ton
will preserve for future posterity the record of Battery D, of the
311th United States Field Artillery.

In those records there is written deep and indelibly the date of May
30th, 1919, as the date of Battery D's official demobilization. The
history of Battery D, therefore, can be definitely terminated, but a
more difficult task is presented in establishing a point of inception.

The development of Battery D was gradual--like a tiny stream, flowing
on in its course, converging with the 311th Regimental, 154th Brigade,
and 79th Division tides until it reached the sea of war-tossed Europe;
there to flow and ebb; finally to lose its identity in the ocean of
official discharge.

The Egyptians of old traversed the course of their river Nile, from
its indefinite sources along the water-sheds of its plateaux and
mountains, and, upon arriving at its mouth they found a tract of land
enclosed by the diverging branches of the river's mouth and the
Mediterranean seacoast, and traversed by other branches of the river.
This triangular tract represented the Greek letter "Delta," a word
which civilization later adopted as a coinage of adequate description.

Fine silt, brought down in suspension by a muddy river and deposited
to form the Delta when the river reaches the sea, accumulates from
many sources.

In similar light the silt of circumstances that resulted in the
formation of the Delta of the Triple Elevens, accumulated from many
sources, the very nucleus transpiring on June 28, 1914, when the heir
to the Austrian throne, the archduke of Austria, and his wife, were
assassinated at Sarajevo, in the Austrian province of Bosnia, by a
Serbian student.

Austria immediately demanded reparation from Serbia. Serbia declared
herself willing to accede to all of Austria's demands, but refused to
sacrifice her national honor. Austria thereby took the pretext to
renew a quarrel that had been going on for centuries.

Long diplomatic discussions resulted--culminating on July 28, 1914,
with a declaration of war by Austria against Serbia. This, so to
speak, opened the flood-gates, letting loose the mighty river of blood
and slaughter that flowed over all Europe.

The days that followed added new sensations and thrills to
every life. The river of war flowed nearer our own peaceful shores as
the days passed and the news dispatches brought us the intelligence of
Germany's declaration of relentless submarine warfare and the
subsequent a