Sir Douglas Haig; and Captain Boyd, Military Attache of the
American War Department. Men, resplendent in their uniforms and
decorations, who represented the British and French navies, also were in
the assembly, all as deeply interested as were their military comrades.
The nearby streets were filled with people waiting and subdued, and yet
in a state of mind that at any moment would have carried the great
assembly into the wildest enthusiasm.

The cause of the excitement was to be found in a little group of men
assembled on the deck of a steamer that was slowly approaching the dock.
In the center of the group stood a man in the uniform of the United
States Army. He was six feet in height, broad shouldered, trim-waisted,
muscular and wiry. His hair was gray and his closely cropped mustache
was also tinged with gray. His dark eyes were glowing, though every
nerve and muscle was under the control of his will--a will that was as
strong as his prominent chin and nose indicated. It was the first time
in the history of the world that an American soldier was landing in
Europe, there to fight for his own country and for the liberty of the
world. There is slight cause for wonder that a murmur ran from one to
another in the expectant crowd: "Truly here comes a man!" And the man
was to be followed by millions, clad in the uniform of the land from
which he came.

We may be sure that when this soldier, General John Joseph Pershing,
stepped ashore and General Dumas greeted the American in the words, "I
salute the United States of America, which has now become united to the
United States of Europe," there was a cause for the deep emotion that
manifested itself in Pershing's dark eyes. It was, as he said, "a
historic moment." As he greeted the French colors, the detachment of
brave men that had recently come from the firing line stood immovable
like men of steel, and the American general slowly passed down the line,
his face alone still betraying his feeling over the deep solemnity of
the moment. And what a moment it was! Their dead had not died in vain,
their heroic struggle against barbarism, all the sorrows and losses the
devoted French people had borne were now focused on the coming of an
American general and his staff. For behind him was America, and she was
coming too.

And this American general, with his staff of fifty-three officers and
one hundred and forty-six men, including privates and civilian attaches,
stood before the b