Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1919 — How Two Yank Soldiers Held Enemy Street Till Help Came [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

How Two Yank Soldiers Held Enemy Street Till Help Came

NO INDIVIDUAL or group of Individuals can step into the limelight and stay any time without becoming the subject of criticism of one sort or another. And the American soldier during his comparatively short participation -tn the great world war has come in for his share. One of the most outstanding criticisms of the

American soldier as a fighter is that he doesn’t know when to ■ stop, that he’s reckless in his courage and seemingly devoid of all care as to his personal well-being or safety in the accomplishment of a given object. These qualities of the shown recently at the capture of the town of Sergy by the American forces. It was Sunday’ morning. A platoon of 50

men was ordered to go into Sergy and to hold a certain street. The Germans were still in the town and were raking all roads approaching with a storm of machine gun fire. The platoon emerged from a wooded shelter on the north bank of the Ourcq. and made its way across a sloping field toward the outskirts of the village. There it was met with a withering hall of bullets that immediately began to thin the ranks, but the men kept on going. As the little company drew nearer the town the fire from the German machine guns increased. It became so deadly accurate that by the time the platoon had entered the village only 1 20 odd of the original 50 men remained, - and James Hyland of Brooklyn, N. ¥., was one of those 20. Immediately on entering the town the platoon made its way to the street >t had been ordered to hold. The men sought shelter behind a pile of debris at the head of the thoroughfare, a poor shelter Indeed and one swept by machine guns and snipers from sides. But the lieutenant in command, who is now dead, decided that inasmuch as his orders were to stay there until relieved, there he would stay. Every Hun in that end of the town seemed be directing Ills undivided attention to the little company of Americans behind its-flimsy shelter. The snipers were everywhere. A particularly deadly fire came from machine guns placed in a Red Cross'building; so fierce was it that the men spent nearly all of their ammunition trying to get those guns, and finally rushed the building, but they had to come back. . Foodless and watefless, they stayed there all that day. As the hours dragged on, the gallant band gfrew smaller and smaller. By afternoon all of >the officers had been killed and the privates elected eommanders. who one by one were shot down. evening Hyland and one comrade—whose name. isn’t given—were all that were left of the 50 who started out in the morning. Hyland was in command, and the two men were shooting their last cartridges at the machine gunners up the street they had been ordered to hold.