New Britain Herald Newspaper, September 21, 1928, Page 27

stery docked at New York 0 ex-soldiers who had re- battlefields of All bus nf veteran pine and the Rachel. Captain lcul.uwulfrhth 12,000 ex- soldiers of the 28th Division, Pennsylvania Nationa) Guard, had et them when they were emberking st Cherbourg -on the liner George Washi for the return trip to America. learned that he had mot long to live, and that, as life slowly ebbed, &is one desire was to return to the United States so that he might die in the country for which he had fought valiantly and so that his daughter might grow ap in her father’s land. The touring members of the 88%h Division de- ¢ided to bring Captain Eaton and Rachel to the United States. Tears of gratitude brimmed in bis eyes as he was taken aboard the liner, and be made & gallant fight to stay alive as miles of churning green water were kicked out under the stern of the mighty ship. He reached his native land alive, but only by virtue of s cour sgoous fight against death. A few days after landing he succumbed. Meanwhile little Rgchel, quick of gesture and a schntillating bit of shy humanity, had won the hearts of the men of the 28th. She became their fosterchildi—one of her father's last acts was to sign the necessary papers—and the ruffle of funeral drums tumbled over the rolling slopes of the National Cemetery at Cypress Hills. Its trembling timbre hung a moment over the heads of & small cavaicade of mourners and was dis- sipated by s vagrant breeze as Captaln James M. Eaton lowered to rest. y had written T death seemin, “finis' this 7 human little tale, eame ox- nmlon of the real romance of little Rachel and v soldiering Dad. A It is an amazing tale of a wife in Rochester, New York, who believed her husband had been killed in action ten years ago; of a soldier-hus- band who had met, loved and married a lovely French girl and continued to live in France; of $ho French wife's death after her baby was born; of the errant soldier-husband stricken with the .I.I':J' (tuberculosis) which had claimed his second bride, and the longing for home at the ond of the trail. But let us tall the story as the veterans of the 88th Division came to know it: The b-mnhi%l(nlm had been blown up, and Epain and the United States faced each other, acknowledged enemics. There was the martial cadence o hing men, army bands played “There’ll Hot Time in the Old Town ;'o- night,” and American troops were off to adven- ture and to victory. James M. Eaton marched to the battle and shared in the triumph. Then came the Boxer Uprising in China. Reilly's Battery, that brave organization whose commander's only Instruction was: “Gentlemen, thore must never be anything to explain in the battery,” went smashing through, The allied troops poured into the besieged eity of Pekin, ond James M. Eaton marched Q‘nuh the erushed gates of the great wall. Then came the Phl':rn(no campal James M. Eaton faced the bola and the machet in defense of his country’s homor. Victory— ond peace. But peace fs not the vocation of the soldier, Thunder heads gathered on the far shore of the Atlantic. Then came “Over There!” The strains swept the land, with the strange, stirring, counterpoint of marching feet, and iau gray transports, crazily strosked to hide them from enemy observers, hit the Atlantie trall for France, There was a hasty good-bye in Rochester, New blld again TG g Romance of the B = With 12000 And What Happened When the Soldier Who . Left a Wife in America to Find a Bride in France Came Home to Die. Fokkers, and Jennies. The ground was s mass of m«mmm.-’.u.tmem ames M. Eaton, came & jo. “They ehall not pass” was lerry, Belloan 3 Marne, Captaiv Eaton was e» his wav back to A hind Deaumont the trees still were tall, slender and greon. Fields were verdant and life was tranquil “Madamoiselle from Armentiers” was forgotten as old Pierre sat in the doorway of his rude hut. twanged his guitar and sang o % B ... - v Clair de Lune. .. .. Here Captain Eaton met a French girl—dark hair, soft eyes—and she admired “zis gallant sold Nineteen-Eighteen, and Victory! True, there remained the crosses, row en row. There re- mained cruel scars on the face of a once happy land. But beneath the Are de Triomphe there trooped a happy, helmeted horde. Paris was gay —London was , and New York was gay &8 the boys troo, Out of the spssm of Nature eame many things. For instance, for Captain James M. Eaton, there came romance. And for Mra James M. Eaton there came sorrow. For Cnru.ll Eston was n&orud “missing,” a word fre! d with dire lieation of death. There followed o wedding in Parls end—Captain James M. Eaton ceased to _be, w0 far as Rochester, New York, was con cerned. A stoical ecalm brooded over the quiet homestead which he for- fiot. And for s while s ttle. red-bordered flag, with & gold star, hung the window. Then it dis- appeared, and the world turned through ten wea: yoars, nrugllu tow, reconstruction. There followed happy lays in Paris. With his Rache i aton 4 strolled in the Bois and cultivated the epicurean tastes of the continentsl, But again the shade of sorrow fell athwart his path. His French wife, never @ sturdy ‘person, contracted tuberculosis, Together they fought 8 losing fight against ravages of the The second Mrs Eaton died, and Captain Eaton, weakened by his L contracted the malady, While Rachel flowered into s beautifully naive child her father wasted away. His cheeks became hollow and the pallor of impending death banished the ruddy tan wacquired A Soldier Passes! The Funeral Procession of Captain James M. Eston Winding Its Way Through the National Cemetery at Cypress Hill, N. Y. York. Captain James M. Eaton again set forth for the war, and his wife speeded his departure and prayed for his safe return. Minutes, hours, days, months—YEARS, were swallowed in the crashing crescendo of obliter- sting fire. The zir was a tangle of Spads, Tauba, tn the fleld ander the banners of his eountry. Finally Captain Eatoa saw that death was in- evitable. But must he die in an alien land and ~ abandon his little deughter te charity? The thought tortured him, but still he hesitated. And be waited almost too long. At the last minute he Rachel, with Mra. Robert Cluth, Rer *Mother Pro Tem,” Who Is Bringing Her Up with Her Own Children Unti) ™ the Twenty. £ Eighth Division Decides What [ to Do with Its New “Daughter.” converted his insurance policy, his enly asset, into cash. Then, with his daughter. be sought the George Washington. “I am an ex-soldier,” he called from his wheel- chair beside the pier. “I want to ? home to diel” And the bovs of the 28th took him aboard. Sompage: Pesture Servies, 18R Was this the end the stral romance Not at alll The mem bers of the 28th Di vision didn't know Cap- tain Eaton’s story. He lay in the hos ital of the ship, anconscious for the gemt part of the vo{m and there was no one to tell them. But they knew that provision must be made for Rachel They collected & fund for her—more than & thousand dollurs—end then the whole division adopted ber. Later it was decided that Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cluth, the former & member of the Spanish War Veterans’ Association, should take Rachel to Philadelphia. There she would live with them, although she would remain the ward of the “12,000 da f the 38th Division. Just before the ship reached rn Captain Eaton regsined comsciousness. It seemed s if the ex-soldier, who by that time weighed enly sixty-eight pounds, literally pulled himself back to consciousness by sheer will power so that he could look once again on his native land. He evep pulled him- self up painfully on one elbow and boeumd to an officer of the Twenty-Eighth. Then he whispered hoarsely. “l must see . . . @ cousin of mine « . . she lives ip Rochester.” Captain Eaton managed to ve the full name, “Mrs atherine Eaton” and the street address ef this “cousin.” Next day the ship docked and & good-looking women ‘"l‘k‘:dd Iln . tubdng black wal slowly up the gan plank. She etopped u..ufl the wasted form of the re- turned wanderer, and then turned to look into the face of little Rachel. who stood nearby. Then she sat down beside Captain Eaton’s cot and they conversed for an hour in his hand. dropped a tear and ‘”l‘lmé‘i Tlltl';li:ufin"""u real n n's wife. lh,c dfi"lm reveal her erraat usiend, hewerer, sad e i ever, p She had laft the des ot ber :u-.mm only. came out after ship ~ & woman so game,” Captain clm'.:'n?.r'w'.':-m. “Not by & word or the ! flicker of an eyelid did she show her astonish- idea that she was just & cousin. Bus I'm sure that she forgave him for everything in that last interview.' After the fataful meeting en the aun the. . dying captain was carried to Ballevue Hes| hers he seemed to relax and & fow days late: he died. By this time the tale of his past had leaked out. Before the story became kmown, plans were made to bury Captain Eaton with full military ned to those plane, for only & small band of mourners hind the fln‘:-du casket. And as the funers) procession threaded ress Hills there was no nete of martial musle. “Ovar hill, ever dale, we have hit any time Captain Eaton to that stirring artillery strain. &t present arms, or ready to kym would herald the ng of & soldier—no bugler But, while governments not eondone & soldier’s lovu.'t‘l'n-u lr: bm‘"ln the 38th croes rave. Harold Robinson, & military honors. Members of the 28th Division had learned ef ence with the officer in charge of the uad. was the rattle of rif) honors, But something happe: its way toward the tranquil slopes of C: 4 traf d the i rol fodhs I, an cassions m At the open grave no firi: uad B ey e awaited the signal to sound taps. sion more nearly attuned to the fnll& ! kind. A cemetery was o S:: 69th Infantry, was being the other funeral. Several of them had & confer of accoutrements, and the squad mare! L5 alse, lh‘!: ':‘?rt;;' slow notes l:' taps! SAme i daughter the lawn af the Philadelphia bome of Cortam th With some other children. whose language she tried desperately hard to wnder ke only French. She ulated, not kmowing that gone on his last journey. out of this maze o