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March 18, 1918 - Don Martin arrives at Headquarters in Neufchateau

  MARCH 18–MAY 12, 1918. Don Martin Gets into the War
     Two-and-a half months into his assignment in Europe, Don Martin was to witness – and report on as a visiting correspondent – the war, still from a little distance away. Experiencing real war began to harden Don Martin’s thoughts and feelings about the Great War, and America’s role in it.  It took until mid-May for Don Martin to receive accreditation as a 'war correspondent', so that he could go wherever he wished on the front lines
 
Don Martin diary entry for Monday, March 18, 1918: 
Arrived in Neufchateau.
Some day! Left Paris at 8 this morning after exciting trip, or vexatious trip to station. The French are artistic but for providing conveniences they are antiquated. Rode on train 6 hours to get here. Had good meals on train and was met in Gondrecourt in government auto, which brought me here – about 20 miles. Am spending the night at Neufchateau, the American base headquarters. Have room in funny little hotel.
Am on the very edge of the war zone. Met Martin Green [New York Evening World], [Mel] Draper [New York Tribune], [Floyd] Gibbons [Chicago Tribune], Orr [International News], [Wilbur] Forest [United Press], [Sam] Johnson, [Fred] Ferguson [United Press] and other correspondents. Had dinner with some of them at the officer’s club and spent the evening later there. Put on my uniform for the 1st time. Breeches are too tight. Neufchateau a picturesque place. War corresponding not what it once was. Censor is so strict it is almost impossible to send anything. To get the news one must cover about 200 miles a day in an auto. Is a big job. I got a gas mask and steel helmet tonight for trip to front tomorrow.
Am writing this by candlelight.

Weather pleasant.
       Don Martin was headquartered during this March - June period with the fifteen accredited correspondents [Chris Dubbs, American Journalists in the Great War, p. 210] in the town of Neufchateau, a middle-sized town 200 miles (321 km) east from Paris and south of the war front.The map on this page taken from "American Armies and Battlefields in Europe, The Blue Book" [American Battlefield Monuments Commission] shows Divisional training areas of the AEF in France and the location of Neufchateau in area 2.

     During this period in Neufchateau, Don Martin went to Paris four times. He recorded his experiences in his 1918 diary and began to send daily dispatches from the war areas, which were featured in The New York Herald and in syndicated newspapers across America. These began to establish Don Martin as a leading U.S. war correspondent.

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