Camp Adair Sentry
Thursday. November 12,1942
troops had already taken Romagne
and the Germans captured were
so emaciated, exhausted and list­
less that we felt the end must be
near. In fact there were so many
rumors about an armistice that
General Headquarters issued an or­
der to stop circulating them. But
they persisted, anyhow, and there
was much to indicate a collapse.
“We saw very young boys, 16
and 17, and the Germans seemed i
let down and glad to fall into our
hands. They were half-starved and
their clothing was worn out. Also
the German artillery was getting
1 worse. They were using old shrap-
! nel and odd lots of stuff. Their
' supplies were alrfiost exhausted
and they were shooting a lot of
- duds.
“I had been in bed for more than
k*“ » •
a week, when the armistice came,
(Left) Tables are available out at the range so that soldiers may keep their rifles in condition for firing, (( enter) A bottle comes in handy when the infantryman
and we all knew about it. After-11
want» to smoke up hi» sight so that there will be less gleam in the sunlight. (Right) Proper trigger release ia emphasized and men must learn not to flinch, and to fire
o’clock that day all of the patients
from any position. Here they fire prone. (These are Public Relations Photo».)
who could walk were out in the
streets celebrating as much as their
had
collected
»even
trial».
This
and
we
dined
at
Churchill»,
a
res-
had
already
been
in
France
eight
where
we
had
trouble.
There
were
Adair Vets of First
company of men who had just fin­ taurant we had heard much about months. After the Armistice we orders out to place all Americans condition permitted. The cafes
War Recall Armistice
ished their guardhoune terms was and then joined the milling crowds started for Brest, expecting to go under arrest if they had passed were all filled and there was a kind
(Continued From Page 1)
unique in that it included soldiers on the sidewalk. A girl grabbed my home, and then were turned around beyond our lines. We managed to of a victory parade. I went out, but
had to go easy, for I was still
11 o'clock that night. But we went from 32 states of the union and was hat and I chased her two blocks an<l sent to Coblenz with the Army talk ourselves free.”
weak. Later I returned to our old
t<» the hotel an old women refused further unusual in that it included to get it—.”
of Occupation.”
Sgt. Henry Beckett
position, but so many of our horses
But what did the major (then ser­
to admit us, saying that a French both colored and white troops in
Col. George C. Ferch
were gone, partly as the result of
general and the members of his its roster. This was the only com­ geant) do with the girl?
Sgt. Henry Beckett has with him eating brush contaminated by mus­
staff were staying there and the pany of its kind that Col. Sammet
“Oh, I was lucky to get the hat,”
Col. George C. Ferch, Camp a copy of the history of his regi­ tard gas, that we could not go on
hotel was full. Of course the gen­ had ever heard of and he claims he said. "But you know, in that
'Adair’s executive officer, fell ment, the 136th F.A., then a bi-
into Germany.
eral was asleep. He did not know that it was the best—casual outfit great crowd we even saw other
asleep until awakened by the vouac in a dense woods, the Foret
about it. He was in command of a that sailed from France.
men from Lakehurst. There was a
Don C. Wilson
wound of shell cartridges being , de la Montagne, covering the range
cavalry brigade »nd was on the
lot of noise, naturally, and heaps of
fired in celebration.
I of hills forming the escarpment of
S
Sgt.
Jack
S.
Vinson
way to Sedan for the formal entry
excitement and I remember that
Don C. Wilson, editor of the
“We were across the Meuse Riv­ the Meuse, just southeast of Ver­ Camp Adair Sentry and now a resi­
of the French Army.
8/Sgt. Jack 8. Vinson. M.P. —“I we had to wade through paper er from Sedan,” he said. “We were dun.
dent of Corvallis, was a 1st lieu­
“Commercy, I remember, was war confined to quartern with thi­ about knee deep. Newspapers had
“Firing continued here until the
Rainbow Division troops and the
tenant, in the First Brigade of the I
sound asleep at that hour. Every flu. A major had been buried ll nd been dumped around and strips of
armistice,
”
-the
history
says,
“
one
men of the First Division were on
Tank Corps, resting near Langres,
place was dosed. But a policeman I heard his funeral train go by. paper were thrown from windows.
our right. I was a captain in the , battery continuing in action up to on Armistice Day. Although back |
told us of a bakery where we might Thon I heard more funeral marches But we got away all right and re­
the
last
moment,
even
taking
ac
­
151st F.A., and regimental adju­
from the front since Nov. 5. the '
pass the night. The baker fixed us and looked out and saw two fun­ ported hack at Lakehurst next
tant anil liasion officer. Our latest count of the time of flight of pro­ unit had orders to go back in and
up, brought newly baked bread and erals go by, each one with three morning.”
drive had started as November jectile so that the last round ex­ 144 brand new French tanks were
coffee, took my temperature, then caissons draped in black. I remem­
( apt. Jean D. Lewis
opened. Earlier we had prepared ploded in the German lines at the loaded and ready to go, when the I
103, and gave me a thick feather ber wondering when I would get
the way for the Marines and my exact second of the termination of war ended. ’ Lt. Wilson rode to
bed for the night. Next day we mine. All this happened before 11
Capt. Jean D. Lewi», transporta­ brother, in the Marines, had been j hostilities.”
town and bought a copy of The
went on to a hospital at Neufchat- o'clock and we didn’t know any­ tion Officer, and a private in the
Shortly after the great silence
killed.
Paris Herald, telling all about it.
eau, and found the town Celebrat­ thing in advance where I was, at Medics of the 55th F.A. in 1918,
came,
Beckett
walked
down
hill,
“We had pushed through the mud
Then he celebrated.
ing, too. Doctors and nurses and Ft. Lewis. Thon the news came and says that the front seemed more
through <he village of St. Maurice,
French people greeted us and gave I think a poker game started. At dangerous on Armistice Day than for 30 kilometers, four horses to a to the plain, and went on some miles
T Sgt. William J. Sweeney
gun.
and
they
were
about
used
us cigarettes, flowers and candy. that time I was a second lieutenant it had la-en earlier.
to
the
right.
He
knew
of
a
canteen
up and we were about through our­
T. Sgt. William J. Sweeney—On
I was in the hospital for two weeks, and instructor of infantry.
"Everybody cut loose with ma- selves. In five days I had slept only down that way. He bought a quan-
the morning of Nov. 11, 1918, I
with bronchial pneumonia.’’
'
tity
of
cigarettes,
chocolates
and
chine guns and rifles,” he says, about three hours altogether, so
Pvt. Carl K. Cohen
was preparing to celebrate my
“but not right away. First there when the firing ceased I just crackers, put them into a large
Maj. Gen. Gilbert It. Cook
fifth birthday in a little town; Mil­
wooden
box,
and
started
back
with
Pvt. Carl K. Cohen, Hdq. Co.— was that strange silence. You could floppt-d down where I was and
ton, Okla., when guns started
On the day the war ended, the “I was with the 131st Infantry, hear a pin drop. Then the French slept. I slept through the after­ it. Along came part of the 135th |
cracking, dynamite shots going off
Major General Gilbert R. Cook of 33rd Division. W<- were stationed people started to come back to noon and might have gone on sleep­ F.A. and he rested the box on a
and
men and women hollering and
Adair waa u major, without any with other unit» of the A.E.F., Genses, where we were, near Se­ ing, but near dark some soldiers caisson, going up the hill. Later he
whooping at the top of their voices.
“general” in the title, and he was about 15 miles from Metz, which dan, and the soldiers were well set off shell cartridges and began . sold most of the stuff, at cost.
“Night fell,” reads his own ac-; During the middle of all this I saw
in charge of horse-drawn vehicles was then thought of as the gate­ kissed and toasted. It was an af­ shooting to celebrate and that
coming down from Montfaucon and way to Germany. At 11 o’clock fecting sight—all of the old people awakened me. A few days later we count in a battery history, “and | my father come running up the
street towards home, waving a
had just turned them over, al Com­ sharp we were instructed to cease tottering back to their old homes. went to a point between Cologne for miles over the plain German i
newspaper over his head and
mercy.
firing. Where a few minutes be­ Also bugles were blowing again and Coblenz, in the Army of Occu­ and American troops sent up rock­ shouting with the rest. Of course
ets. The sky was alight with red,
"My greatest thrill,” he remem- fore there were shot and shell fly­ and lights could be on at night.
pation.”
the news was “The War Is Over,
white and green balls and showers I
“Then two old women ami an
tiers, “was repacking my suitcase ing all about uh , a sudden quiet­
Germany Surrenders.” My father,
Col. Ferch had been gassed twice | of gold.”
according to peace needs and not ness prevailed. A few moments lat­ old man came with shovels and
then the father of six children, was
and wounded by shell fragments.
as if expecting to go into combat. er we proceeded from our trenches began digging in the ground right
Brig. Gen. Paul V. Kane
scheduled to go to the army the
His service record shows that he
That was my first act and how
and walked out to meet a group of by one of our kitchens. They didn’t
following week. What is more vivid
took part in a number of the im-
Germans from the trench opposite say anything, they just dug. Sud-
enjoyed it.
Brigadier General Paul V. Kane, 1 in my recollection is that my
portant offensives in F rance.
“With us there was no cheering. ours. They greeted us hospituldy. dently we heard the shovel strike
N a m e s include Baccarat Sector, commanding general of divisional 1 grandfather, a Civil War veteran,
It was a solemn day, a day of great Thus was ended a war that hail something hard, like iron. Then
Champagne, Chateau-Thierr.v. St. j artillery, was in hospital at Vichy came that day and had me turning
relief, and of satisfaction in a job lasted more than four years, with the three leached down and pulled
Mihiel, Montfaucon Cierge. He was 1 when firing eeased at the front. He somersaults one after the other and
well done, a difficult job, too. We a victory for the great American up an iron box. It held ail their
awarded
the Order of the Purple was then a major, commanding a shouting, “Hooray for Uncle Sam.”
had la-en fighting for four and one- army and her allies.”
money and valuable papers. The
Heart
for
meritorious service as battalion of the 121st F.A. firing Now, as a T/Sgt. in the army, I
half months, steadily, and as time
iron hail been there four years.
captain of Hdq. Co.. 151st F.A., and the 155 millimeter howitzer, and still feel like shouting, “Hooray
Sgt. Edwin A. Brown
passed the chances for survival had
They had buried it when they had
the Silver Star Medal for gallant­ he was one of seven officers who J for Uncle Sam.”
seemed to decrease.
were casualties as the result of
Sgt. Edwin A. Brown win driv­ to flee, at the time the Germans ry in action.
“So the change which the armis­
drinking coffee made with water
ing an ambulance, attached to the first came.”
OMAHA, Nebr. - Orville John­
tice made wa» an abrupt one for
(pl. <ie Tonnancourt
contaminated by mustard gas.
30th Ambulance company. Hi* rec
son was rejected by the Army. His
u* because we hail only one more
“That was northeast of Ro­ wrists aren’t flexible, the Army
ollections are a bit hazy aa to speci­
night’s march to make before reach-
(’pl. Wilfrid deTonnancourt, magne, near the great war ceme­
fic incident» on the big day, al­
says. Orville is chief baton twirler
Pfc.
Janies
K.
Curl,
QM,
was
near
mg the front lines for a great drive
then a 1st Lieutenant, was taking tery,” General Kane said, “i
though he remembers being so Thiacourt, sitting on a mound with
Our for the Union Pacific railroad band.
on Metz. Yet 1 know that some
orders
from
the
late
Major
Gen
­
close to Metz that he drove into a rifle in hi» hand, guarding an
comrades of mine fired a last shot
eral Leonard Wood, at Camp Fun- I
the city, capital of Ixirraine, that ammunition dump. He'd been there
in the direction of Berlin at 10:59
ston, Kans., and instructing the
afternoon and “evacuated" three two week*, with Co. B. 103rd Engi­
a. in., one minute before hostili­
sbldiers who had ingeniously neers, 28th Division, and when fir­ camp in bayonet practice. The lieu­
ties ceased. They must lx- proud of
sneaked into the city ahead of ing ceased he went right on guard­ tenant had laid out a bayonet j
that now."
•
schedule and loaded themselves ing the dump Also there wen- Ger­ course which General Wood pro­
The Major Cook of that year had
down with souvenirs German of- man rifles that the French hail nounced the best he had seen in 35
passed the night in a splinter shel­
fleer*’ helmets, iron crosses and seised and "a hunch of thing» that years. And deTonnancourt knew
ter along the road at the eastern
other
loot that was good for a few we were ufraid to use in celebrat­ something about it because he had
edge of Commercy and wa» busy
used bayonets on men in the Phil­
francs in 1918.
ing.”
all the next day and al II o'clock
ippines and had served under Gen­
While
in
Metz
he
saw
French
­
on the night of the 11 th his car
eral Pershing on the Mexican Bor­
I’ 5 Fred Lock* inni
ran into a ditch and in strong words men overturn a stutue of Freder­
der.
lie informed the driver that he did ick the Great.
T 5 Fred lax-kwood. Chemical
He remembers hearing about
not relish the idea of dying on the
“The awful stillness, after so Marfan-, hail to wait 14 day* mon- the armistice when with a company
first day of peace. The Major Cook many month* of the noise of the before being born. His father,
was some distance from camp. They
of World War No. 1 was executive war, was our only real proof that Evcrvtt Lockwood, was with the
all marched back, some throwing
officer of the 58th Infantry, Fourth there was an armistice," »aid Sgt. French Red Cro»«, in France, but away their rifles and whooping it
Division.
Brown "We had been hearing ru­ got back before hi* »on was old up generally.
mors of one for several days, but enough to say "Papa." so until he
1.1. Col. W. P. Sammel
Major Ernest V Shafer
rumors then, as now, weir a dime grew- older the son didn't know
that hi* father waa away on the
Nov. 11th, 1918 came as a dis- a dos«-n.
Major Ernest A. Shafer, post en­
“That night, though, when 1 got day of armistice Mother did all of
tmet letdown to Lt. Col W P Sam-
gineer, one of the “Soldats de Ver­
the rejoicing.
back
to
Gondrecourt,
and
discover
met, now commanding officer of a
dun," was a 1st Lieutenant. Com­
field aitillery battalion here
hut ed that the M P.’s were allowing
Pfc Gottfried Hews
pany C. 26th Engineers, near Free-
the
lights
in
the
cafe»
to
stay
lit
then a 2nd Lt. In the »econd battal­
ne-en-Woevrv. between Verdun and
Pfc. Gottfried Hess, M P . was a
ion. 132 Field Artillery. 38th Divis­ and also the soldier* I knew it
Metz
ion. Col. Sammet'* outfit wa* at must b«- the real thing I packed German boy, eight year* old. liv­
When asked what impressed him
Camp Coetquidan in Normandie up to return home and then drove ing in Leipzig As well as he can most that day the major said that it
on
up
with
the
Army
of
Occupa
­
remember,
there
waa
a
feeling
of
and wa» all set to move to the
was the contrast between the ter­
tion for the next seven month«
relief that the war was over, even
front.
rific firing, audible for miles along
“
A
lot
of
thing»
must
have
hap
if
it
meant
defeat.
Rut
the
city
was
Keyed as Col. Sammet’* outfit
the line, and continuing without In­
wa* for front line action—the new* pened that I would never have for­ subdued and quiet. It was not at termission up to the appointed hour,
gotten
except
for
the
many
war
all
like
Armistice
Day
on
the
of the armistice came almost a* an
ami the profound silence that so
anti-climax. At first, the Colonel movies I have seen since. They con other side. The people were under- suddenly succeeded the inferno of
fuse One . . ."
nourished and poorly clothed sound.
remember», liardly anyone would
Young Hess wore wooden shoes.
believe the new* It had been ju»t
Major Earl F. trmstrimg
"At II 30." Major Shafer re­
To get any article of wear it was
a few day* before that all their
member«. "a major in the Medical
necessary
to
submit
a
roqueat
and
Major Earl F Armstrong, Chem­
personal effects had been collected
Corp« and a lieutenant and I aet
and shipped to Pari* the UKual ical Warfare Officer here, eele- perhap* wait in line. Some day* out for a walk We went about 10
later
the
long,
long
columns
of
Santa's found the wont for it! The most precious
preparation for immediate front bnzt.-d in New York City Then a
kilometers altogether, partly on
gift you can give those you love, is your photo­
Chemical Warfare Sergeant, at beaten troops began marching roads amt partly through the
line duty.
graph. Naturally posed, artistically developed—
When everyone wa* finally con­ Lakehurst, N. J., he and several through the city. He*« remember* woods. But we
V
thought we had
a picture of yourself conveys your yuletide wishes
vinced that the Armistice wa* not other* rented a five-pa»*enger that well ami also the revolution­ made a ghastly mistake when all
through the years. Choice of sepia or black finish
just a rumor—Col. Sammet'» out­ Packard and set out for the me- ary activity that followed.
at once about 50 German* came
with
artistic backgrounds. You’ll find that ail
fit didn’t have the energy to cele­ t r «polls
rushing down a hill, shouting and
Sgt. Scott Miller
work done by JESTEN-MILLER is QUALITY
“Wr were lucky to get there,*
brate. They raved that for later.
waving at us We suspected that
work at reasonable prices, too'
Col. Sammet himself stayed in he say». "because th«- road* were
Sgt Scott Miller: "We celebrat­ it was another false armistice, but
France until August, 1910. He had congested and none of u* knew the ed, but you couldn't publish the de- it wasn’t The Germans were led
charge of a casual company at St. way But We rosie across the Jer- tail* I was IS yean old and a cor­ by a lieutenant who had lived in
Aignan which wa* composed mostly •ey meadows in the dark, and it poral in the ll<th En<lneerw. We the United States for about 10
was the coldest ride 1 can remem- had been at the front and were years and he wanted to warn u*
of hospital releases.
When he finally sailed for home bar. and then took the auto ferry being re-equipped to go forward that we were in an area of tank
he had charge of another casual across the Hudson river, and hit again, when the Armistice came. mine*
company, every man of which had Manhattan about 11 pm
We were then at Toul. too far from
“They took us to German bri gade
189 N. Liberty St.
Salem. Ore.
“Of course we got into the the front to hear the firing, so that head«iuarter* for mess and then es­
at least one court-martial on his
record. The winner wm one who theatre section, around Broadway, we dal not know when it ceased. I corted u« hack to our lines. That’s *
One of the Primary Things Is Care of Rifle and Learning to
Shoot — and Shoot Straight!
CHEVRONS
of all kinds
□
HERMAN'S MEN'S STORE
Corvallis
CAMP ADAIR EXCHANGE
No.
2
I
Hostess Ave. and 1st St. North
Shoes for All Soldiers
A Stock of Blenn's Candies
Fresh Every Week
I
A Full Line of Christmas Greeting
Cards Now Available
No Dark Green Elastique Slacks
Until After December 1 Shipment
More Overcoats on the Way
CAMP ADAIR EXCHANGE
Every wise woman wants
j to make her electrical
Y helpers last for the dura­
tion. In answer to many
queries as to the best
method of caring for
them, we have listed here
a few ways
make
'em last"’
I
-• -<•
—1
-J
What to Give for Christmas?
Why not give
Avoid spillinq food or fluid
while cook mg If any spills,
burn it off. Wipe oven after
use, removing any spilled
food. Wash outside with
soapy water after it is cool.
Your Ref rig
Defrost according to instruc­
tions. Empty drip water.
Wash inside with baking
soda and water. Do not over­
load with food—it stops cir-
eolation of air.
Your Electric Wa»h«r
Drain after washing and
rinse Leave cover off until
completely dry. Wipe and
release pressure on wringer,
—saving the spring and rub­
ber Wind connecting cord
carefully on hooks provided.
Yourself!
Jesten-Miller
Your Electric Rcmye
Mountain States Power Company/
"A
Tax-Pav»—-,
rrivate Eaterpnw”
W» serve the cities and rural territory
Surrounding Camp Adair.