Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1917 — LETTERS FROM OUR READERS [ARTICLE]

LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

Quantico, Virginia, Aug. 18. Away down East in Virginia on the banks of the Potomac river and adjacent to historic civil war battlefields, there is an interesting and somewhat exceptional cantonment. It is at Quantico and is the home of the U. S, marines who are to participate soon in the European war. Here are to be found marines from Mare island, the Pacific training camp, as well as marines from Port Royal, the Atlantic camp. Upon their arrival here from these camps the marines are formed into regular infantry, light artillery and machine gun companies. It was my good fortune to be assigned to the regimental machine gun company of the 6th Regiment of Marines. I say good fortune because this duty is considered to be just a little more important, technical, varied and interesting than ordinary infantry duty. However, we are required to be more or less efficient in infantry drill and work and have a part of our daily routine set aside for infantry drill and bombing and bayonet exercise. Our day begins with reveille at 5:30 and ends with taps at 9:30. The work of the day is divided into periods for drill, bomb throwing, bayonet exercise, trench digging, gun school, lectures and machine gun maneuvers so that we, instead of getting tired of it, really enjoy our work very well. Indeed this great variety of duty and action is what makes the marine corps such an efficient and at-

tractive service. We are armed with the Lewis automatic machine gun latest model and which gun is the very best light type machine gun in the world. Each gun is manned by a crew of eight men and we have sixteen guns in our company. This gun is capable of firing 600 rounds a minute and you see is quite a formidable weapon. It is interesting to learn the gun, it? mechanical construction and potentiality. We all must know our gun, every part by name and its function and be able to take it apart and put it together again in a very few minutes, and do it blindfolded. In our drill with it, it is mounted on a twowheel carriage pulled by two marines. An ammunition carriage also drawn by two marines, always accompanies it. To drilb«with these seems rather grewsome, for we must preserve absolute silence and do much. of the drill at double time. With each crew there is a signalman and a range-finder. The latter is my especial duty and it is quite fascinating. Focusing the finder on various objects and finding their distances and then mapping them is not ordinary work. All of us, or rather, I suppose, most of us, are quite enthusiastic about our work and anxious to be transferred to scenes of action. Knowing our country’s need we are proud to fie in this service and are trying to live up to the reputation of the marine corps and to be semper fidelis. RALPH SPARKS. Note—Semper fidelis is the marine motto.