Photographs have been moved to fall on paragraph breaks. Since the full page illustrations were included in the pagination, this may mean that the page sequences are slightly disturbed where this occurs. The few footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are referenced.
Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. The cover image has been created, based on title page information, and is added to the public domain. This matricule aluminum wrist-tag is No. Note bullet scar on left eyebrow. You Americans are an extraordinary people. You are complex. We have thought we understood you—but, we do not. We never know what you will do next. I asked my French landlady, who thus responded to the news that I had joined the Foreign Legion, for an explanation.
She said:. They could not get their checks cashed; they had lost their trunks; they thought only of their own temporary discomfort, and had no sympathy for our misfortunes. Strong and vigorous, they did not remain 8 in Paris. Directly to the training camps they went: and, today, they are lying in mud, in the trenches with our poilus. Are you goers or comers? To those gallant fellows who left the peace and comfort of happy American homes, when their country was yet neutral; in order to carry out their ideals of Right and Justice;—this book is a reminder they have not suffered in vain—and are not forgotten.
I entered the service of France in the Hotel des Invalides, Paris, that historical structure upon the banks of the Seine, built by Napoleon Bonaparte as a home and refuge for his worn-out veterans. The well-known statue of the Man of Destiny, with three cornered hat and folded arms, gazed broodingly upon us, as with St. Gaudens and Tex Bondt, I marched up the court yard. Ludwig, formerly of Winona, now of Frazee, Minnesota.
That night I was given a blanket and shown to a room to sleep. I shall never forget what a 18 cosmopolitan crew met my unsophisticated eyes next morning.
