HONOR TO THE VICTORS

November 16, 1918, the American Distinguished Service Medal was conferred upon General Pershing at his headquarters in the field by General Tasker H. Bliss, representing President Wilson. The ceremony was witnessed by the members of the allied missions, and was most impressive, Admiral Benson, representing the United States Navy, and William G. Sharp, American Ambassador to France, were also present.

SERVICE MEDAL TO GENERAL PERSHING

General Bliss, in presenting the decoration, read this order issued by Newton T. Baker, Secretary of War:

"The President directs you to say to Gen. Pershing that he awards the medal to the commander of our armies in the field as a token of the gratitude of the American people for his distinguished services and in appreciation of the successes which oar armies have achieved under his leadership."

After reading the order General Bliss called to mind that when the first division went away many doubted if it would be followed by another for at least a year.

"But," he added, "you have created and organized and trained here on the soil of France an American army of between two and two and a half million men. You have created the agencies for its reception, its transportation and supply. To the delight of all of us you have consistently adhered to your ideal of an American army under American officers and American leadership.

"And I know that I speak for our president, when I say that, as to those who have died, the good God has given eternal rest, so may He give to us eternal peace."

At a previous date, and while hostilities were still in course, Marshal Foch had conferred upon General Pershing the grand cordon of the Legion of Honor. The names of these two great commanders, reflecting supreme honor upon their respective countries, have become imperishable in the records of civilization. Their careers present unusual analogy. They were bred to the art of war, and stand among the foremost in the roll of great soldiers who have fought for and established Peace, in many lands and many ages.

PERSHING'S SPLENDID RECORD

John Joseph Pershing was born September 30, 1860, in Linn county, Missouri, to John F. and Ann E. (Thompson) Pershing. He was given the degree of Bachelor of Arts by the Kirksville (Missouri) normal school in 1880; graduated at West Point in 1886; was made Bachelor of Laws by the University of Nebraska in 1893; married Francis H. Warren, daughter of Senator Warren of Wyoming, at Washington, January 28, 1905. (His wife and two daughters perished in the fire at the Presidio, San Francisco, August 15,1915.) He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th cavalry July 1, 1886; became a captain in the 10th cavalry October 20, 1892. Passed through the other grades up to that of Brigadier General in 1913, after the battle of Bagsag, P.I., in June of that year. Had seen service in several Indian campaigns, in Cuba and the Phillipines, and was United States military attachÉ with the army of General Kuroko in the war between Japan and Russia. Later was officer commanding at the Presidio, going thence to the Mexican border in 1913. Was in command of the troops that went into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916. When the United States entered the European war he was placed in command. Here was displayed in full not only his genius as a soldier, but as an organizer of the very highest skill. His home is in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

HONORS TO MARSHAL FOCH

At Senlis in France on Tuesday, November 12th, the day after the armistice was signed, General Pershing conferred upon Marshal Foch the American Distinguished Service Medal. The presentation was made in the name of President Wilson, at the villa where Marshal Foch had his headquarters, and was an impressive ceremony.

A guard of honor was drawn up and trumpeters blew a fanfare as Marshal Foch, with General Pershing on his right, took position a few paces in front of the guard. General Pershing said:

"The Congress of the United States has created this medal to be conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service to our country. President Wilson has directed me to present to you the first of these medals in the name of the United States Government and the American army, as an expression of their admiration and their confidence. It is a token of the gratitude of the American people for your great achievements. I am very happy to have been given the honor of presenting this medal to you."

In accepting the decoration, Marshal Foch said:

"I will wear this medal with pleasure and pride. In days of triumph, as well as in dark and critical hours, I will never forget the tragical day last March when General Pershing put at my disposal, without restriction, all the resources of the American army. The success won in the hard fighting by the American army is the consequence of the excellent conception, command and organization of the American General Staff, and the irreducible will to win of the American troops. The name 'Meuse' may be inscribed proudly upon the American flag."

MARSHAL FOCH'S RECORD

Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, was born at Tarbes in the French Pyrenees, August 4th of 1851—a year during which all Europe was agitated by the approach of war. His earlier education, largely religious, was had at the schools of Saint Etienne, Rodez and Metz. In his twentieth year he entered the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris for a course of instruction in military science, after which he was commissioned a lieutenant in the artillery branch of the French army, rising to a captaincy in 1878.

In 1892, with the rank of major, he became an instructor in the war school, specializing in military history and theory. He returned to army service as a lieutenant colonel in 1901, and in 1907 was made a general of brigade. Shortly thereafter, at the close of a term in command of artillery in the Fifth Army Corps, he was put at the head of the war school.

When war broke out in August, 1914, General Foch was in charge of the military post at Nancy, a point commanding the way between the Vosges mountains and the Duchy of Luxemburg. When the Germans came down toward the Marne and the situation in the field became very critical, his controlling doctrine of attack was brought into brilliant play.

The part of the French line under his command being endangered, he reported to Marshal Joffre: "My right wing is suffering severe pressure. My left is suffering from heavy assaults. I am about to attack with my centre."

He did. That attack stopped the German advance, turned their forces from the road to Paris, and sent them suddenly southward.

Looking back over those days, it is seen now that this action marked the shock-point of the war. It disjointed the whole German plan, saved France, and gave France and England time to raise and equip their armies, and mobilize their industrial resources. The German high command had promised the German people to finish the war in six weeks. General Foch inaugurated their finish in less than four.

His operations since that time are well remembered. Down to the day when at President Wilson's earnest urging he was placed in supreme command of the allied armies on all fronts, March 29, 1918, he had been steadily victorious. The week before, the Germans had begun their last and most powerful "drive." The manner in which General Foch sold terrain to them for the highest price they could be made to pay in German lives is understood now, and admired. When he had teased them along and worn them down, he sharply altered his strategy and attacked with a force and continuity so terrific that it practically destroyed the German armies, and compelled Germany to beg for the armistice that ended the war. From July 18, 1918, down to November 11, he pounded and powdered the enemy without cessation.

It is a matter of which Americans may well be proud that Marshal Foch, with keen judgment and knowledge of military values, selected the first and second divisions of the United States regular army to strike the first blow in that tremendous assault. The only other troops participating were those of a French colonial division, from Morocco.

GENERAL PERSHING'S THANKSGIVING ADDRESS

Thanksgiving Day, 1918, was celebrated in the most befitting manner at the American Army headquarters in France. After Bishop Brent's benediction, a band concert was given. General Pershing then addressed his victorious army as follows:

"Fellow soldiers: Never in the history of our country have we as a people, come together with such full hearts as on this greatest of all Thanksgiving days. The moment throbs with emotion, seeking to find full expression. Representing the high ideals of our countrymen and cherishing the spirit of our forefathers who first celebrated this festival of Thanksgiving, we are proud to have repaid a debt of gratitude to the land of Lafayette and to have lent our aid in saving civilization from destruction.

"The unscrupulous invader has been driven from the devastated scenes of his unholy conquest. The tide of conflict which during the dark days of midsummer threatened to overwhelm the allied forces has been turned into glorious victory. As the sounds of battle die away and the beaten foe hurries from the field it is fitting that the conquering armies should pause to give thanks to the God of Battles, who has guided our cause aright.

"VICTORY OUR GOAL"

"Victory was our goal. It is a hard won gift of the soldier to his country.

"In this hour of thanksgiving our eternal gratitude goes out to those heroes who loved liberty better than life, who sleep yonder, where they fell; to the maimed, whose honorable scars testify stronger than words to their splendid valor, and to the brave fellows whose strong, relentless blows finally crushed the enemy's power.

"Nor in our prayer shall we forget the widow who freely gave the husband more precious than her life, nor those who, in hidden heroism, have impoverished themselves to enrich the cause, nor our comrades who in more obscure posts here and at home have furnished their toll to the soldiers at the front.

"Great cause, indeed, have we to thank God for trials successfully met and victories won. Still more should we thank Him for the golden future, with its wealth of opportunity and its hope of a permanent, universal peace."

THE HOMECOMING OF KING ALBERT

The world rejoiced with Belgium when King Albert and the Queen returned in triumph to Brussels, November 21, 1918, just a little over four years after the bodeful day when they left it, in 1914. Belgium, the first martyr to German ferocity, had come back to its own—had justified the historic words of its King to the insolent Germans, "Belgium is a country, not a road," and stood firm, a David of the Nations, against the onslaught of the most awful and bloody hordes the world has seen since Attila, the other Hun, drove with his swarming savages over Europe, centuries ago, roaring that grass would never grow again where their horses trod.

Civilization had been justified. The "scrap of paper" had come to life. It was a great day, an hour of right and might, a soul-stirring climax to a most stupendous drama. The hero rode in triumph; and the villain, after ignominious flight, was hiding behind the skirts of a Dutchwoman, over the border.

No finer troops marched through Brussels on this gala day than the Yanks, who were given a conspicuous place in the celebration. A battalion of infantry from the Ninety-First American Division and a battery from the Fifty-Third Brigade, fresh from the beating they had given the Huns at Oudenark a few days before, were prominent in the lines, and shared in the plaudits a liberated people showered upon their own heroic troops. Troops that had held the last strip of Belgian soil through all those bitter years with a tenacity the Huns could never shake. These Belgian soldiers, had, of course, the place of honor. French and British troops, with bands playing and colors flying, shared in the glorious triumph.

The King and the royal family rode at the head of two Belgian divisions—a column of veterans stretching out fifteen miles. The day was like midsummer—bright and fair. All the roads leading to the Rue Royale and the Boulevard Anspach were packed hours before the King's arrival. At the Port de Flandre the throngs were so dense they were impassable. The whole city was gorgeously decorated. Aircraft were overhead, dropping confetti. The balconies all along the route were draped with flags and colored banners, and filled with people who, when the King and his family rode by, showered them with flowers and little flags. At one place a company of five hundred young women sang the Brabanconne, the Belgian national song, and the American, French and British national anthems.

The royal progress ended at the Palais de la Nation, where the King dismounted and entered, to address the parliament in its first assembly after the war—an historic session. Then he reviewed the troops in the great square, and thence went to the Hotel de Ville to receive the address of the Burgomaster Max, that sturdy figure, which the Germans at the height of their tyranny had not been able to budge.

AMERICA'S TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT BEHIND THE LINES

When the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the United States land forces in Europe numbered some 2,200,000 fighting men. Of these about 750,000 were in the Argonne section, on the French front. The others were in various units on the French, Belgian, Italian and other fronts. Additions were arriving from the States at the rate of 8,000 men each day.

Behind these combat forces was an immense support in men and supplies of every kind from home, and a transport system surpassing that of any other belligerent, perfectly equipped; and a great army of relief workers, in addition to one of the finest hospital systems the world has ever seen.

The American army had taken to France and had in operation 967 standard gauge locomotives and 13,174 standard gauge freight cars of American manufacture. In addition it had in service 350 locomotives and 973 cars of foreign origin. To meet demands which the existing French railways were unable to meet, 843 miles of standard gauge railway were constructed. Five hundred miles of this had been built since June, 1918.

The department of light railways had constructed 115 miles of road, and 140 miles of German light railways were repaired and put in operation. Two hundred and twenty-five miles of French railway were operated by the Americans.

But railways represent only a fraction of the transport effort Modern warfare is motor warfare and it is virtually impossible to present in figures this phase of the work of the American army.

In building new roads as the exigencies of battle operations required, in keeping French roads repaired under the ceaseless tide of war transport and in constructing bridges in devastated battle regions, American engineers worked day and night. The whole region behind the American lines was full of typical American road machinery, much of it of a character never seen before in Europe.

To do this work the American expeditionary forces had in operation November 11, 1918, more than 53,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions.

The American forces were in no danger of being placed on short rations, had the war continued.

One ration represents the quantity of each article each man is entitled to daily. It is interesting to note the supply of some of the principal ration components on hand.

The Americans had 390,000,000 rations of beans alone, 183,000, rations of flour and flour substitutes, 267,000,000 rations of milk; 161,000,000 rations of butter or substitutes; 143,000,000 rations of sugar; 89,000,000 rations of meat; 57,000,000 rations of coffee and 113,000,000 rations of rice, hominy and other foods, with requisites such as flavorings, fruits, candy and potatoes in proportion, while for smokers, there were 761,000,000 rations of cigarettes and tobacco in other forms.

It is difficult to describe in exact figures what the American expeditionary forces have done in the construction and improvement of dockage and warehouses since the first troops landed. This work has been proportionate to the whole effort in other directions. Ten steamer berths have been built at Bordeaux, having a total length of 4,100 feet. At Montoir, near St. Nazaire, eight berths were under construction with a total length of over 3,200 feet.

Great labor had been expended in dredging operations, repairing French docks and increasing railway terminal facilities. Warehouses having an aggregate floor area of almost 23,000,000 square feet had been constructed. This development of French ports increased facilities to such an extent that even if the Germans had captured Calais and other channel ports, as they had planned, the allies' loss would have been strategically unimportant.

So largely were facilities increased that the English armies could have had their bases at the lower French ports, if necessary. In other words, American work in port construction lessened to a material degree the value to the Germans of their proposed capture of the channel ports.

These figures serve in a measure to show the magnitude of American accomplishments, and the great machine is in operation today as the American Third army moves forward into German territory.

During the second stage of the Argonne operation a captured German major, while in casual conversation with an American officer said: "We know defeat is inevitable. We know your First and Second armies are operating and that your Third army is nearly ready to function. We know there are more and more armies to follow. We can measure your effort. The end must come soon."

AMERICAN FORCES AND CASUALTIES

At the opening of November, 1918, the United States armies on all fronts numbered about 2,200,000 men, and was being increased at an average rate of 250,000 a month. In transit from home ports to ports in Europe and Siberia, only one transport ship was lost, and of its complement of troops 126 men were drowned. The sinking was caused by collision with another ship in the same convoy, not by an enemy submarine. The United States has not lost one man in transport, by an act of a hostile ship or submarine.

Army and marine casualties reported by the commanders of overseas forces to the government at Washington up to November 27th, 1918 (after the seventeenth month of our participation in the war), were as follows:

Killed in action, 28,363; died of wounds, 12,101; died of disease, 16,034; died of other causes, 1,980; wounded, 189,995 (of this number 92,036 only slightly wounded); missing in action and prisoners, 14,250; making a total numbering 262,723.

War Department reports show that over-seas Air Service Casualties to October 24th, 1918, were 128 battle fatalities and 224 killed in accidents.

TOTAL OF CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES COMPARED ARE AS FOLLOWS

Federal troops killed in action, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of disease, 224,586; making total Federal fatalities 334,656.

Confederates killed and died of wounds, 95,000; died of disease, 164,000; making the total Confederate fatalities 259,000.

According to the War Department records, total dead of the Civil War is 618,524.

BRITISH, FRENCH AND ITALIAN LOSSES

British losses are estimated at 1,000,000 killed and 2,049,991 wounded, missing and prisoners.

The French losses are over 1,500,000 in killed and over 3,000,000 in wounded and prisoners.

The Italian losses, including casualties and prisoners, are estimated at a total of 2,000,000, including 500,000 dead.

7,589 CASUALTIES IN ROYAL AIR FORCES

Casualties in the royal air forces from April, 1918, when the air forces were amalgamated, to Nov. 11, were: Killed, 2,680; wounded, missing and prisoners, 4,909, according to an official statement by the air ministry.

CANADA'S CASUALTIES

Canada's casualty list up to November 1, 1918 (eleven days before the armistice), totaled 211,358, classified as follows: Killed in action, 34,877; died of wounds or disease, 15,457; wounded, 152,779; presumed dead, missing in action and known prisoners of war, 8,245. Canada's total land forces numbered nearly a half million men; that is, over eighty per cent of the men of the Dominion of military age, who were physically fit. They constituted over forty per cent of the male population. It is a strange coincidence of figures that the losses above enumerated constitute just about the same per cent (forty) of the armed forces, that those forces bore to the young nation's total manhood. Canada's efforts and sacrifices in the war have not been fully understood. When they are, they will evoke the admiration of the world, and of history.

GERMAN LOSSES

Exact figures covering, German losses since August 1st, 1914, when the war began with the German invasion of Belgium, cannot be had. The records are kept at Berlin and their figures have been withheld from even the people of Germany.

The only estimates available are those made by commanders opposing the German forces, and these were confessedly cautious, the allied policy being to minimize estimates of enemy reverses, so that no false encouragement might reach the public in any of the allied countries. On this basis, the estimates approximate a German loss of over 1,580, killed and 4,490,000 disabled, prisoners, and missing, a total of 6,070,000.

The Austrian losses in killed are estimated at 800,000 and 3,200, prisoners, wounded and missing.

TOTAL LOSSES

The world's actual loss of men in the war is estimated at not less than 10,000,000, counting those killed in action, died of wounds, or dead from other causes in prison camps or in the field.

These estimates do not include 800,000 Armenian Christians massacred by the Turks at the order of the German general staff, nor the Belgian and French civilians starved to death, infected with typhus and tuberculosis by hypodermic injection, or murdered outright by German soldiery under orders, nor the German wholesale slaughter of Serbians, of Greeks in Asia Minor, nor similar victims in Poland, Lithuania and southwest Russia, outnumbering no doubt the total loss of fighting men in all the armies. It is not likely these murders of noncombatants can ever be counted up.

GERMANY'S NAVAL SURRENDER

Surrender of the German navy and delivery of its ships to the Grand Fleet (consisting of the British and United States navies), began November 21, 1918, just ten days after the armistice was signed Ninety German ships of all grades constituted the first delivery. Admiral Sims, of the American Navy, King George and the Prince of Wales, were aboard the Queen Elizabeth, the flagship of Admiral Beatty, commanding the Grand Fleet. Five hundred British and American war vessels were in the receiving lines, and convoyed the surrendered German ships to the Firth of Forth, just below Edinburgh, Scotland, where they will lie until their disposal is determined. Among the German vessels surrendered that day were sixty submarines.

Other deliveries of German war vessels were continued. On November 29th it was discovered that of the 360 submarines of all types built by the Germans, the Grand Fleet had destroyed or captured 200. Of the remaining 160 nearly all had been surrendered by that date. This being the exact number called to surrender by the terms of the armistice, it would appear the allied conference was fully informed to that effect, and thereby was enabled to strip Germany of the last of these vessels, whose record of murder and piracy at sea is without any precedent whatever in history.

FORMER KAISERIN WEEPS

The meeting of former Emperor William and the former empress at Amerongen is described by a Dutch correspondent as follows:

"The gates were thrown open, the drawbridge was lowered with a noise of chains and iron bars that sounded very medieval, and in the courtyard before the castle an elderly man in a gray military cloak was seen at a distance, walking slowly and leaning on his stick. It was the ex-kaiser. The ex-kaiserin's car was driven into the courtyard, the ex-kaiser threw down his stick and, before the valet was able, opened the door and handed out his wife.

"They shook hands and then threw themselves into each other's arms, the ex-kaiserin falling upon her husband's shoulder and crying like a child."

FORMER KAISER'S ACT OF RENUNCIATION

The text of the former German emperor's act of renunciation, which was issued by the New German government, "in order to reply to certain misunderstandings which have arisen with regard to the abdication," follows:

By the present document I renounce forever my rights to the crown of Prussia and the rights to the German imperial crown. I release, at the same time, all the officials of the German empire and Prussia, and also all officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Prussian navy and army and of contingents from confederate states from the oath of fidelity they have taken to me.

As their emperor, king and supreme chief, I expect from them, until a new organization of the German empire exists, that they will aid those who effectively hold the power in Germany to protect the German people against the menacing dangers of anarchy, famine and foreign domination.

Made and executed and signed by our own hand with the imperial seal at Amerongen Nov. 28.

WILLIAM. PERSHING PAYS TRIBUTE TO HIS MEN

In closing his preliminary report to the Secretary of War, made public on December 4, 1918, General Pershing expresses his feeling for the men who served with him, as follows:

"I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers of the line. When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships, their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion which I am unable to express. Their deeds are immortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of our country."