e time he left America to
help crush the autocracy of Germany, until he
returned again after fighting was over.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. Going Over 1

II. Our First Glimpse of France 10

III. From Brest to Langres 18

IV. Nearing the Front 29

V. Preparation for Battle 37

VI. The Great St. Mihiel Drive 42

VII. Gassed 54

VIII. Hospital Experiences 63

IX. Home Again 72

In the Flash Ranging Service

_By Private Edward Alva Trueblood_

Chapter I.

Going Over.

When the sun arose on the 22nd of June, 1918, three great transports
were lying out in the stream of New York harbor. They were filled with
American soldiers for duties overseas. They were well camouflaged and
well convoyed. The previous afternoon they had pulled away from a
Jersey City pier, where they had taken on their human cargoes, and
they were undoubtedly under sealed orders. They had slipped away
quietly from the piers without attracting undue attention, and while
they moved to the location where they anchored for the night, not a
soldier's uniform could have been detected from shore even after the
most scrutinizing search with the best binoculars obtainable. The
departure was made without a word of warning and not a fond good-bye.
It was accomplished with a methodical silence that called for
admiration. It is the way Uncle Sam does things during war times.

Just before 9 o'clock on that beautiful June morning, simultaneously
but without communicating with each other, each of those transports
began to weigh anchor, and except for the click, click, click of the
machinery all was silent. Precisely at 9:05, without the blast of a
whistle, the sound of a gong, or the hoisting of a signal flag on the
mast, but like so many automatic machines, these vessels turned their
prows to the sea and began their long voyage.

Among those who sailed on one of the vessels of this transport fleet
were the members of the Twenty-ninth Engineers, A. E. F., of which I
was a member, being attached to Compan