June 16, 1918 -Don Martin reports American army ready to turn tide of war

Don Martin diary entry for Sunday, June 16, 1918: 

Went to the 2^nd division with [Herbert] Corey [Everybody's Magazine] and [Edwin] James [New York Times]. Had luncheon with doctors at the hospital in Bezu. I got a good story about the Marines who did the fighting at Bois de Belleau and Torcy. Saw many of them, in the hospital and out. Also saw an impressive funeral of an American soldier near Bezu. I cabled 500 words. I have a recurrence of my sore throat and a cold in the bargain.

          Don Martin did a lot of writing dated  June 16, including two short dispatches about American successes in the air, which were published in the Paris Herald on June 17.

Rickenbacker Is Second 
American Trained “Ace”

(Special Telegram to the Paris Herald)

By Don Martin 

With The American Army, Sunday.

            Lieutenant Eddie Rickenbacker, of Columbus, O., former speed king in the auto racing world, has been confirmed by the French as the second American trained ace. This makes Lieutenant Rickenbacker the second American aviator to qualify for the Herald’s prize for American pilots. Douglas Campbell, of California, was the first American pilot to qualify for the Herald prize.

         Lieutenant Rickenbacker got his first German aeroplane on April 29, and his last official “Heinie” was shot down on May 30. He came to France a year ago in the automobile service, but he soon secured his transfer to the Aviation Corps, where he has had signal success. Lieutenant Rickenbacker is a popular man among his fellows and is nicknamed “Gimper.”

           Also published in the Paris Herald on June 17.

Amex Air Bombers Make Pioneer Raid 

On Enemy’s Bases

Squadrillas Wreck German Depôts 
and Fight Way Back Through Hostile Groups

(Special Telegram to the Paris Herald)

By Don Martin 

With The American Army, Sunday.

               American aero bombers have begun destructive raids on German railroads and bases. On Thursday evening the Americans made their pioneer raid across the lines, eight machines dropping eighty bombs on Dommary-Baroncourt (Meuse). In this village damage was done to supply depôts and troop cantonments. The aeroplanes returned in perfect formation after fighting off attacks by German Albatross machines.

                 On Friday evening five American machines carried seventy-nine bombs, which were dropped on the railway station, siding and round-house at Conflans (Meurthe-et-Moselle). The round-house burst into flames.

             German machines were seen, but they withheld from attacking the American aeroplanes. Anti-aircraft guns fired considerably, but did no damage to the Americans other than a few souvenir holes in the wings of a few planes.

          The Americans are enthusiastic over the success of their first bombing parties. Crossing the lines they were escorted by American pursuit aeroplanes, both going and coming.

               Don Martin wrote a lengthy dispatch dated Sunday, June 16, about his visit to American troops in 'Alsace', which was published in the New York Herald on June 17, 1918. From his diary, it is not clear when this visit took place. 

DON MARTIN, NOW IN ALSACE, SEES AMERICAN SOLDIERS ON GERMAN SOIL, THERE TILL HUNS GIVE UP

Troops Relieved French in Shadow of Swiss Mountains – Eager to Fight

HAVE MADE TWO RAIDS ON GERMANS

Attacked by Machine Gun Fire on Their Last Foray, Losing One Killed

By DON MARTIN.

Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France.

[Special Cable to the Herald.]

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE Sunday. [Jun 16]

                    In addition to being scattered throughout the front practically from the sea to Switzerland, American troops are now holding a substantial sector in Alsace. They are proud of the distinction of being on soil which belonged to Germany prior to the war, but which is one of the vital things being fought for in this world conflict.

                      “Sure, we’re in Germany and will stay, too,” say the men.

                The first night they took their places in the trenches, relieving the French, they made a raid and invaded Boche trenches, but found no one. The second night, while I was present, they made a second raid with the same result. They were bombarded with machine gun fire on returning, killing Private W. J. Guyton, who got the French war cross, being the first American killed on German territory.

                        A few days later the men again clashed with the Boches. Sergeant Cunningham, getting to the trenches, despatched four Germans with the bayonet, sending two to cover and himself being wounded. Afterward he was decorated in bed by a French general.

                      The Americans are keen to start action. The line here has been quiet almost since the beginning of the war. The beautiful country consists of heavily wooded hills with miles of rolling fields of varying shades of green, artistically laid out as if by a landscape gardener, the same as in France, but the villages present a striking antithesis.

Different Aspect of Villagers

                      Here, on territory politically German but until the debauchery of 1870 French, the villages have been untouched by shell fire and are not shattered, gaunt ruins as the villages in France, where war has been.

                  The French, showing kindliness in war as in everything, spared the towns because of the women and children. When it was necessary to bombard to dislodge the troops, they used judgment and struck military bases, not the peaceful buildings.

                       Whereas, as the world knows, Germany, true to barbarism, wiped hundreds of tiny French villages off the earth, leaving the larger ones grim monuments of the horrors of war with a nation having no scruples and no humanity.

                  I saw children playing in the streets of these Alsatian villages, women sewing in front of their rude homes, indifferent to the war not far from them. There have been in the villages no shells from the Germans, who are too selfish to destroy what they consider their own property and hurt their own people, so the children and women are safe and happy, though the hoarse sounds of war are ringing constantly in their ears. The whizzing of shells means nothing in the strange life of these people.

                      I went through several villages and saw many of the inhabitants. They are amazed at the Americans and are isolated, provincial and almost childish in their views of the world. They did not even know America was in the war in many instances.

Stars and Stripes Unfurled

                       To an American it looked magnificent to see the Stars and Stripes waving there in quaint spots which may prove vital battle grounds of the world struggle for liberty. When I went to American headquarters I saw an impressive, stirring ceremony. A French commander met an American commander on German soil. The French looked wonderingly at the splendid army of Americans lined up there, in part waiting to go into the trenches to do their full bit for world freedom.

                       A French band of more than a hundred pieces marched up just at dusk playing the ringing Lorraine march, then the “Star Spangled Banner.”

               The Germans, so far as known, are sweetly ignorant of the presence of Americans opposite them, but the spirit of the men and their determination to do something showed me clearly that something quickly will develop to awaken the Boches.

Very Quiet Now in Alsace

                     In fact, Uncle Sam is not only in France but in Germany too. I went to see the American trenches and passed through a communicating trench to the first line. It is very quiet, but now and then a shell, mostly harmless, crooned over our heads, seeking the batteries that are in constant action.

                     The Americans are glad to be up at the front and are happy under all their discomforts, being only eager to “start something.” The presence of the Americans here in a remote corner of the world, nestling in the shadows of the Swiss Alps thousands of miles from Broadway and the Mississippi Valley, inevitably rouses the emotions of Americans, who then realize fully that America is making her presence felt from Switzerland to the sea.

           As follow-up, Don Martin wrote another lengthy dispatch dated Sunday, June 16, after returning from Alsace. It was published in the New York Herald on June 17.It is intended to send the message back home that the Americans are in France "ready to turn the tide of war."

AMERICAN ARMY READY 
TO TURN THE TIDE OF WAR

Arriving by the Hundreds of Thousands, 
They Are the Wonder of France

CERTAIN TO DEFEAT THE NEXT OFFENSIVE

Marching Straight for the Front,

They are Eager to Have a Fling at Enemy

By DON MARTIN.

Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France.

[Special Cable to the Herald.]

Herald Bureau, No. 49 Avenue de l’Opera, Paris, Sunday. [Jun 16]

                   On returning from Alsace I found American troops resting here. During a halt in a parade, girls of ten and twelve years appeared with huge armfuls of roses. Their mothers accompanied them and pinned a rose on each man. Then they were christened the “Red Regiment,” which name remains.

                    I saw a regiment of “Blue Devils” stand on a roadside and clap their hands as a company tramped past. Hardly a man in the company was less than six feet. No wonder the Huns call them “Big Americans.” The French say “Nobles Américains.”

                      The arrival of Americans is in such numbers that the turning point is realized here and also in Germany. The prisoners say this will play a vital part during the next six weeks, when the German offensive is likely to reach its climax. Afterward they will play a still more important part.

                        I could tell a thousand stories of the heroism of the Americans fighting at Jaulgonne, Belleau and Bouresches. Official records, both French and American, will state them fully some day. Their conduct causes wonderment among the French. Their officers have a gallantry and courage worthy of their various years of experience. Their artillery is reaching the highest European standards.

                       America will be proud to know that her troops are placed on one of the most vital spots in the whole line, that northwest of Château-Thierry, which they still hold, despite furiously savage attacks by artillery, gas and flame projectors and infantry.

Germans Lose Four to One

                   The German high command, finding it impossible to smash their way to Bouresches and Belleau, sent their storm divisions with instructions to crush the Americans at any cost. The German losses were four or five to our one. Desperate at their failure, the Germans used gas the whole night to drive the Americans out, but met with no success.

                   It is well understood the Germans are determined to direct every form of fiendishness in warfare against the Americans to destroy their morale, which, however, is unshakable. I have been at all points on the front where Americans are in line and find them all the same. Their losses, which are necessarily heavy in such warfare as they have been waging, are taken philosophically. They say: -- “We get two for every one they get and then some.”

              For two weeks’ time Americans have been in the limelight, the French newspapers giving much space to them with special descriptive articles. The pictorials give most of their space to features on Americans. The French like their sporty stride.

             I talked with soldiers from every State and every class. All are glad to be here. There are no faint hearts. All are keen to get in line where they can have their fling at the Hun, whom they all hate with new bitterness since learning at first hand the unspeakable methods the Germans use. 

Americans to Stop Next Drive

               The new drive will be of gigantic proportions, but the French are ready, no matter where the blow comes. I have seen enough to know the Germans will never get to Paris and will leave a wake of dead three deep covering the territory they may overrun. The feeling in the region closest to the front has relaxed from two weeks ago. Refugees are returning. The other day I saw a farmer with his wife and grandchild working in a field on the eve of its recapture from the Germans.

                  The “last great drive” on Paris is bound to furnish a ghastly yet brilliant Franco-American chapter in the history of the world war.

         Americans are here in numbers equaling the predictions made by Secretary Baker. Far from being ineffective till autumn, as was expected, they are scattered along practically the entire new line, eager, square shouldered, splendid types of virile Americans, to whom the Allies are looking for help to check the Germans, who are ready to drench Flanders and Picardy in their own blood to blast by slaughter their way to Paris.

             The Americans have already demonstrated their superiority over the Germans. One regiment of Americans can crush two of Germans with astonishing quickness. They learn, coupled with physical strength and courage, the “never surrender” spirit. This is a revelation to the Germans, who are quickening their preparations to renew their attack on a wide front, probably from Montdidier to Château-Thierry, for they know that the million and a half of Americans who are likely to be here this year spell the doom of the Hun dream of conquest and also the end of German military autocracy.

Paris No Longer Uneasy

             The uneasiness in Paris and the surrounding country, which was seemingly threatened recently, has materially subsided, particularly since the people have seen miles on miles of sturdy Americans in campaign hats swinging with a business stride, headed straight for the front. For the khaki clad soldiers are the joy of France and the despair of Germany,

              They are here. France has seen them. The Germans have seen and felt them. Their presence alone is a stimulant to the whole allied army and to the French nation, brave but scarred with four bloody years. No doubt they have changed the temporary aspect of things. The Huns are now known to have believed that the titanic blows launched by their army of more than four millions of seasoned veterans would crash through all barriers and batter a way to Paris and victory.

                  The brave French spirit of the Old Guard was giving the Huns a staggering surprise when the Americans, fresh, confident and fearless, took their places behind them. The tramp, tramp, of the Americans is heard on many roads in all parts of France. It means the thwarting of the Germans’ ambition.

             Time and time again have I seen Americans marching into villages with all their paraphernalia on their back, while the villagers stood with eyes aglow with admiration and bulging with amazement at the realization of a dream they thought could not come true this year. It is impossible to describe the happiness of the French people.

                 German propaganda, constant here as elsewhere, has used a hundred devices for discouraging France with America, saying the Americans are a bluff, are selfish and never would fight. Therefore when France sees the promise more than fulfilled, sees the stalwart youngsters going straight to battle instead of staying in the background, she feels they will succeed, and is full of joy and love for Americans.

                   In a small town I saw a company within a mile and a half of German guns. Shells were striking occasionally in a road a quarter of a mile away. There was no perturbation among the workers; that is common at regimental headquarters in the immediate zone of shell fire. Women with helmets on were working in a pansy bed. The town is as close to the battle as Tarrytown is to New York, and the inhabitants are acting naturally, with no excitement.

           The German advance possibly seems more formidable than it is. At no point does the line approach that established by the Germans in 1914. At only a few points are the Germans now ahead of the line they retired to after the first Marne battle. An exceptional point is the Château-Thierry salient, where Americans are now holding the line with the French.

         Don Martin wrote two short dispatches dated Sunday, June 16, that were published in the Paris Herald on June 17, 1918. 

ATTACKING MASSES MELT

UNDER FIERCE AMERICAN GUNFIRE

Big German Attacks on Belleau Wood

—Bouresches Line Prove Costly Failures.

(SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE HERALD.)

By DON MARTIN.

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES, Sunday. [June 16]

                  The Germans prepared to make a big attack in the Belleau Wood last night. Two thousand picked men were chosen. The Germans threw a savage barrage, lasting an hour, of heavy explosives and shrapnel. The moment it lifted the German infantry started through a gulley toward the wood. The Americans met the advance with machine-gun fire, sweeping the gulley with a veritable hurricane of lead.

                 The Germans kept coming for a short time, and then the line molted and broke. Flares showed the survivors staggering and scrambling back to cover in their lines, which were then raked by American artillery. Later flares revealed the Germans dragging a great number of their dead from the field.

                 The Germans made two other heavy attacks on the Americans during the night, but each time they were repelled with severe losses. The Germans seem determined to get possession of the Belleau Wood, but the Americans say before doing it they will have to get some new divisions.

AMERICANS FULFIL PERILOUS MISSION 

DEEP IN FOE LINES

(SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE HERALD.)

By D0N MARTIN.

WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY, Sunday. [June 16]

                  Among the hundreds of grim and heroic tales of the war, the exploit of Lieutenant Z— and a small company of men surely deserves mention. Lieutenant Z— has been commended for bravery. He was told to get German prisoners or in any other ways to ascertain the identity of the German division opposite the Americans at one particular point. With seven men accompanying him he crawled over ploughed fields in the dead of night, through No Man's Land to a point a hundred yards inside the enemy lines. He there left a sergeant and five men with instructions to make no move unless commanded by him.

                  Lieutenant Z—, with a corporal, then crept inch by inch through brush to a roadway, where he saw two German sentries. The Americans advanced on their bellies, determined to capture the Germans alive. When ten yards from them they made sufficient noise to startle the Germans, who shouted in German "Halt" to which Lieutenant Z— replied also in German, "Surrender!" "Hands up!" came back from one of the sentries.

              The Germans then began to shoot. Lieutenant Z—— dropped as if he had been hit. The corporal did likewise. The sentries fired twelve shots in the direction of the noise they had beard, but missed. Lieutenant Z---- and the corporal then emptied their automatics into the Germans, who were riddled with bullets.

              The bodies were too heavy to be carried, so the Americans seized the papers on them, which were sufficient to show that the men were of the 236th Regiment.

               Concerning his exploit Lieutenant Z would only say: "The sergeant, and his men deserve credit for remaining silent while the shooting was going on a short distance away." The little force had a perilous trip back through German territory, but made it without incident. One of the Germans killed was forty-six years old and 6 feet 2 inches tall. The other was thirty. Both were well fed, but poorly clothed.