posted by Writer on Sep 27
I was listening to a talk show out of California where the host asked listeners if they would stay or leave due to the state’s fiscal problems. The majority said they would go because, to quote one caller, they have ‘no voice” at the federal or state level. How sad.
During the housing crisis, a number of people said if they couldn’t meet their mortgage obligations they would leave their house and start fresh (if such a thing is possible) elsewhere.
This attitude differs drastically from the one displayed by the men of the 307th and 308th Infantry, and the 306th Machine Gun Battalion in World War I.
We need to take a quick trip back to France and revisit “The Pocket”, because it was there the Germans learned how tough Americans really were. After inflicting a considerable pounding on the American troops, the commander of the German forces knew there was something special in the hearts of the men who fought against him. In time, he knew his nation would be defeated – and they were.
We need to recapture that same attitude, while realizing that defending liberty whether at home or abroad, is exhausting work. It is a never ending battle separating ‘the men from the boys.’
In early October 1918, over 700 men went into the Charlevaux Ravine and did their part in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. When the battle ended five days later less than 200 were left.
This story, like many others, needs to be told to a generation that has had it far too easy, far too long, for most of our lives. We need to be reminided, as the Germans found out the hard way, that the soldiers of this young army were a “force to be reckoned with” (1) when things looked hopeless.
Where do you think you’d be if these men had quit?
(1) Thomas A. Hoff, Forward, The Lost Battalion – Return to the Charlevaux, by Robert J. Laplander (p. 14).
Photo of Major Charles White Whittlesey
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