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[Transcriber's Notes]Here are the definitions of several unfamiliar (to me) words.batmen Soldier assigned to an officer as a servant.batushka Village priest.drosky Cartfelcher Second-rate medical student or anyone with some medical knowledge.hors de combat Out of the fight; disabled; not able to fight.junker Aristocratic Prussian landholder devoted to militarism and authoritarianism, providing the German military forces with many of its officers.knout Whip with a lash of leather thongs, formerly used in Russia for flogging criminals. To flog with the knout.mashie nib Mashie-Niblick (mah-she nib-lik)--Wood shafted golf club with about the same loft and length as today's seven iron.poilus French common soldier, especially in World War I.verst Russian measure of distance; 3500 feet, 0.6629 mile, 1.067 km.viand Choice or delicate food.volplane Glide in an airplane without power.
I (Don Kostuch) am the son of John Kostuch, then from Detroit, who wasa Mechanic in the 339th, Company M. He saw some action in the fall of1918 but due to flu, exposure and a dislocated joint, was evacuated toEngland on December 1, 1918 before the gruesome winter described in thebook. {sources: "M" Company 339th records and Golden C. Bahr papers,1918-1919.}Fort Snelling, Minnesota
The following text is copied from a newspaper clipping in the book. TheDeclaration of War is on one side and an incomplete local news item ison the other side.From The Indianapolis News, Monday, April 9, 1917U. S. Declaration of WarSixty-fifth Congress of the United States of AmericaAt the First SessionBegun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the second day ofApril, one thousand nine hundred and seventeenJOINT RESOLUTIONDeclaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial GermanGovernment and the Government of the people of the United States andmaking provision to the same.Whereas the Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts ofwar against the Government and the people of the United States ofAmerica, Therefore be itResolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Statesof America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between theUnited States and the Imperial German Government which has thus beenthrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that thePresident be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ theentire naval and military forces of the United States and the resourcesof the Government to carry on war against the Imperial GermanGovernment; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all ofthe resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of theUnited States.??Speaker of the House of RepresentativesThomas R. MarshallVice President of the United States and President of the SenateApproved 6 April, 1917Woodrow Wilson
From The Indianapolis News, Monday, April 9, 1917COUNTY PLEDGES AID FOR FOOD MOVEMENTRESOLUTIONS ADOPTED, AT COURTHOUSE MEETING.APPEAL MADE TO PEOPLEThe movement to make the state of Indiana economically andagriculturally prepared for war, as recommended by Governor James P,Goodrich, had its beginning in Marion county at a meeting of farmers andthose interested in soil cultivation held Saturday afternoon in thecriminal courtroom.The necessity for the efficient utilization of all the soil resources ofIndiana were emphasized in addresses at the meeting, which was thebeginning of a plan to create a county-wide interest in the movement.Another Meeting Monday.The general idea of the need for greater food production, as outlined atthe meeting, will be crystallized into definite plans for meeting thesituation at a meeting called for Monday night, to be held in thecriminal court room. Representatives of commercial, labor and civicbodies and organizations of all kinds are invited and requested toattend the meeting Monday night and assist in the work....