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Show II LIS MEDALS MIME KISSES ineteen-year-old Pennsyl-ranian Pennsyl-ranian Makes Great Record Rec-ord on Other Side. nusual Experiences Met by Private Luke Thayer, Jr., of the Marines. By PHIL PAYNE. mtten Specially for the Universal News yerricc.) PARIS, Marrh 1. If the congressmen ck home who argued against the low-.ng' low-.ng' of the draft ago had Keen Private ilto Thayer, Jr., of the United States trine corps, they might have changed eir tune. Private Thayer, although only 19 years 3, w cart three campaign ribbons and a oix de Guerre with a palm. Inciden-lly, Inciden-lly, ho wears two golden wound stripes d the proud look of one who has done ' s duty. The story of Private Thayer came out, e other day when he visited the head-:arters head-:arters of the Knights of Columbus in is city in search of smokes and recrea-m. recrea-m. lie got both, and I got his story, t It was harder for mo to get the story an it was for Thayer to get his smokes, r the lad was modest to the- 'nth de-9 de-9 ee. Two years ago Luke Thayer was living (No. 1707 Arch street, Philadelphia. Js father is chief of police at George-wn, George-wn, Pa., a little place not far from ' ilke8-Barr&, Pa. One of the gaudy pos-. pos-. Vs used by "the soldiers of the sea" in e-war days caught the eye of Luke g id ho wandered into the nearest requiting re-quiting office. )ins the Marines. "How old arj you?" queried . the of-, Vier. . V'Nlnetoen," replied Luke, without bat-Lig bat-Lig an eye, while he stretched his five Jt t six inches to the limit. He passed, ' en though the recruiting man sus-icted sus-icted Luke was stretching his age as ill as his body. 3s A few months after Luke enlisted he! tfid down in the wilds of San Domingo, 1 3 nor he gained a little tropical fever ; 3q id his fir,st campaign ribbon; A short! ne later Thayer, was battling in Haiti, 53 id by that time he had become a sharper:, sharp-er:, ooter, so he came . away from that 1 3 and with another ribbon and a medal. The marines wero sent to some other ico to settle a dispute in the mailed-?it mailed-?it fashion, and Luke acquired more SSbon. Then the big fuss started, and ;,o youthful Pennsylvanian was one of, "To first bound overseas. U It was in the famous Belleau woods at Luke performed the task which re- ' Jilted in the Crtlx de Guerre and the; r.lm being added to tho decorations '' lich half covered his chest. TSiows Great Bravery. HThe company of marines in which naycr van onrolled was with a French 5(iviHion at tho time. In a little clump 31 bushes on the crest of a small hill two 7prman machine gun nests were locat-y, locat-y, and the spiteful buzz of their bul-ktH bul-ktH had mado thUigs unpleasant for all Ttvelvo volunteers were called for to orm those two nests, and Thayer was 10 of them. Of tho twelve who started it, seven reached the objective, and, ii nodlcs.4 to any, the character of this jhory was one of them. With three well-LWWod well-LWWod grenades he put the crew of one in out of commission. Over near the i'-hcr gunpit Thayer's comrades wore flfl'-iving a tough time, and two more of r1;;irin paid the big toll. T.he youth settled the day, and tho l,fi.sh of the bodies, when lie turned the .,n he had captured on the German 'W'-tw still working the other gun. With tn io nld of the other four marines, two ,'' whom were wounded, Thayer then ro-flttjlHi'd ro-flttjlHi'd a counter-attack made by about drty Germans. A bullet struck him in i.vio hip, but ho "carried on" until a Ud''(ort time later aid arrived. rack io the Hospital. Private Thayer got out of tho hospital i plenty of time to havo the Croix de unrro and a couple of kisses pinned on ni by a French general, and also to get to the mixup near Soissons. German rk'Hillerymen saw that Thayer didn't get ..chance to gain any more laurels there, ;r while ho was going up into the lino piece of shrapnel caught him in the r 'in, and back to the hospital ho went yain. When I saw Thayer his arm was still (i a sling, but ho was happy. Tho sur-pon.H sur-pon.H had told htm that within auother .on th he'd be homeward bound. '"This wouldn't be such a bad old war." S said, "if those generals wouldn't Inst In-st on kissing a guy when they pin a edal on him." |