“I regret I cannot speak to the good people of France in the beautiful language of their own fair country. The fact cannot be forgotten that your nation was our friend when America was struggling for existence, when a handful of brave and patriotic people were determined to uphold the rights their Creator gave them – that France in the person of Lafayette came to our aid in words and deed. It would be ingratitude not to remember this, and America defaults no obligations. Therefore, it is with loving pride that we drape the colours in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great Republic, and here and now, in the shadow of the illustrious dead, we pledge our heart and our honour in carrying this war to a successful issue. Lafayette, we are here!” So had spoken Captain Charles E. Stanton of the Quartermaster Corps of General Pershing, on 4 July 1917, as the first American soldiers had arrived in Paris. The speech was made at Picpus cemetery, by the graveside of LaFayette – a hero of both nations.
War had been raging in Europe for the past three years The Americans had been supplying the nations of the Entente, and then two months ago President Wilson had declared war on the German Empire. This morning John had woken proud to belong to the American army, though it numbered only two hundred thousand men. At his side, his wife Jane had not slept a wink all night. Today John was shipping out to France. His unit would be landing in Brest, before going off to the front in Lorraine. John stretched and put on his uniform. There was no time to lose; he wanted to savour these final moments with his wife and his two children. Jane got up to put on a pot of coffee for her husband. John pulled on the khaki pants, noosed a wide belt around his pea jacket, wrapped his putties around his shins and put his gas mask on his back. He was ready. “Breakfast’s ready, honey!” Jane called to him. Their two children were up, and coming to say goodbye to their father.
“I’m off to fight in the name of France,” John repeated to his wife, Jane.
“Papa, why are you going to the war?” his son asked him. “Does it mean we won’t ever see you again? And what about momma? What if I have nightmares when you’re gone?”
“No nightmares! Your momma’s here, and she’ll take care of you while I'm gone.”
“Papa, I want to come with you!” his daughter piped up. I want to go to France! I want to come with you!”
“You know that in France they ain’t got no chocolate, and no chewing gum either honey! You still wanna go?”
“Your father is going to the war to help save France from the German Empire,” the mother explained to her children. “He’ll be back soon. You should be proud of your father. He’s going off to fight in the name of America. He’s making our country proud.”
John was a Sammy – that was how the French referred to the American soldiers arriving at the front, in reference to Uncle Sam. Samuel Wilson, more commonly known as Uncle Sam, joined the Continental Army in 1781. His duties consisted of guarding and raising livestock, repairing fences, slaughtering beasts and packing meat. Guarding the meat was a top priority during the war of 1812, when Uncle Sam provided the Union army with two hundred thousand kilos of pork and three hundred thousand kilos of beef. The Sammies were very welcome in France. The French would provide this American army, so proud of its independence, with over two thousand cannon, just under five thousand planes, almost all its artillery munitions, tens of thousands of machine guns and over twenty million magazines. The Americans gave the French soap, blond tobacco and canned foods. Their pay was equivalent to that of an officer in the French army, so the people of France sold them omelettes, chickens, pastries and spent artillery shells, gathered from the battlefields and etched with intricate patterns by the French infantrymen. Prohibition was still in force in the United States, and some of the Sammies found themselves indulging somewhat too heavily in wine, beer and moonshine.
Alan Alfredo Geday
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