Don Martin diary entry for Thursday,
April 18, 1918:
Had Gregg [St. Louis World] and [Capt. Franklin P.] Adams [Stars & Stripes] for companions in trip to Boucq and the aviation field where we saw a
French general present the medals to Winslow and Campbell. Got no big news. Sent
considerable to Paris and short cable to N.Y.
Got wire from Bennett through [Burn] Price [Paris Herald manager] saying steps have been taken to
have me accredited. Also suggests I stay with main army which I have done.
Find only way to be accredited is through war department in Washington. So wired
Commodore tonight.
Sunshine most of day.
Wonderful.
Don Martin's writeup of Dr. Patton's Croix de Guerre, dated Thursday, April 18, was published in the New York Herald on Friday, April 19, 1918.
DR.
PATTON, OF NEW YORK, UNMASKS IN DEADLY BARRAGE TO SAVE 20 LIVES
French Confer Croix de Guerre at Once
on Physician from This City for Heroism
By DON MARTIN
[Special
cable to the Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE,
Thursday
The newest addition to Americans getting a
niche in the hall of heroic distinction is Dr. George F. Patton, lieutenant of
the Medical Corps from New York, who left a hospital recently wearing the Croix
de Guerre after a complete recovery from gas poisoning which almost caused his
death.
Despite the fact that he shrinks from the
congratulations of friends, he is hailed by the soldiers as one of the real
heroes of the war, which is bringing out the striking qualities of all nations.
Dr. Patton was with a detachment of the
famous regiment of which he is a member when the Boches drenched the position
with deadly gas. Twenty of the men were overcome. Dr. Patton was safe, had he
chosen to remain so, as he was wearing his mask at the time. He devoted his
most energetic efforts to aiding his colleagues, but soon found it was
impossible to work properly with his mask on.
Flings Off Mask to Work
Better
Despite the likelihood of certain death to
follow he flung off the mask and worked for fifteen minutes, saving the lives
of all of his colleagues before he himself collapsed.
He was thought dead when taken to the
hospital, but his fine physique saved him. The French distinguished him at once
by conferring upon him the War Cross. The case is on a par with that of an
American corporal who, caught with thirty men in No Man’s Land in a cloud of
the gas barrage, tore off his mask and led his blinded companions through the
wire. He fell a martyr to the gas, as he knew he would.
I have talked to many Americans in the
recent actions, where a heavy toll of death has been inflicted on the Boches,
with small casualties among the Americans. The men display a remarkable spirit
and absolutely no fear. The probability of death only stimulates them to bigger
deeds.
Eager to Get at Foe
They are so eager for orders to go over
the top and want to show their metal everywhere that they may be sent to help
give the crushing blow to the Boche forces in the big battle now raging in
Picardy. I have seen the men in the trenches, in mud knee deep, in incessant
rain and under every possible difficulty and distressing condition. They are
happy just the same as when things are comfortable and easy. I believe they are
able to do the same feats of heroism and valor that the French have performed since
the beginning of the war, and am confidant they can whip the Boches in No Man’s
Land, with artillery, or any other way required. They are not like the
youngsters they were when they left the American home camps. Friends of America
would be proud to see them now, for they are all the same whether from Oregon,
Maine, Georgia, Kansas or Broadway—volunteer or draft.
The French and British are both proud of
them, and believe the time is close at hand when they will be of great help in
the closing phases of the conflict. The Dr. Patton incident is illustrative of
the spirit of them all.
Here is the Croix de Guerre Ribbon, and a famous Croix de Guerre awarded to Father Francis Browne, who served as Chaplain with the Irish Guard in WWI.
Here is the Croix de Guerre Ribbon, and a famous Croix de Guerre awarded to Father Francis Browne, who served as Chaplain with the Irish Guard in WWI.
Comments
Post a Comment