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{
    "localId": "17343226",
    "label": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
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{
    "id": "17343226",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "collections": [
        "Verne E. Chaney Papers",
        "Subject Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972",
        "Spina, Frank E., 1887-1972",
        "Klemm, Karl D., 1880-",
        "Wooldridge, Glenwood F., 1893-1977",
        "Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948",
        "Thacher, John H., 1872-1960",
        "Miles, John L., 1878-1961",
        "Soldiers",
        "World War, 1914-1918",
        "Artillery"
    ],
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            "logicalDate": "1919-01-01",
            "year": 1919
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    "seq": 36,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "36\ndead doughboys.102 The planes succeeded in killing a few men in the\nbatteries stationed just to the right of us, but had a bomb been dropped in\nour midst it would have killed fifty of us as we were lined up for mess when\nthey flew over. Instead of scattering we amused ourselves shooting at them\nand expecting to see one of them fall as the whole valley echoed with the\npurring of machine guns and anti-aircraft guns the conduct of the men was\nmarvelous as they didn't seem to know what fear was. 103 Our kitchen was put\njust to the rear of the guns and one night about 2:30 a.m. a big shell fell\nabout forty yards back of it and the falling dirt and mud sounded like a\nstampede of horses. It fell all around us and about all that was said was a\ncasual remark, I guess that was that \"210\"that's been shooting around here\nall day. And believe me a 210 with a delayed action fuse sure makes a\ngeyser.106\nOn the night of the 3rd we were given 500 rounds of gas to shoot\nalong with a schedule which would last about an hour. But just before the\nzero hour arrived, the order came for \"march order. Gee! But it sounded\ngood as we had a hunch we were being relieved. Late that night we pulled\nout thru Verennes for the rear. We passed a sector of the Argonne that\nthere seemed to be some hot fighting. There was such a roar and flash of\nguns that one was almost blinded in the darkness and a conversation was\nout of the question. We marched all night long, traveling parallel with the\n5\nINJULIN\nINATIONAL\n5 ADMIN\n102\nThe \"Redlegs,\" so called in the old army because the scarlet piping on their uniforms identified\nthem as artillerymen, carried the American Colt .45 automatic pistol as their weapon. It could blow a plate size\nhole in a man and it was a great weapon for trench fighting, but it was useless past twenty five feet. The rifles\nSergeant Chaney refers to are most likely. Enfields sechambered for the 1903 .30 caliber cartridges.\nThe excellent Springfield 1903 rifle was made in he in short supply.\n103\nThe French 75mm was the anti-aircraft gun of the war also. Mounted on trucks or stationary\nplatforms the gun could be swiveled 360 degrees on a mount that gave it adequate elevation. Very accurate and\nwith 16,000 feet of range, it presented a formidable deterrent to the slow, altitude limited aircraft of the time.\n104\nA delayed action fuse is designed to permit the warhead of a shell to penetrate the armor, sand,\nconcrete or any protective coating of the target before exploding."
}