BROOKS NICHOLS, 339th Inf. Commanding officer American and
Allied troops, Railway Detachment, fall offensive and winter and spring
defensive campaigns of Vologda Force.
MAJOR MICHAEL J. DONOGHUE, 339th Inf. Commanding officer American and
Allied troops, Kodish offensive in fall and winter defensive campaigns
of the Seletskoe Detachment of Vologda Force.
CAPTAIN ROBERT P. BOYD, “B” CO., 339th Inf. Commanding officer American
and Allied troops left bank of Dvina, fall offensive and winter
defensive campaigns of Dvina-Kotlas Force.
LIEUT.-COL. P. S. MORRIS, JR., 310th Engineers. Chief Engineer A. E.
F., North Russia, during fall offensive and winter and spring
campaigns.
_Military Cross_
CAPT. OTTO A. ODJARD, Commanding Officer “A” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. ALBERT M. SMITH, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. LAWRENCE P. KEITH, “M.G.” Co. 339th Inf.
LIEUT. GORDON B. REESE, “I” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. HARRY S. STEELE, “C” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. W. C. GIFFELS, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. HARRY M. DENNIS, “B” Co. 339th Inf.
LIEUT. JOHN A. COMMONS, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. H. D. McPHAIL, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. CHARLES B. RYAN, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. H. T. KETCHAM, “H” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. HARRY J. COSTELLO, “M.G.” Co., 339th Inf. (received his medal
from the hand of the Prince of Wales, in Washington, D. C.)
MAJOR CLARE S. McARDLE, Commanding officer 1st Battalion 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. EDWIN J. STEPHENSON, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. B. A. BURNS, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
CAPT. W. O. AXTELL, “B” Co., 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. E. W. LEGIER, “C” Co., 310th Engrs.
_Distinguished Conduct Medal_
SGT. MATHEW G. GRAHEK, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. F. W. WOLFE, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. G. M. WALKER, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. CHAS. J. HAYDEN, “I” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. J. C. DOWNS, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. A. V. TIBBALS, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
CORP. GEORGE R. YOHE, Signal Platoon, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. WALTER A. SPRINGSTEEN, Signal Platoon, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. JAMES MORROW, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. PETER CSATLOS, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
SGT. FLOYD A. WALLACE, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
_Military Medal_
SGT. CARL W. VENABLE, “L” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. 1ST CLASS JAMES W. DRISCOLL, “M.G.” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. MICHAEL J. KENNEY, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. E. J. HERMAN, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
CORP. J. S. MANDERFIELD, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
SGT. E. P. TROMBLEY, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. H. T. DANIELSON, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. J. FRANCZAC, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
BUGLER C. J. CAMPUS, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
MECH. A. J. HORN, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. J. A. NEES, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. ARNOLD W. NOLF, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
SGT. H. H. HAMILTON, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
PVT. BERGER W. BERGSTROM, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
PVT. RUSSELL F. McGUIRE, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
PVT. MICHAEL KOWALSKI, “H” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. E. W. PAUSCH, “C” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. JOHN BENSON, “C” Co., 310th Engrs.
SGT. SILVER K. PARISH, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. CHARLES BELL, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. JOSEPH EDYINSON, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. L. E. STOVER, “B” Co., 310th Engrs.
CORP. W. C. BUTZ, “B” Co., 310th Engrs.
CORP. F. W. WILKIE, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
SGT. L. BARTELS, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. J. STEYSKAL, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. E. E. HELMAN, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
CORP. WILLIAM C. SHAUGHNESSEY, Signal Platoon, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. LOUIS L. HOPKINS, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. CHARLES E. GARRETT, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. GUY HINMAN, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. JAMES R. WAGGENER, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
PVT. CLARENCE A. MILLER, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
_Meritorious Service Medal_
SGT. EWALD T. BILLEAU
PVT. A. H. DITTBERNER
SGT. L. S. SCHNEIDER
SGT. DELBERT KRATZ
1ST. SGT. V. B. ROGERS
SGT. F. W. YATES
PVT. JERRY DAUBEK
CORP. A. N. ERICKSON
All of “A” Company, 310th Engineers
RUSSIAN DECORATIONS
_St. Vladimir with Swords and Ribbons_
REAR-ADMIRAL NEWTON A. McCULLY, Commanding U. S. Naval Forces.
MAJOR MICHAEL J. DONOGHUE, 339th Inf.
MAJOR J. BROOKS NICHOLS, 339th Inf.
COL. JAMES A. RUGGLES, Chief of American Military Mission, Military
Attache to Embassy in Russia.
_St. Anne With Swords_
CAPT. JOEL R. MOORE, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. J. R. DONOVAN; “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. ALBERT M. SMITH, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. GORDON B. REESE, “I” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. HARRY S. STEELE, “C” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. GEORGE W. STONER, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. CLARENCE J. PRIMM, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. F. B. LITTLE, Med. Corps, 339th Inf.
LIEUT. W. C. GIFFELLS, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. E. W. LEGlER, “C” Co., 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. HARRY J. COSTELLO, “M.G.” Co., 339th Inf.
CAPT. EUGENE PRINCE, Military Mission.
CAPT. HUGH S. MARTIN, Military Mission.
CAPT. J. A. HARTZFELD, Military Mission.
LIEUT. SERGIUS M. RIIS, Naval Attache to Embassy.
_St. Stanislaus_
CAPT. OTTO A. ODJARD, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
CAPT. ROBERT P. BOYD, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
MAJOR C. S. McARDLE, 310th Engrs.
CAPT. JOHN J. CONWAY, “G” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. LAWRENCE P. KEITH, “Hq.” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. WESLEY K. WRIGHT, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. JOHN A. COMMONS, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. H. T. KETCHAM, “H” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. HARRY M. DENNIS, “B” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. CHARLES B. RYAN, “K” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. H. D. McPHAIL, “A” Co., 339th Inf.
CAPT. WILLIAM KNIGHT, 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. ROBERT J. WIECZOREK, “M” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. DWIGHT FISTLER, “I” Co., 339th Inf.
LIEUT. B. A. BURNS, “A” Co., 310th Engrs.
LIEUT. A. W. KLIEFOTH, Military Mission.
LIEUT. M. B. ROGERS, Military Mission.
LIEUT. E. L. PACKER, Military Mission.
MAJOR D. O. LIVELY, American Red Cross.
CAPT. ROGER LEWIS, American Red Cross.
LIEUT. FRED MASON, American Red Cross.
LIEUT. GEORGE POLLATS, American Red Cross.
_Cross of St. George_
PVT. JOHN C. ADAMS
PVT. HARRISON BUSH
SGT. JOSEPH CURRY
PVT. FRED DeLANEY
1ST. SGT. W. DUNDON
BUGLER GEORGE GARTON
SGT. M. G. GRAHEK
PVT. GEO. HANRAHAN
SGT. CHAS. A. HEBNER
CORP. FRED HODGES
SGT. WM. R. HUSTON
SGT. JACOB KANTROWITZ
CORP. WM. NIEMAN
CORP. F. L. O’CONNOR
SGT. CHAS. W. PAGE
CORP. ROBT. M. PRATT
SGT. CHAS. V. RIHA
CORP. F. J. ROMANSKI
PVT. JOHN ROMPINEN
CORP. JOS. RYDUCHOWSKI
PVT. LEO SCHWABE
SGT. NORMAN ZAPFE
CORP. W. ZIMMERMAN
All of “M” Company, 339th Infantry.
Also MR. ERNEST RAND, and MR. FRANK OLMSTEAD, Y. M. C. A.
_St. Anne Silver Medal_
CORPORAL WALTER J. PICARD, “M” Company, 339th Inf.
_St. Stanislaus Silver Medal_
PVT. HAROLD METCALFE
PVT. ERNEST ROULEAU
PVT. FRANK STEPNAVSKI
COOK JOSEPH PAVLIN
COOK THEODORE ZECH
All of “M” Company, 339th Infantry
[Illustration: U. S. OFFICIAL PHOTO
_Major Nichols in His Railway Detachment Field Headquarters_]
[Illustration: LANMAN
_Ready to Head Memorial Day Parade._]
[Illustration: LANMAN
_American Cemetery in Archangel._]
[Illustration: LANMAN
_Soldiers and Sailors of Six Nations Reverence Dead._]
[Illustration: U. S. OFFICIAL PHOTO
_Graves of First Three Americans Killed Fighting
Bolsheviki—Obozerskaya, Russia._]
[Illustration: LANMAN
_Sailors Parade on Memorial Day, Archangel._]
[Illustration: LANMAN
_Through Ice Floes in Arctic Homeward-Bound._]
[Illustration: ROZANSKEY
_Out of White Sea into Arctic Under Midnight Sun._]
XXXIX
HOMEWARD BOUND
“At The Earliest Possible Date”—Work Of Detroit’s Own Welfare
Association—“Getting The Troops Out Of Russia”—We Assemble At
Economia—Delousers And Ball Games—War Mascots—War Brides—Remarkable
Memorial Day Service In American Military Cemetery In Archangel—Tribute
To Our Comrades Who Could Not Go Home—Our Honored Dead.
“At the earliest possible moment” was the date set by the War
Department for the withdrawal of the troops from Russia. This was the
promise made the American people during the ice-bound winter, the
promise made more particularly to appease vigorous protests of “The
Detroit’s Own Welfare Association,” which under the leadership of Mr.
D. P. Stafford, had been untiring in its efforts to move the hand of
the War Department. Congressmen Doremus and Nichols and Townsend had
also been very active in “getting the Americans out of North Russia.”
To us wearied veterans of that strange war, the nine months of
guerrilla war, always strenuous and at times taking on large
proportions,—to us the “earliest possible moment” could not arrive a
minute too soon. We had fought a grim fight against terrible odds, we
had toiled to make the defenses more and more impregnable so that those
who relieved us might not be handicapped as we had been. We hated to be
thought of as quitters, we suffered under the reproachful eyes of newly
arriving veteran Scots and Tommies who had been mendaciously deceived
into thinking we were quitters. We suffered from the thought that the
distortion, exaggeration and partisan outcry at home was making use of
half-statements of returned comrades or half-statements from uncensored
letters, in such a way as to make us appear cry-babies and quitters.
But down in our hearts we were conscious that our record, our morale,
our patriotism were sound. We believed we were entitled to a speedy
getaway for home. We accepted the promise with pleasure. We felt
friendly toward the Detroit’s Own Welfare Association for its efforts
and the efforts of others. We could have wished that there had not been
so much excitement of needless fears and incitement of useless outcry.
It cost us hard earned money to cable home assurances to our loved ones
that we were well and safe, so that they need not believe the wild
tales that we were sleeping in water forty below zero, or thawing out
the cows before we milked them, or simply starving to death. We could
have wished that returned comrades who tried to tell the real facts and
allay needless fears—the actual facts were damnable enough—might not
have been treated as shamefully as some were by a populace fooled by a
mixed propaganda that was a strange combination, as it appears to us
now, of earnest, sympathetic attempts to do something for “Detroit’s
Own,” of bitter partisan invective, and of insidious pro-bolshevism.