The Road To St. Mihiel [Illustrated Edition]

By Christ K. Stamas

Includes The Americans in the First World War Illustration Pack – 57 photos/illustrations and 10 maps

IN THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, Christ Stamas takes “the road back” and with a retrospective eye views his personal experiences in “No Man’s land” during the cataclysmic years of World War I.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lucknow Books
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786253125

Christ K. Stamas

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Text originally published in 1963 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL

by

Christ K. Stamas

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 5

DEDICATION 7

AUTHOR’S NOTE 8

PART I 9

PART II 13

PART III 23

PART IV 30

PART V 41

PART VI 49

PART VII 57

PART VIII 61

THE AMERICANS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR ILLUSTRATION PACK 64

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 132

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The late Christ K. Stamas, a native of Molaous, Greece, came to the United States in 1907 when he was quite young and became a naturalized citizen in 1918.

World War I broke out while he was trying to establish himself as a businessman in Minneapolis. He answered the call to the colors and served overseas, participating in some of the most important and salient battles on the Western Front.

After his Army career, he entered into business, again in the Midwest, and established himself in Dayton, Ohio. He was a life member of the D. A. V., a member of the Hellenic Post of The American Legion, Dayton, Ohio, and of the Alepa Lodge, Dayton Chapter 113.

THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, a book he felt compelled to write for many years, is the fitting legacy of a spirited American citizen.

DEDICATION

To the mothers of American soldiers who died in World War I and all wars...and to all mothers everywhere who also suffered the tragedies of war.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The Road to St. Mihiel was actually written twenty-six years ago before the rumblings of World War II crossed the world horizon. The attitudes and viewpoints expressed herein are characteristic of the temper of countless numbers of World War I doughboys who, returned from the war to end all wars and to make the world safe for democracy, faced the disenchantment and disillusionment of the post-war years of the Twenties.

The author wishes to express his thanks and deep appreciation to his niece, Mrs. Julia P. Dovolos, for re-typing his original manuscript and for all other services she happily rendered.

C. K. S.

PART I

It was in the summer of 1914 when a Serbian student’s well-aimed shots killed the heirs to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Ferdinand, and his consort at Sarajevo. Any person who knew anything about European conditions, at once could come to the conclusion that a war would follow—a pan-European war But instead of a European war, it developed into what was then known as the World War.

At the time of the Sarajevo shooting, I was residing in Battle Creek, Michigan. As I had been following the European situation for many years past, I, too, predicted the general mix-up to come. Nothing could stop it; each and every one of the Great Powers wanted it to come for reasons which I shall try to explain later. The nations of Europe joined the conflict, and in a short while Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americans were at each other’s throats.

I left Battle Creek, Michigan and went to Chicago; from there to Minneapolis, Minnesota, always watching the news about the war through the press. The press was full of accounts; some actual happenings, and a lot of fabricated news which, as time proved afterward, was the greatest masterpiece of propaganda and deliberate misrepresentation of actual facts that the world’s history up to that time had ever recorded. All sides took as many pains to spread falsified accusations and counter-accusations as they did to provide and perfect their war machines. Men were taken from their peaceful occupations, from their mothers, wives and children to be sent where? No one knew—into the unknown, into hell itself. Through my teacher’s efforts I had grown up to be Anglophile and Francophile when I was a boy, although I admired Germany for the mighty things she had done up to the time of the war. As for Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria, I never had any warm spot in my heart for any of them because they were antagonistic to the interests of my fatherland.

The weeks passed into months, and the greatest butchery in the world’s history was going on in full swing. The Allies were bending, but holding out. The Central Powers missed, on their part, a quick victory; now it was a question of who would hold out the longest. The Allies had the advantage of controlling the seas through the superiority of the British Fleet, and thus were able to bring to their assistance reinforcements and war munitions and supplies. The Germans had the advantage of single command and were able to strike at desired points without much loss of time. The war finally came to the point where something had to be done; either to end with victory or to compromise. One thing was sure—the people over there could not stand it much longer.

At the beginning of the war, the United States was having what we call business hard times. Now the Allies were buying enormous quantities of supplies, with the International Bankers supplying the credits. In my opinion, the government of the United States, from the start, favored the Allies due either to blood-and-language relations with England, or to pressures by the commercial interests of the country. Or because the government decided that it was serving the best interests of the nation. This benevolent stand towards the Allies was a great factor in the outcome of the war. President Wilson’s four-year term was about over and new elections were to be held on the third day of November, 1916. President Wilson conducted his campaign with the slogan I kept you out of war, and was re-elected over his opponent, Charles Evans Hughes.

In mentioning the International Bankers, I meant to emphasize that, in my opinion, they played a big part in bringing the United States into the war on the side of the Entente who were joined, by this time, by several other nations of the world. The sinking of the Lusitania, with so much loss of life, came at a time when the Germans had ordered their submarines to sink all ships on sight. Perhaps they thought this would intimidate any nations that contemplated joining the Allies and cause them to stay out. Of course, the sinking produced entirely different results from the ones expected. Now the elements in the United States, who were anxious to have the country go to war had the desired excuse. With the aid of the press they openly demanded that the United States drop her one-sided neutrality and enter the war against Germany.

The Germans had played their last card and lost. The combined Allied propaganda and the war-like elements of the United States won the argument; on the sixth day of April, President Wilson read the memorable Declaration of War against Germany. This done, the Government now faced multiple problems; among them was to set up its war machine, but most important of all, to get its manpower under the colors, train them and equip them according to modern warfare requirements, then ship them across the Atlantic. The volunteer military system proved inadequate to fill the demands of the created emergency. Finally the Congress of the United States, perhaps through the guidance of the French and British, who had been confronted with this same experience before, passed the Selective Service Draft Act.

I arrived in the United States in April, 1907; in 1910 I declared my intention of becoming a citizen of the United States of America by applying for first papers at the United States Naturalization Office at Buffalo, New York. The law called for continuous residence in the same state for two years and the testimony of two American citizens who knew me for five years, so that citizenship papers might be issued to the declarant citizen. These requirements I could not fulfill for the simple reason that I went from state to state working for my living. In April of 1917 when the war was declared, and later when the Draft Act was passed, I lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Seven years had elapsed since I took out my first papers, and according to the naturalization laws, the papers had lapsed, and I again returned to an alien status. Therefore, I was not subject to draft against my will. However, as I mentioned before, I favored the cause of the Allies from the start and naturally that of the United States, and was willing to go and serve the country I had lived in for the past ten years. I made my intentions known to my older brother and his wife with whom I was making my home. My brother objected to my going willingly. We had many quarrels about it. At one time he threatened me with violence by picking up a fish bowl to throw at me. The result: the fish and water splattered the floor. To pacify him, I did try some legal means for exemption but with the intention of going as soon as I could. I want it understood