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Conger Reynolds correspondence, December 1918
1918-12-20 Conger Reynolds to Walter A. Jessup Page 1
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Return 146 Coblenz, December 20, 1918 Dear President Jessup:- Since I last reported to you events then hardly even dreamed of have taken place. One result is that I find myself tonight finishing the 13th day of being with the American Third Army on the Rhine and taking part in a most interesting adventure. Press Headquarters seems now firmly established in Coblenz. So ends our moving, and probably the greater part of the absorbing activity that we have seen in the last three months. We were successively at the St. Mihiel show, the great battle of the Meuse and the Argonne, and following the march into Germany. From Treves we jumped ahead of the main body of the army, arriving here in time to see the American arrival and the crossing of the Rhine. After the months first of great anxiety, then of gathering hope, and then of confidence gained by victories which for us so close to them were always tinged with the bitterness of knowing their cost it is indeed a gratifying experience to see the American army firmly established in the Rhineland. There is no difficulty here in visualizing the fact that we have won. I saw it last Sunday when I drove for an hour on the highway along the Rhine toward Bingen. All the way I was passing a column of men, horses, guns, trucks, and other elements of war, all splendidly fit and trim. It was a division on the march, an American division marching past the Lorelei, the Pfalz, Stolzenfels, Rheinstein, Schonburg, and all the many marks of legend and history in which this part of the Rhine valley is so rich. Had those old castles ever looked down on a finer army or one come on half so noble a mission? The German population is beginning to like the American conqueror in spite of itself. None of the harsh measures which the Germans expected in retaliation for their oppression of French and Belgians have been applied. The army in passing even took care not to interfere with normal traffic in the streets and on the bridges. The American, for his part, like the good sportsman that he is, finds difficulty in remembering the many wrongs done while the battle was still on and is almost too friendly toward the inhabitants. The German government must pay for the crimes committed by Germany, but the German individual shall know only toleration, fairness, and kindliness. For is not the war over and the purposes for which the United States entered it well on the way toward fulfillment? My pride in being an American soldier increases with every day's observation of the army's conduct in Germany. I wonder, though, if the German people, schooled to respect only force, will understand our attitude. Perhaps they will consider it only slackness. For months I have seen nobody from the University. There must be others in this neighborhood, but I have so far not encountered anyone. I occasionally hear from Mr. Norris and from some of the boys in France. I have heard all too little of what is taking
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Return 146 Coblenz, December 20, 1918 Dear President Jessup:- Since I last reported to you events then hardly even dreamed of have taken place. One result is that I find myself tonight finishing the 13th day of being with the American Third Army on the Rhine and taking part in a most interesting adventure. Press Headquarters seems now firmly established in Coblenz. So ends our moving, and probably the greater part of the absorbing activity that we have seen in the last three months. We were successively at the St. Mihiel show, the great battle of the Meuse and the Argonne, and following the march into Germany. From Treves we jumped ahead of the main body of the army, arriving here in time to see the American arrival and the crossing of the Rhine. After the months first of great anxiety, then of gathering hope, and then of confidence gained by victories which for us so close to them were always tinged with the bitterness of knowing their cost it is indeed a gratifying experience to see the American army firmly established in the Rhineland. There is no difficulty here in visualizing the fact that we have won. I saw it last Sunday when I drove for an hour on the highway along the Rhine toward Bingen. All the way I was passing a column of men, horses, guns, trucks, and other elements of war, all splendidly fit and trim. It was a division on the march, an American division marching past the Lorelei, the Pfalz, Stolzenfels, Rheinstein, Schonburg, and all the many marks of legend and history in which this part of the Rhine valley is so rich. Had those old castles ever looked down on a finer army or one come on half so noble a mission? The German population is beginning to like the American conqueror in spite of itself. None of the harsh measures which the Germans expected in retaliation for their oppression of French and Belgians have been applied. The army in passing even took care not to interfere with normal traffic in the streets and on the bridges. The American, for his part, like the good sportsman that he is, finds difficulty in remembering the many wrongs done while the battle was still on and is almost too friendly toward the inhabitants. The German government must pay for the crimes committed by Germany, but the German individual shall know only toleration, fairness, and kindliness. For is not the war over and the purposes for which the United States entered it well on the way toward fulfillment? My pride in being an American soldier increases with every day's observation of the army's conduct in Germany. I wonder, though, if the German people, schooled to respect only force, will understand our attitude. Perhaps they will consider it only slackness. For months I have seen nobody from the University. There must be others in this neighborhood, but I have so far not encountered anyone. I occasionally hear from Mr. Norris and from some of the boys in France. I have heard all too little of what is taking
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