It was an innocent man’s war, a simple matter for Americans, despite the millions of Europeans who lay dead already between Vihia and lhe Marne. We entered tlie tragedy at the beginning of the fifth act, like off-stage soldiers in a play; and we entered singing. Woodrow Wilson had given us our simple theme: Kaiser lull was a villain; and we marched to make the world sale for democracy.

Our weapons were simply modifications of earlier ones. Substitute the llimsy aircraft of the day with their remarkable pilots for the balloonist-professors of the Civil War. and General Pershing could have used Lee or Gram as a corps commander after routine briefing. We had the bolt-action rille, and a bayonet that is still unchanged. Then there were machine guns, a medley of them. There were some grenades and mortals and. for artillery, the French gave us the seventy-five, which our own crews, in true American fashion, subjected to a cadence of firing that both astonished and alarmed the French. They supplied us with tanks, too; and lor a large part of our two big pushes, crewed them for us. But For his set pattern of tactics, General Pershing took to open warfare.

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