The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the American Expedition
Fighting the Bolsheviki, by Joel R. Moore and Harry H. Mead and Lewis E. Jahns

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki
Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919

Author: Joel R. Moore
Harry H. Mead
Lewis E. Jahns

Release Date: September 5, 2007 [EBook #22523]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIGHTING THE BOLSHEVIKI ***

Produced by Don Kostuch

[Transcriber's Notes]

Here are the definitions of several unfamiliar (to me) words.

batmen
Soldier assigned to an officer as a servant.

batushka
Village priest.

drosky
Cart

felcher
Second-rate medical student or anyone with some medical knowledge.

hors de combat
Out of the fight; disabled; not able to fight.

junker
Aristocratic Prussian landholder devoted to militarism and
authoritarianism, providing the German military forces with many of
its officers.

knout
Whip with a lash of leather thongs, formerly used in Russia for
flogging criminals. To flog with the knout.

mashie nib
Mashie-Niblick (mah-she nib-lik)--Wood shafted golf club with about
the same loft and length as today's seven iron.

poilus
French common soldier, especially in World War I.

verst
Russian measure of distance; 3500 feet, 0.6629 mile, 1.067 km.

viand
Choice or delicate food.

volplane
Glide in an airplane without power.

I (Don Kostuch) am the son of John Kostuch, then from Detroit, who was
a Mechanic in the 339th, Company M. He saw some action in the fall of
1918 but due to flu, exposure and a dislocated joint, was evacuated to
England on December 1, 1918 before the gruesome winter described in the
book. {sources: "M" Company 339th records and Golden C. Bahr papers,
1918-1919.}

The following text is copied from a newspaper clipping in the book. The
Declaration of War is on one side and an incomplete local news item is
on the other side.

From The Indianapolis News, Monday, April 9, 1917

U. S. Declaration of War

Sixty-fifth Congress of the United States of America
At th