Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1919 — WAITING FOR ZERO [ARTICLE]

WAITING FOR ZERO

Tense Minutes Before Argonne Battle Opened. English Officer Describes the Behavior of American Soldiers in That Fight as Wonderful —“Will Forever Honor Them." “It was the zero hour in the Argonne,” remarked Maj. H. T. Hayden, ffn English ofiicer, now UrThis country, ! “when 1 was first impressed withtke 1 greatness of America.• I bappehetr to be detailed to an American unit, i Tl)ere were French and Apiericnn and 1 English sAldiers there, but 1 was with mi American command. It doesn't matter what the occasion. When the battle nf the Argonne began 1 was in a dugout when an American officer, 'commanding a regiment of artillery stood- with his. watclr in his hand, counting the seconds, llj* had been t bTtleied to begin firing at 5:30 in the morning. All along'that line of many [ iniies the officers of the groupingshad their orders. The zero hour was 5:40. pariicu’.ar ufficer stood waiting, waiting. I lived an age in live minutes. The seconds seemed to drag an awful’ length. One. two, three, four 1 counted. "But finally zero came. This officer turned to his aid. It was not necessary. This aid, a captain, had antici- ; pated his commander. It was a shock, : the greatest and the grandest shock > f ever had. W aiting, waiting for the j time, I was taken off my pins when it L«Mu£ik4w the tttunder (if ■thg.AtfflfegE&s i For miles and miles and miles the guns routed. Il comes only once in a lifetime, and few lifetimes, at that, to be present on such-an~oecasion, It seemed that hell had broken loose. “I don’t know how any human being can live through such a thing, but we did. For six hours the guns spoke, and •then for a brief period there was a cessation. Once more they started, and it wjs not until after noon that they stopped. Meantime the infantry was preparing to make its charge. I rode along the front lines of artilleryin the early morning. Below I saw ’the American boys getting ready to make their drive. It was the most wonderful, the sublimest sight I ever saw or ever expect to see. I shall never forget, because it is stamped indelibly in my brain, the enthusiasm and the exuberance of the American gunners. They may have had no_prevlous training, but I shall forever honor the American artillerist, and I shall never for get the opening of the. hattle. of the Argonne.”