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{
    "localId": "17343226",
    "label": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
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    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226"
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{
    "id": "17343226",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "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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    "productionDates": [
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            "logicalDate": "1919-01-01",
            "year": 1919
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{
    "seq": 29,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "29\nwas a scene of wrecked equipment, machine guns and rifles and signs of\nhundred of wounded men waiting for transfer to a dressing station.\nContinuous lines of wounded being carried to the rear. After traveling along\nthis rock road for about five minutes we stopped on account of the road\nbeing shelled just in front of us. Here we saw several small tanks that were\nshot up its operators wounded or killed. Men lying dead on both sides of\nthe road made a very depressing view.81\nAgain we moved forward only to be stopped at a cross road, prior to\ncrossing a small bridge before going into Cheppy. Here seemed to be the\nso-called \"Knuckle of the Hindenberg line\". 82 There were countless machine\nguns lying, clips half used, hand grenades, mines, rifles and equipment. But\nhere was evidence of a one time strong point protecting the bridge\napproach. There were many of our men lying in the road blown to atoms\neither by shell or grenade.\nAt this point probably the greatest impression was made upon our minds as\nto what our infantry had gone thru. There I saw bodies without heads, some\nwithout arms or legs, some cut in two at the waist and parts lying several\nfeet apart. Here were officers and privates alike, having paid the price.83\nAgain we moved forward thru Cheppy and toward Verrennes, where\nwe turned again toward the line. Our battery still leading the Regiment and\nTRUMAI\nE. ARCHIVES & \"NATIONAL RECORDS ADMIN. Jose\nGOVERNANCY\n81\nCaptain Harry S. Truman describes this scene in his writings.\n82\nThe Hindenburg Line was three very strong trench lines running behind the forward trench line.\nHeavily reinforced with hardnened machine gun emplacements, concrete pillboxes and strong points and taking\nadvantage of every natural obstacle, the three lines were formidable indeed. The \"knuckle\" was where the lines\nstarted to converge in Alsace. The German trench system was so strong, that until after the Armistice, no foreign\nsoldier had set foot on German soil.\n83\nCaptain Harry S. Truman describes this scene in his writings."
}