Evening Star Newspaper, August 15, 1937, Page 49

Stage Part 4—8 Pages FIGHTING 29TH TO REVIVE WAR SPIRIT I CITY KEY TO BLUE AND GRAY and Screen OFFERED World War Veterans Who Gave Service From District, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey to Assemble. By John Jay Daly. WENTY years ago Uncle Sam put uniforms on thousands of young fellows from this sec- tion, mustered them into the Army and marched them away to a mobilization camp down in Alabama— Camp McClellan. Mostly, they were National Guards- men. Boys from the District of Co- lumbia, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, they were organized into the 20th Division. Later, this outfit be- came known as the Blue and Gray— & mixture of Southerners and Yankees. ‘This month many of these men with the weight of 20 years on their heads and shoulders and a bit thick about the waistbands will meet here in Washington; the annual reunion of the Blue and Gray. Three days are set aside for the convention, Friday, Saturday and Bunday, August 20 to 22, with head- quarters in the Willard. That means Washington is in for a big time. All over town the local bors who wore the Blue and Gray insignia on their blouses are getting ready for the reception. They are going to give' their buddies the keys and locks %0 the city—give them *the works™”; for this is the first time the old gang planned an attack on the home terrain. Never before has there been a reunion of the Blue and Gray in Washington. Most of the other divisions of the A. E. F. have been here and gone. The 29th is planning to take up where they left off. As members of the Committee for National Reunion say, “Boys, get out the gas-masks.” THIS is where they fight the war all over again. times they,had at Camp McClellan, [down in the hills of Alabama. That was their first taste of Regular Army life. Although as Guardsmen some of them had gone to the annual encamp- ments, the camps were prepared for them, to some degree; but when they hit McClellan they landed in a forest omething like Rock Creek Park. [And they had to clear the land. Buck [privates in the rear ranks, drawing down their $30 a month as soldiers, worked like beavers in the red-hot un ajongside Southern farmers who were employed as civilian carpenters, road builders, plumbers and artisans of all sorts for $12 and $14 a day. And hat didn’t set any too well with the hite-collar boys from the District of lumbia, the gentlemen from Mary- fland and Virginia and the Yankees rom New Jersey. As Sam Barrows, now making ready for his outfit's reunion, says: “They took it and liked it—but it was tough going. And out of it came the name, he Blue and Gray Division.” O THEY got started on the way to being soldiers. Division com- mander was the late Maj Gen. Charles 3. Morton, a stickler for discipline. had ’em out of the bunks before Haylight. Reveille at 5:45. Four hours prill each morning. Four hours’ drill the afternoon. School at night. veet mamma, what a schedule, the poys said. If any of them were back- ard, they lost their half days on Wednesday and Saturday. If they vio- ated any of the rules, they got on the inpopular details—K. P. and the like. button loose on the blouse and a y got demerits. Even shoelaces had o be evenly tied. If a leggin’ un- apped it was just too bad. Campaign hats had to be just right, too—and hese were the boys who first wore hin-straps. ‘When time came to get out an Army ublication, as most organizations did, 29th Division named its peridfi- the Chin Strap. It continued on, ven after the war, and helped keep fhe boys together; in spirit at least. During the course of their fighting reer, some 47,000 men Ihrough the 20th Division, including placements, and there are about 000 members of the association ormed in 1930 to perpetuate the glory f this fighting unit of Uncle Sam’s onquering Army—the A. E. F. Out f those 8,000, Washington members f the organization look for a Visiting list approximating 1,000. “We had 750 registered for the re- nion in Norfolk two years ago,” J. ed Chase, first commander of “The 9-ers,” the American Legion Post of Jhe local organization, and active in tting the convention here, said the ther day. “If we could get 750 in orfolk, we can sure get a thousand ‘Washington.” “We may have more than that” Farle McGowan, the second com- ander of “The 29-ers,” put in, and should know, for he keeps a record the organization and knows just bout what to expect. » Tell about the | ORIGXNALLY it was planned to hold the convention in New Jer- sey this year. Gov. Harold Hoffman, a member of the Blue and Gray | Division, made the boys an offer at | the elast convention, but the State | Legislature adjourned before he could put his plan through. That didn't make the Washington boys mad at all, for in their heart of hearts always they had wanted a convention here— |to show the old folks, and the young, some of their buddies. Now it's about due. In a little while the railroads and steamships lines, the airplanes, the buses and trailers and autos will be dropping Blue and Gray | men along the Avenue—to concentrate jon the Willard. And when they get | | here they’ll have more tales to tell | |than a fleet of fishermen. Not all | |tales of Camp McClellan, for that was & minor detail in the history of | the Blue and Gray, though a mighty | interesting one: for it was in Alabama |that the District boys and their sol- |dier friends from neighboring States | | had the rough edges rubbed off them. ‘Rough edges that have to be smoothed jover before you can really stand in that man's Army. | _Overseas is where the boys of the ‘Blue and Gray shone. They are mod- iest about their accomplishments, as befits an outfit that took it all in its stride. In the New York Times’ Cur- |rent History, however, volume XX, i‘h"e are just a few lines that speak |rather well of the 29th. Succinct | praise may be found in cold, matter- |of-fact figures. As, for instance: | Prisoners captured, 2,187; battle deaths, 940; wounded, 5219. Of these | wounded, many died in after years— | the toll of battle. | | | NCLE SAM placed 42 divisions in France during the World War, |but only 29 saw actual combat. Of |these, seven were Regular Army | divisions, and the rest equally divided | | between National Guard and National | Army. 'Twas in August, 1917, that the boys started their period of training. Some of them came as raw recruits. Some did not have equipment. The task their commanding officer faced was not an easy one; but, as he said afterward, “Thanks to the adapta- bility of the average American, his | sportsmanlike qualities, his inherent | patriotism, and hisjzeal to succeed |in the enterprise immediately before |him * * * order soon came out of apparent chaos and the organization of the division was effected. A fight- ing unit destined to win for itself im- mortal glory in the greatest of all wars.” That was the tribute of Gen. Morton, two years after it was all over, as he looked back upon the glorious deeds of the Blue and Gray from his head- quarters in the Hawaiian Department at Honolulu. The old general, a New Englander and a West Pointer, ‘was | he Sy Star WASHINGTON, FEAT D. (., SUNDAY URES MORNING, AUGUST 15, 1937. & & F«:fi* freh N First batallion of the 110th Field Artillery, composed entirely of District of Columbia men, as they arrived back home from France aboard the steamship Orizaba, which sailed from France on May 12, 1919. | sey were in the thick of it. The farthest outpost retained by the | French on the northeast front, Ver- | dun, was the stronghold of the Allies’ right flank. Before the American troops entered the war the French | had been pushed back and Hill 304, | Le Mort Homme, key to the whole Verdun defense system, was in Ger- man hands. A French counter-of- fensive succeeded in driving the Ger- mans from thé line. That was when Verdun became a name to conjure with. When the Blue and Gray Di- vision joined the 17th French Corps the same sort of soldiery prevailed. All along the Meuse River they tell glorious tales of the Blue and Gray— and they'd be fighting there yet but for the armistice. Even on Armistice day these boys were getting ready for another attack. After three weeks of their last battle the 29th Division was withdrawn from the line October 29, 1918 Division headquarters were then established at Robert-Espagne. Orders came to join the Second Amer- ican Army for its attack on Metz. Just as the Blue and Gray was prepared to g0 into combat the armistice was signed. Fighting was at an end. Many vacant places loomed in the ranks. Many of the boys had gone West. Battle casualties took many gallant officers and men. On the | “VHEN it was all over, the late Oliver | excuses. | other side, the boys had made their mark, too. They made an advance of | 8 kilometers into the enemy's lines. | | Brought back numerous cannon and | machine guns, along with the prison- ers. Owen Kuhn, former managing editor of The Star, visited the men in the little French villages where they were quartered, awaiting the return home. It was six months after the war was over that they get orders to come back. As Kuhn wrote: “During the long months that have intervened since the time of the sign- ing of the armistice they have been lonesome. They confess it freely. Many declare that they have been downright homesick. They make no . . . They have spent days, many of them, at French roadsides, cracking stone that French roads used by the Americans may be placed in repair. They have slept in stables for months; they have been quartered in dirty little old houses which are not much better than stables. During the long, rainy, Winter months, with chill eating into their very marrow, they have slouched about through the streets of their little towns and over muddy French countrysides without & whimper or complaint. Without hu- man companionship beyond own and that of unsympathetic French people they have grown to be great | ‘buddies.’ " Buddies then and buddies now, they | are about to wage a frontal attack on ‘Washington—a friendly attack, withal, and one liable to go down in the his- tory of the Blue and Gray as the greatest reunion of all times. With & modern city spread about them they can recall the days and nights when they spent their time in such places as Villars-le-Pautel, Ormoy and Aisey. They lived in other towns and villages scattered about Souilly, north of Bar- le-Duc, and south of the Champagne and Argonne battlefronts. They lived lonely lives in some of these places, without access to the outside world. While in those sectors Mr. Kuhn visited many of the boys he knew, and an associate on The Star, Col. Le Roy W. Herron, then Maj. Her- ron, who was in command of the 1st Battalion, 110th Field Artillery. The colonel will be at the reunion, along with some of his command. They are on the way. When they get here they'll have lots sto tell about. They will talk about their hon- ored dead—about the heroes who were decorated for bravery. The 115th In- fantry, for instance, sported two Medal of Honor men, Second Lieut. their | Patrick Rezan and Pvt. Henry G. Cos- tin, both dead. Maj. Gen. Morton was given a Dis- tinguished Service Cross for what hi. boys did. So was Brig. Gen. Upton.’ All told, the decorations were numer- ous. Aside from the two medals of honor, there were 19 Distinguished Service Crosses, four Croix de Guerre and the decorations of Chevalier of the Order of Leopold (of Belgium) and of Chevalier of the Order of the Crown (of Belgium). GEN. PERSHING, commander of the A. E. F., made the presenta- tions. That was the day he reviewed | the division, on March 24, 1919. Ac- companied by his staff, the com- | mander in chief decorated the battle flags of the units which had seen bat- tle service. A field near Fresnes was selected for the ceremonials and re- view. One view of this occasion is imprisoned in the records of the Blue | and Gray, as follows: “A nice wet meadow was picked out as appropriate for the purpose, and proved not so boggy as it first looked, for it held the division up over six hours without any more than wetting the doughboys' feet. A few clouds fell out of the sky and contributed the customary moisture. The commander N REUNION HERE bt Sa m PAGE F—1 A in chief, however, made good by get- ting off his horse, and in his fine, | shining boots took the whole staff up and down the sloppy flelds between the open-rank platoons. This was ‘nuts’ to the doughboy. Afterwards, the general made & congratulatory speech.” The general did more than that.| When he got back to headquarters he | wrote a letter to Gen. Morton, saying: | “It gives me great pleasure to ex- tend to you and the officers and men of the 29th Division my compliments upon the showing made at the review and inspection on March 24, and at the same time commend all ranks for mighty proud of his boys. “Discipline in the division from the very first was of the sternest kind,” this old discipli- narian admitted. “Officers and men alike were ruled with an iron hand, but I came to love them as a father loves his children.” Military efficiency was the standard held up to one and all in the 20th Division, and the boys of the Blue and Gray accepted the order. They went out soldiers and they came back soldiers. After a terrific Winter— the worst weather Alabama ever saw, they declare—the transfer was made from American soil to French, and in July, 1918, the division found itself ordered to take over a section of the Alsatian front. The Americans re- lieved a French division. For 82 days the Blue and Gray was under fire. Almost three months in the trenches. Hardened and disci- plined, their first baptism of fire found them prepared for battle. They fought like veterans. FOR those who come ta Washing- ton, memories of those thrilling days in France will furnish the remi- niscence. They'll recall how, toward the last of September, 1918, they were transferred to the 1st American Army. How they suffered the discomforts of night marches. They relieved the Yankee Division at one point—and that's when the de-lousing became necessary. “Did those babies have cooties,” one of the 29th remarked the other day. Did they? But that wasn't the half of it. Take the dirty billets, bivouacs in the cold, clammy woods. Boy, boy, boy! In October of 1918 the Blue and Gray bivouacked in and around the histdric city of Verdun. Headquar- ters were located there. Some of the heaviest fighting and most severe ar- tillery fire in the World War took place at Verdun—and the District of Columbis boys, and their eompanions from Maryland, Virginis and New Jer- L Y PREZIDENT AND SUPREEM CORT USED TO FITE TU By Ira L. Smith. r{s HE Prezident, the Supreem Cort and the Congres have bin in fites for power in veers gone bi and will be In fites of that tipe in yeers to cum.” That sentence, presenting a factual | statement and a reasonable prophesy, looks for all the world as though spelling had taken a holiday. But that is just about the way | we would be hitching letters tocether; today if Congress and the Supreme | Court had not won out in a conflict | with the President of the United | States three decades ago. The story of how the results of that battle in high places kept this country free from clownish-looking words in an interesting one of its own right. It gathers added interest at this time because it centers in a situation that is- rather closely paralieled by the ‘“Supreme Court fight” which has had our Nation by its ears these many months. As the narrative of Theodore Roose- velt's efforts to have “simplified spell- ing” officially adopted is unfolded, the manner in which history has been going about its business of repeating itself is strikingly and somewhat hu- morously revealed. During many years before “Teddy” reached the White House some college professors and a scattering of other zealots had been trying to make the country see the error of its spelling ways. They made comparatively little progress in getting folks to use words that “look like they sound,” however, until Andrew Carnegie began to let them use some of his money. 'HUS provided with thews and ainews, the reformers who viewed the King's Engish with fshy eyss [ < | | »~ When Teddy Roosevelt Tried to Have “Simplified Spelling” Offi- cially Adopted in 1906, Congress and the Supreme Court Combined to Defeat Him. were making & minor din by the time 1906 rolled around. Money and time would be saved and the world would be a somewhat better place in which to live if the new-fangled orthography was taken to heart, they asserted on the lecture platforms and in the public prints. “Down with unsounded vowels,” they shouted and they wrote, and it is doubtful if earlier days and other climes ever had heard “Down with the King” shouted with more downright aggres- siveness. These leaders for a new order finally gained the President's atten- tion. He became a convert almost immediately. And he leaped into action faster than you can spell “gazel.” From Oyster Bay, N. Y., the “Sum- mer White House” of that day, Theo- dore Roosevelt on August 27, 1906, addressed a letter to the public printer at Washington. Inclosing copies of circulars of the Simplified Spelling Board, he placed the following sen- tence in the first paragraph of his letter: “Please hereafter direct that in all Government publications of the ex- ecutive departments the 300 words enumerated in. Circular No. 5 shall be spelled as therein set forth.” Then, exhibiting ' knowledge that opposition to that command would soon be abroad, the President set forth this semtence: & “Most of the criticism of the pro- posed step is evidently made in entire ignorance of what the step is, no less than in entire ignorance of the very moderate and common-sense views as to the purposes to be achieved, which are s0 excellently set forth in the cir- culars to which I have referred.” The President then advanced to these words: “If the slight changes in the spell- ing of the 300 words proposed wholly or partially meet popular approval, then the changes will become perma- nent without any reference to what public officials or individual private citizens may feel; if they do not ulti- mately meet with popular approval they will be dropt, and that is all there is about it.” THE public printer, applying him- self to his duty as it was outlined in the letter from the President, com- piled and issued a pamphlet entitled, “Simplified Spelling for the Use of Governmen: Departments.” He print- ed 6,000 copies, the vast majority of which long ago faded from the face of this earth. Two copies, however, remain on the shelves of the Library of Congress. It is interesting to note that some hand, obviously guided by intense feeling, wrote these words on the fiy-leat of one of those two copies: “An oot of Gongress Imoched ewt the ‘Simplified Spelling’ of T. Roose- | velt.” But that goes a little bit ahead of | the story. Neither Congress nor the | Supreme Court was in session when the Rooseveltian order was issued. | During those days when officialdom was largely absent from the Capital, it remained for editorial writers, car- toonists and “Old Subscriber” and “Pro Bono Publico” to establish re- action. [ These establishers of reaction looked at the list of 300 designated words and strange were some of the sights that met their eyes. Words resident in the realm of ten- derness, for instance, were definitely changed in form by the waving over them of the President's magic wand of simplification. ‘“Caressed was present in the mute and quivering form of “carest.” And “kissed” looked very unromantic as “kist.” “Fantom” was, indeed, a phantom of its former self, although *“paleontol- ogy” had s husky form which sug- gested that it must have been some- thing horrendous before it came under the hand of simplification. IN HIS note prefacing the pamphiet, Charles A. S8tillings, the public printer, sought to calm apprehensive souls with this paragraph: “The sseming diffioulties of sdapting copy to the new method will become greatly minimized when it is realized that of the 300 words, recommended for immediate adoption, 153 are at present in preferred use in the Gov- ermnment Printing Office, 49 of the others in this list are not preferred in Webster's Dictionary, but are used in the Government Printing Office wherever the author requests copy to be followed.” But controversy was on the rise and not a great many persons took time out during heated discussions to give calm thought to what the Government Printing Office and Webster's Dic- tionary preferred. People started talk- ing about “a matter of principle” and street-corner discussions of “the power of the President” began to multiply in number. The fury of contention spread across the ocean. British eyes found these words in the St. James Gazette: “Here is the language of 80,000,000 people suddenly altered by a mere ad- ministrative ukase, Could any other ruler on earth do’this thing? Could the Czar, or even the Kaiser?” An American correspondent in London advised his readers that England was characterizing Roosevelt, on the basis of his action, as “whimsical, silly, headstrong and despotic.” T HOME, the New York Times editorialized in this vein: “The President is above grammar or above dictionaries; of course he can himself misspell words and possibly can order the public printer to follow copy, but can he order every mem- ber of the cabinet, including such a fastidious scholar as Secretary Root, to forbear from correcting vile and glaring misprints?” ‘The New York Morning Telegraph (Bee md. Page P-2) the services they rendered while in France. “Though brief, your fighting record is one of which all may be proud. Ar- riving in France late in June, 1918, the division's period of training be- hind the line was cut short and one month later it was put into the 4 sace sector, thereby rel g veteran divisions for the battle. t the be- ginning of the great Meuse-Argon offensive it was moved into the line east of the River Meuse. While the division remained in the Corps Re- serve, the 58th Infantry Brigade, operating under orders of the coms, mander of the French 18th Division,| made a surprise attack on October 8. capturing Malbrouck Hill. From October 10 until October 23 the di= vision took part in a series of ade vances to the depth of 8 kilometers, taking Grand Montagne and the Ridge d'Etrayes. These positions wera consolidated for a further advance when, on October 30, the division was relieved by the 79th. “It was gratifying to see your troops in such good physical shape, but still more 50 to know that the moral tons of all ranks is high. I am sure that this fine condition will continue to the end of their service and beyond, as an exemplification of their high character and soldierly qualities. Please extend to them my congratue= lations and my hearty thaaks for ther splendia work. “Sincerely yours, “JOHN J, PERSHING.” MIN of the Blue and Gray cherish that letter. They wgmember that rainy day they went om review for the commander in chief—and how his staff suffered wading through the mud—and how they laughed, inward- ly, at the inconvenience thrown im the way of the visiting notables. “What a day!” one of the doughboys remarked. “And what men they wera to brave the mud.” Those days are all gone now, but the memory lingers on—ana the rea- son it is apt to be perpetuated may be attributed to a meeting held here in Washingtoh some years ago at the home of Lieut. W. R. Moffett, when the Blue and Gray Association was formed, “The 29ers,” as they call themselves. At that meeting were, besides Gen. Morton, Joseph Adams, Dudley Browne, J. Fred Chase, Joseph E. Hodges (deceased), Earle Mec- Gowan, Gerald and Maurice Me~ Grath and Louis Vogt. They are the men who made it possible for the 29th Division—the Blue and the Gray—to meet here this year in annual re- union. )