Year Book of the Pennsylvania Society of New York (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The Annual Meeting v April 15, 1919 Address of Lieut. Col. William Watts Rose U. S. Coast Artillery Mr. President and Members of The Pennsylvania Society: When your good director honoured me with an invitation to address you at your annual luncheon, I must own that I was struck with most unsoldierly terror, at the thought. Perhaps "unsoldierly" is misapplied as I am free to confess that soldiers have probably indulged in that emotion to a greater extent in the past two years than any other class of individual. However, that terror existed because oratory is not found in the curriculum of West Point nor particularly cultivated in the military profession. A soldier is best seen or heard only on the drill or battlefield. In speaking of the war or trying to give any description of it I am reminded of a British private who was asked to describe being wounded. He said: "First ye 'ears the 'ell of a noise and then ye 'ears the nurse say 'Won't ye try to take a little of this, please?'"The part that one individual sees is a very small one, and modern warfare is a matter of so many specialties that it is hardly justifiable to stray far from one's own branch. Lieut.-Col. Rose sailed for France with the 6th Provisional Coast Artillery, August 14, 1917. He was Secretary of the Army Heavy Artillery School, A. E. F., Director of Organization and Training Centre No. 2, Operations Section, Staff of Railroad Artillery. He was cited in General Orders No. 1, Headquarters Railway Artillery Reserve, January 6, 1919: "For meritorious and distinguished service to the Government in a responsible position in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States. From 19 August to 8 October, 1918, he performed duty as a member of the Third Section, General...