man officer's boots, which I would put on when
called out at night, rather than my regulation army shoes and leggins.
On this night I slipped on these boots, and my army shoes were torn to
shreds. Therefore, I was compelled to wear the German boots, and they
were the most uncomfortable things that I had ever had on my feet.
Though they were my size, I could not get used to them, and they
burned and blistered my heels so that I could hardly walk. As we were
way out in front, it was not easy to get new shoes from headquarters.
My foot troubles became so serious that my officer granted me a day
off duty for the purpose of trying to find a pair of shoes that would
fit me. I spent the entire time in a fruitless search. I found several
pairs of shoes that belonged to boys who had been killed, but they
would not fit me, so finally I had to give it up. I wore those Boche
boots sixteen days, and I had to keep going all the time with sore and
blistered feet. I suffered more from those German boots than from
anything else in the war.

On October 4th I had another interesting experience and narrow escape,
which was as close as any that I ever want to experience. I was one of
a detail that was sent after water. We had to go from our dugouts a
distance of about two kilometers. On our way there we were walking in
a gully. Fritz had probably used that gully for the same purpose
himself when he held that ground, and he probably knew that we would
be using it too. At any rate, he had the range to a nicety. On our way
he first dropped a number of gas shells around us. We hastily put on
our masks and escaped injury. But the gas shells were followed by a
few high explosives. A flying fragment severed the air tube of my gas
mask. This meant immediate death, unless there was quick action. I had
the presence of mind to take hold of the tube, so as to prevent any
gas from entering my lungs, and then I ran to high ground. The reason
I sought high ground is because the chlorine gas is heavy and settles
in low places and is not likely to be as thick if high ground can be
reached. I was accompanied by one of the buddies, who saw my plight
and ran to assist me. By a stroke of luck that seems almost
unbelievable, we ran across a salvage dump on the ridge to which we
ran, and there we found a good gas mask, which I hurriedly slipped on,
and used until a new one was issued to me. As if to add insult to
injury, while I was having trouble with the mask,