Over there : the story of a sky pilot

Front matter

OVER THERE”

The Story of a Sky Pilot

—BY—

Foreword

BY REV. L. R. SCARBOROUGH, D. D.

President Southwestern Theological Seminary Ft. Worth, Texas

I have known this “Sky Pilot” for many years. I knew him before, during and since the experiences related in this volume, as a “son in the ministry”, as student, as soldier, as pastor and friend. I count him a true, noble, brave, loyal, forward-looking Christian soul, and rejoice to have in this book a foreword to his part in the world-victory for peace and civilization.

This story is a charming record of an unselfish life seeking to save country and soldiers to the highest ends. It is full of thrilling exper¬ iences, humanly and interestingly told. It is another explanation of how victory came to righteousness and to those who love victory and peace among men, by the giving of an unselfish life at any cost to bring about the highest ideals and preserve the richest treasures of manhood, womanhood and God.

I commend this volume which has a message of good to all who read it.

INDORSEMENT

I have read this story (in manuscript), and found it to be unusu¬ ally interesting as well as instructive. It is based on the author’s ex¬ periences as chaplain with the A. E. F. in France during the World War, and contains numerous bits of history and local stories, also many humorous incidents and dramatic occurrences. I am sure the book will be thoroughly enjoyed by all who read it.

Our pastor is publishing this book in order to provide himself with some necessary material equipment badly needed in the work here, and in purchasing it you will not only get your money’s worth of wholesome reading matter, but will be getting a wonderful collection of pictures besides, and will help in a worthy cause.

(Signed) ROY C. CAMPBELL,

Supt. First Baptist Sunday School,

Texas City, Texas

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION

THIS narrative is composed of twenty-four short stories besides the preface chapter, twenty-five pictures and many poems, arranged as if told bo an audience in three evenings, the scenes brought from vil¬ lages, cities and battlefields being thrown on the screen to illustrate each of the chapters.

I know that war stories generally have become very trite, but as I recall very few have been published by ex-chaplains; therefore, I have tried to produce something “different”. There are many his¬ torical, as well as traditional stories woven in; some descriptions of the people and country of France, their customs and many local legends, are given. Here and there are impressions of the moral and religious life of the people, also of our soldiers.

My purpose in publishing the book is fourfold: to record the ser¬ vices of my outfits overseas, better equip myself and church for work, furnish some entertainment and do all the good I can.

To my many friends of the regiments I served with, college chums, good people of the churches I have pastored, and the boys and girls it was my privilege to instruct in the public schools of West Texas, let me say that a “friend in need is a friend indeed.”

Acknowledgment is here made for the use of these books for ref¬ erence: The World War for Liberty, by Rolt-Wheeler and Drinker; Ridpath’s History of the World (volume on French history); Pictorial History of the 78th in France, by I. L. Cochrane; How to Live, by Eisn¬ er and Fisk; Paris in Ten Days, by Story; The Pleasures of Life by Lubbock, from which most of the poems used were taken. Also maps brought from "over there”, and finally “My Own Diary” came in handy.

I wish to acknowledge the kind foreword on the previous page by Doctor L. R1 Scarborough. I am not worthy of what he has said con¬ cerning me and my book, but whatever good I may have done in the past, or if perchance I should occupy a greater field for service in the future, I shall have to admit that the “man of God” has had a large place in my life.

And now, after many months of interrupted work on this, my first attempt to write a book, I send this volume forth among its author’s friends, and may their friends become his friends.

Sincerely,

Cr/'L^

STORIES

PREFACE: “LAFAYETTE, WE ARE HERE!”

STORY EVENING ONE page

I. FROM COKE TO CAMP___ 15

II. LIQUID GOLD, FAREWELL _ 23

III. ZIGZAGGING AMONG SUBS_ 31

IV. “SO THIS IS ‘SUNNY FRANCE!’”__ 39

V. HEADED FOR THE FRONT_ 47

VI. SEARCH FOR ENGINEERS _ 55

VII. THAT FIRST NIGHT UP_ 63

VIII. DODGING WHIZZBANGS _ 71

EVENING TWO

IX. THE SUPREME SACRIFICE_ 79

X. RAIDED IN CAMP AND VILLAGE_ 87

XI. HELPING THE MEN CARRY ON_ 95

XII. ARMY WELFARE WORK_ 103

XIII. VERDUN: “ILS NE PASSERONT!” _111

XIV. UNDER CLOUDY SKIES _119

XV. IN THE DISMAL DUNGEON_127

XVI. LAST NIGHT WITH 25TH_135

EVENING THREE

XVII. BACK TO “NO MAN’S LAND”___._143

XVIII. RED CROSS—MOTHER OF SOLDIERS_151

XIX. ON DUTY WITH INFANTRY_159

XX. “LIGHTNING” HITS GRANDPRE’_167

XXI. STORIES, SICK CALLS, TAPS -175

XXII. PARIS AFTER BOMBARDMENT _ 183

XXIII. ZERO HOUR AND “MABEL”_191

XXIV. FINIS: UNIVERSAL PEACE, WHEN?_199

Appendix

SCENES

PREFACE: “THEIR AMERICAN LIBERATORS”

SCENE EVENING ONE PAGE

I. CHAPLAIN INSTRUCTORS, CAMP TAYLOR___ 16

II. EIFFEL TOWER, STATUE OF LIBERTY, WOOLWORTH 24

III. GUNBOAT, U-BOAT CHASER, SUBMARINES_ 32

IV. GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR _ 40

V. FRENCH TANKS vs. GERMAN MACHINE GUN NEST__ 48

VI. SOME OF 25TH AT LE MORT HOMME___ 56

VII. iESNES SHOT UP BY LONGRANGERS__ 64

VIII. WRECK OF THE ARGONNE WOODS_ 72

EVENING TWO

IX. MILITARY FUNERAL BEHIND THE LINES_ 80

X. LIGHT PLANE SHOT DOWN BY YANKS_ 88

XL CAMP-LIFE SCENES OVER THERE_ 96

XII. SALVATION ARMY GIRLS AT THE FRONT_104

XIII. GAS ALARM IN THE “UNDERGROUND CITY”_112

XIV. THE FAMOUS “KOOTIE KILLER”__ 120

XV. FORT BUILT BY ROMANS, FIRST CENTURY, A. D._128

XVI. ANTI-AIRCRAFT vs. GERMAN BOMBING PLANE_136

EVENING THREE

XVII. SCENES OF PARIS AND VERSAILLES_144

XVIII. REFUGEES CARED FOR BY RED CROSS_152

XIX. MEN OF 309TH ON FIRING LINE_160

XX. GRANDPRE’ AS TAKEN BY 78TH DIVISION_ 168

XXI. THE CHURCH BUILT BY A MURDER_176

XXII. MAGNIFICIENT PARISIAN SCENES__184

XXIII. MEN OF 2ND BN., 309TH INFANTRY___192

XXIV. A “STEAM LAUNDRY”—SEMUR BRIDGE_200

MY COUNTRY

“My country! ’tis'of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim’s pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring!

“My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills; My heart with rapture thrills Like that above.

“Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom’s song;

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong.

“Our fathers’ God to Thee Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light; Protect us by Thy might,

Great God, our King.”

—S. F. SMITH

THEIR AMERICAN LIBERATORS

PREFACE: “LAFAYETTE, WE ARE HERE!” 9

EVERY person familiar with the history of Our Country remembers that just four hundred thirty years ago—after a perilous voyage of seventy-one days in small sail boats—this great land of ours was discovered by a Spanish explorer who dared to prove his theory that the world was round by sailing westward to India.

So, as you well remember, on October 12, 1492, Christopher Colum¬ bus himself first stepped ashore, shook out the royal banner of Castile in the presence of the wondering natives, and named the island San Salvador.

Everybody had said it couldn’t be done. Columbus was crazy! He would drop off out there over the edge of the earth, be swallowed up by huge sea monsters, and never be heard of again. But he persisted, and after being turned down by several sovereigns, including the king of his own native land, Italy, was finally promised aid by Queen Isa¬ bella who gave the ambitious seaman these words of encouragement: “I undertake the enterprise for my own crown of Castile, and will pledge my jewels to raise the necessary funds.”

The news of the discovery of a new world spread like wild fire throughout Spain Tirst, then throughout other countries, and, within less than a century the Western Hemisphere was claimed and occupied by many disputing nations of Europe. Then as the years rolled by those nations were narrowed down to three; namely, Spain, France and England.

The Spanish who came solely to find gold and then return to the homeland wealthy, occupied Mexico and parts of the West. The French who also entered the ‘‘land of golden dreams” to get rich by their profitable fur-trade with the Indians, were scattered along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River. But the English migrated to America for an entirely different purpose. They came over to build homes.

The English left their mother country because they could no longer endure oppression by their rulers, who denied their subjects the right of self-government. Many bloody wars had been fought on this acount, but sfill conditions remained about the same. Not only were the peo¬ ple allowed no voice in things political, but they were forbidden to worship the Divine Being according to the dictates of conscience.

These liberty-loving people believed in the separation of church and state, in freedom of speech, right of self-government; they dared to read and interpret the Bible for themselves, preached that the church saved nobody of itself, and came out boldly against all forms of corruption in private, governmental and church life. Therefore, the persecution borne because they bowed not themselves to the yoke of oppression.

Coming to this unexplored new world the English colonists began life all over again. They cleared away the forests for their fields. They built log huts in which to live. They suffered cold, hunger, attacks of the Red Man; but it was sweet suffering compared to life back home. Finally, the colonies which grew, were scattered up and down the Atlantic seaboard. They “stuck it out” because they came to build homes and lay the foundation of the world’s greatest nation today. The “unlucky” thirteen colonies at last threw off the yoke of the mother country and became the United States of America.

However, as you well know, before the Americans gained their independence, they had an awful struggle. They were governed by laws made in the homeland, laws which were made and enforced withoufTThe aid or consent of the colonies. So for a century or more they suffered ill-treatment at the hands of their forbears without retalia¬ tion, but the time came when they would do so no longer. There was too much righteous principle involved for them not to long for free¬ dom. Consequently they took up arms against the mother country and resisted her invasions, declared themselves free and independent, and set up a government of their own. In this action the Americans dem¬ onstrated to the world the wonderful power of a liberty-loving, God¬ fearing people who hold that “all men are created equal” with rights and privileges which must not be trampled upon by any other nation— not even by the mother country. The Americans also gave the world an example of what they could do in war—even as in the late World War—though they were not and are not yet, primarily a military peo¬ ple. But there were other tyrannical rulers besides those of England, and for examples we go back into the past a few centuries.

About three hundred years B. C. arose Alexander the Great, who had wonderful success in subduing nearly all the known world of his day. But his rule came to naught at an early date. His death, while still a young man, brought about by strong drink and lust, cut the would-be world power of Alexander short, and no man was able to hold the conquered territories together. And if this hero had lived the chances were that his world-rule would, have been short indeed.

Another, Napoleon Bonaparte, followed Alexander the Great’s ex¬ ample but with no greater degree of success. Napoleon was a hero, a military genius, but his successes led him on and on to an utter

“LAFAYETTE, WE ARE HERE!”

failure. Finally, defeated by the English at Waterloo, he was tried and banished to the lonely island of St. Helena, and his world-rule was brought to a speedy close.

Now, in the course of human events there arose another monarchy —yes, an autocracy—in the East, whose purpose was to do exactly as Alexander and Napoleon—rule the whole earth by force of arms. So, for half a century she gave her lads military training with no other aim in view than to become the world power. The rulers injected and instilled into their subjects that “might makes right”; that her emperors ruled by the “divine right of kings.” Consequently their schooling, their religion, their government and their all were shot through and through, not only with militarism, but with rationalism, atheism, and cold criticism upon all not German. Evidently this mon¬ archy was gaining strong foothold in those countries surrounding, and was fast becoming the domineering power of the East, years before the Great War broke forth.

William II. could not profit by the many examples of utter failure to become world-rulers. He had to try it-himself. And try it he did, for that was all. Eike Alexander’s government his was torn asunder, while he himself suffered ignoble defeat, and like Napoleon was sent into exile. But “Kaiser Bill” should have been banished to St. Helena and made to saw wood there for the Allies!

However, before the end of all this trouble came the awful struggle involved twenty-eight nations of the world, having a population of nearly 1,600,000,000, or practically eleven-twelfths of the human race. The loss of life approached 10,000,000, with nearly three times as many wounded; costing the astounding sum of $250,000,000,000. And besides the cost in lives and money, left in the wake of the war there is untold suffering, pestilence, crime; devasted forests, fields and cities. No wonder Sherman said, “War is hell”. And yet, in spite of all the cost and suffering, America had to stop what the kaiser and his “bunch” started.

Three years of fury raged before the United States was drawn into battle. Three years with the help of hei Allies France oaf fled for the most part on losing ground. The manpower as well as the moneypower of both France and England was very weak beiore our govern¬ ment took a stand with the besieged nations. We did not want 1 1 go to war. But as we wanted peace at any cost, we were willing to fight for it; therefore, we were willing to enter the fray that the cause of

“OVER THERE”

right might win, and the world be made safe for democracy and “uni¬ versal peace”. Thus, after Germany had long continued her depradations on land and sea, following the unjustifiable sinking of the Lusi¬ tania, we rallied to the assistance of our mother country from whom we had gained our independance in the war of the Revolution, and later defeated on the high seas; hurried to the rescue of the republic which had given us help against England, remembering the deeds of France’s brave Lafayette in helping us. And not only did we “get in” to help those who gave us birth and assistance, but to protect our¬ selves in the long-run, since it was a well established fact that as soon as Germany conquered those countries at her door she meant to gain strongholds in the West.

You remember that the protests made against the barbarisms of the Huns went for naught. Even the severance of diplomatic relations failed to convince the Prussian geniuses that the United States would actually join the Allies in bitter conflict against the “Fatherland”. And if America should step into the fray, it was an open secret that the kaiser’s advisers held that since she was not a military nation, France could be crushed and England subdued before accountable numbers of the United States troops could be put into the field of battle.

But President Wilson, though cautiously slow to take action, was not asleep by any means. The message in which he asked Congress to declare a state of war existing between the United States and Ger¬ many, and to authorize the prosecution of the fight against the Imper¬ ial German Government, constitutes a classic in literature, and is one of the most important documents in the history of the world.

The President, who had reestablished the custom of reading his own messages, appeared before the great law-making body on April 2, 1917, and while the whole world tingled with emotion, made his memo¬ rable utterances, which include the following important message:

“The presenUGerman submarine warfare is a warfare against man¬ kind. It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of; but the ships and peoples of other friendly and neutral nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all man¬ kind. Each nation must decide for itself how to meet it . . . There is one choice which we cannot make, we are incapable of making; we will not' choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred

“LAFAYETTE, WE ARE HERE!’"

rights of our nation and of our people to be ignored and violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life.

“With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical nature of the step I am taking, and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitu¬ tional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the German Imperial Government to be in fact nothing less than wc:r against the Government and people of the United States; that if formally accept the status of belligerent thrust upon it; and that it take immediate steps, not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense, but also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the Imperial Empire to terms and end the war.

“We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling toward them but one of friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering the war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers, and wars were pro¬ voked and waged in the interests of dynasties or little groups of ambitious men, who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. Self-governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies or set the course of intrigue to bring about some critical posture of affairs which will give them an opportunity to strike and make con¬ quest.

“ . . . The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”

On the following Friday—Good Friday—April 6, 1917, Congress took the formal steps which plunged the country into war, adopting the following resolution:

“Whereas, The Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America: Therefore, be it

“OVER THERE”

“Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the German Imperial Government which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and resources of the Government to carry on war against the German Imperial Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termin¬ ation all resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress or the United States?’

Those days of excitement! How they live in the memory yet! We try to forget them. We do not care to recall them often. But the ring of hammers building camps, the call of our Uncle Sam to the colors, the separation of loved ones—all come back afresh when the war is mentioned. Soon the boys were going over.

Among the first to make landing on foreign shores was General Jack Pershing with his advance guard. Proceeding at once to Paris he retired to the tomb of France’s brave Lafayette, on American Independance Day; where also lay the remains of Benjiman Franklin, one of America’s greatest men; and under hallowed memories with head uncovered our good - General uttered these four memorable words: “Lafayette, we are here!”

Here my story begins, so I will first take you on a journey From Coke to Camp.

“That I may not in darkness grope, But that I may with vision clear Know when to speak a word of hope Or add a little wholesome cheer.”

—S. E. KISER.

EVENING ONE

The Story of a Sky Pilot

-. -. - -

I. From Coke To Camp

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, Sermons histones, and good in everything.”

—SHAKESPEARE

“The meanest flower of the vale,

The simplest note that swells the gale, The common sun, the air, the skies,

To him are opening paradise.”

—GRAY

CHAPLAIN INSTRUCTORS, CAMP TAYLOR

FROM COKE TO CAMP

AWAY out in West Texas closely surrounded on the East and West by rocky hills abruptly rising, and on the North and South by two turbulent mountain creeks, lies a typical western village in the center of a scattered rural community. Long years ago this village was built by stockmen whose families resided there through the winter months in order to send their children to school, while the stockmen them¬ selves batched with the cow punchers during the week out on their ranches. A school building, two churches, a garage, a store and postoffice in the same building; an old cotton gin abandoned on account of the drouth, and about a dozen dwellings composed the town at the time the trouble across the pond began.

The winter of this section the year I lived there was cold, the summers short and hot; the days shorter and the nights longer than in a level country. You see the mountain on the East causes the sun to rise later, and the one on the West causes it to set earlier, than in a plains country. And though the days were short in summer and still shorter in winter they dragged by very heavily at times, for there was but little passing that way. The daily mail hack, the occasional sight of an automobile—a rare occurance in those days—or the cowboys coming in after groceries and mail, w re about all the excitements we had. However, one other attraction helped to break the monotony of life. That aversion was this: the finest swimming pool in all the land.

Soon after my location there in July a score of boys called by and invited me to join them in their sport. Of course I could not refuse for It had been many years since I had lived so conveniently to such a hole of water. Over the hill on the west side of town they took me, down by the big dam. The tank was long and narrow, but very deep, being ten feet under the springboard. Such a time James Whitcom Riley never had in his “ol’ swimmin’ hole”. This occasion was the beginning of a whole summer of real sport for me. And though I could not dive so deep nor stay under so long as the lads who were used to it, I seldom lost an opportunity to be with them. So well do I enjoy a swim in the big out-of-doors that I made it a habit of taking a plunge nearly every morning before breakfast, beginning in the warm weather and continuing into the late fall.

That winter was unusually cold and disagreeable. We had the biggest snow in years, and high winds and sandstorms were plentiful. But finally it broke, or rather merged into another dry spring, and 1 began to think of some other matters along with my teaching and

“OVER THERE”

pastoral work. In fact for several months I had considered a chap¬ laincy in the army, and it was only that I had contracted for another school and had been called to some churches in Coke County, that kept me from making application a year before I did.

In the spring—just about the time school closed—I finished my application to the War Department and sent it in. This big fat letter contained one application blank asking all about where I was born, who my parents were, what all I had done, my educational qualifica¬ tions, etc; five recommendations from prominent friends of mine, including one college president, one of my former pastors, a doctor, a lawyer and the county judge of my county; and last but not least, my photograph: I waited only four short weeks for a reply. The wire came on one Sunday morning requesting me to report at once to Camp Zachery Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky. I have always been anxious to know what it was that got me through. It couldn’t have been my picture, nor the “flattering” recommendations. I’ve about come to the conclusion that Uncle Sam was up against it for Sky Pilots.”

On the Sunday I received the message from the War Department we were having a big day at the church. At the close of the service that afternoon I made the matter known to the brethren and asked their opinion. They said I would have to decide it for myself; but I really think they were in hopes I would accept the chaplaincy. You see it was their chance to change pastors. Having expressed myself as being fearful of getting through at the camp, my good friend Mr. Banks—a young married man with a fine wife and several small children, who belonged to the other church there, but who is now dead —retorted me with, “Of course you can make it. We will be ashamed of you if you don’t. Certainly we would like you to stay here, but if you feel it your duty to get into the service, go on. And remember, if you go to the camp and don’t make good, don’t ever come back here.”

That settled it for me and I at once began to make preparation to go.

The day I left the good people in the valley was the thirteenth. This deplorable fact never dawned upon me till I was well on my way to the station forty miles to the north. There was another road closer than Sweetwater—the place where I took the train—but it was half as far away, so went to Sweetwater for better connection. Traveling by the “Henry Ford” route till I reached the station, I boarded the Texas and Pacific (Time and Patience) on the thirteenth of the month,

FROM COKE TO CAMP and began my “long” journey. I should worry anyway about the date.

I thought we never would get through Texas. I had heard it was a very large state. After traveling hours and hours we ran into Arkansas where the tall pines grow. Different scenery from that of West Texas where we have the scrubby mesquites. After laying over a few hours at Memphis, boarded a crowded car, a smoker at that, and had to sit up all night without sleep.

But we landed safely in Louisville next morning. I was lost. Never had I been in such a large city! It didn’t look like an army camp to me. But I soon found the way to the camp, then walked all over it before finding the Chaplains’ School.

I was sent from one place to another trying to find the scliool until I walked myself down. Having made the camp two or three times I was just about to reach the entrance again when I accosted a soldier on duty. He showed me the school nearby. Well, how relieved! And how foolish of me! I had been looking for college buildings, such as I had seen once or twice before. The Chaplains’ School was located in regular army barracks.

Stepping at once to Major Chaplain Pruden’s office I knocked, while my heart leaped to my throat. Responding to the very dignified command from within to enter, I tremblingly walked into the presence of the Commandant of the school. I did not know whether to speak to, or salute the major, but not yet having on a uniform I spoke to him. So far as I ever learned . I did the right thing. Presenting my orders 1 was about to be at ease when in came a chaplain in training. What happened made me nervous.

The young fellow rushed in, threw his hat on the major’s desk, leaned against the desk himself, told his business, then started out. Chaplain Pruden called him back, had him hold his hat in his left hand, stand at attention and salute, then walk out like a soldier. The major perceiving my agitation over the affair, said to me: