Above: War Chapter, circa 1917. At right, the USS Louisville, circa 1919. Opposite page: a photo of members of the U.S. Army aboard the USS Louisville, circa 1919. Opposite page, below right, the 351 st Field Artillery uniform insignia.
France. We were to be met by an escort ship to take us through the submarine zone. We had made such good time that this ship failed to meet us and the last night the lights of our ships were turned out and the ships were speeded up so that we were able to land without an incident. When we landed at Brest, France on a beautiful June morning, the whole town turned out to welcome us. Our band led us through the streets playing, “Goodbye Broadway, Hello France…we have come to pay our debt to you.” We camped in some old barracks in Brest built by Napoléon Bonaparte many years ago. In Brest, we went to an artillery train- ing camp in the Auvergne Mountains in southeastern France, where we spent six weeks. A white artillery was training there at the same time. At the end of [those] six weeks, the white unit was turned into a labor battalion and the 351 st was sent to the front lines in northeastern France. Most of our troops were sent by train but I was fortunate to go by automobile. We had a caravan of three with my major in command with a French officer as a guide. It was a trip which took eight days to reach the city of Nancy in northeastern France. When we arrived at Nancy, they were having an air raid by the Germans and we were forced into an air shelter for about four hours. When all was quiet, we reached the front about midnight.
space, which meant that no enemy artil- lery fire could reach us. I had charge of a room full of maps and it [was] much job to give the correct information on the correct position of all of our guns. One of the first things the major wanted was for me to learn how to drive his motorcycle. His chauffer gave me les- sons. It was about November 1, 1918, [the major] called me in and said that he wanted me to go on a 14-day vacation in a luxury hotel in the Auvergne Moun- tains. He said that I needed the rest for things would soon be getting tough. The hotel was full of soldiers from the 92nd Division. On the morning of November 11 th , I joined a group of about 20 men to go on a YMCA town across the mountains, about 20 miles away to see an older castle built in 500 AD. This turned out to be a hike over the mountain passes. After having lunch and looking over the old castle, another soldier and myself decided to sleep away from the group and spend the night there. We checked into the hotel to get away from our group, as we did not want to be missed. About 5 PM, we heard crowds of people in the street yelling “La guerre est finie” (the war is over). When we appeared on the street, we were the only soldiers in the little village. This made us heroes. We were hugged and kissed by men, women and children. We were wined and dined. This was Armistice Day, November 11, 1918; a day which is celebrated every year in the US as a
national holiday.
After getting to bed about midnight, we were up early for our 20-mile hike back to our vacation hotel, knowing that we would soon be called to join our regiments again. When I joined my regi- ment again, it was posted on the bulletin board, “Send the 92 nd Division in as the sacrifice division to take the city of Metz from the Germans.” After seeing this notice, we could see the cause of our vacation. We knew that our lives had been saved by Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. I was also told that my name was on the list of men from the 92 nd Division to form an officer’s training camp in Europe. After visiting Metz after the war and seeing the trenches and barb wire barricades, we believed that many of us would never have come back. In February 1919, the 92 nd Division was at Le Mans, France where we passed in review before General Pershing. It was at Le Mans that I called a meeting of Kappa men. [Only] about 25 were able to make [the meeting] because of the heavy storm that night, but those of us who did made song the old Kappa songs with a zeal we will never forget. One of my brightest days in France was when Elder W. Diggs, Founder and 1st Grand Polemarch hitchhiked 20 miles to spend the day with me after the war was over. In February 1919, we were loaded on a small ship, The Louisville
On the front, the headquarters company was housed in an old castle, in dead
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