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Show I, MAJOR BINFORD I HAS RECEIVED I PROMOTION News of the promotion ot Major HJ Robert J. Blnford, formerly profes- sor of military science and tactics at H the Utah Agricultural College, to tlio H rank of Lieutenant Colonel, came In , a rather dramatic manner to the col- H lege today when Student Life, the H students' paper at the Institution, re-1 H celred a communication from a for-. M raer student, V. L. Mlnear, now H captain In the 20th Field Artillery H and seeing actlvo service In France. H Captain Mlnear was major ot the H cadet battalion at the U. A. C. when 1 Colonel Dinford, then a lloutenant, was commandant. The letter, which H also gives a vivid account of Cap- M tain Mincar's first cxptrlenco under M fire, Is In part,' as follows: B "I have been under tire, on sev- B eral occasions. Bellevo me, shells H surely do havo an entirely different B sound coming from than going. I B havo always wondered what I woula H act lil;o when I was being fired upon Hf for the flist time. I know now. Dy B the wildest stretch of imagination, B I couldn't say that I enjoyed the sen- Hj sntlon. "But with each sucecding HJ spelling I feel just a llttlo more at H home. I liopo hi time to be able to HI- pay no nttentlon to It. MB "I will tell you, as nearly as I can - remember It, Just how my fhut ex- B perlence under fire was staged. It ByV, was at C:4E in tho morning. I had BbY mF been up from 1 to 2:30 a. in. vdlrect- WH ing tho unloading of ammunition m which is always brought up In the Hfl .dead of night. I was sleepy. Tho Ha guns in the vicinity had been throw- H ing high explosives over Into Ger- H many and I wasn't paying much nt- SJ tontion. Thon thero was a peculiar, Hj long drawn out, squeaky shriek, fol- H lowed by an explosion nearer than fl usual, t opened my eyes and came M to life, so to speak. HJ "Then came another, first the dls- B tinct bang of a gun and then the H . noise of the shell, indistinct at first, J but getting louder and shriller as It Bj came nearer. Then the detonation H ' of the shell as It struck, followed by H. the splinters falling on the tin root HJ of my dugout. . H "By this time I was fully awake. H The only other officer I had with mo Hj was a tall New Englander, a grad- HJ uate of Yale, and a prince ot a fel- Hj low. At this stage ot the perform- B ance, he stuck his lead In through H tho door and said, 'Captain, I believe HJ wo are being shelled.' Just then an- HJ other shell landed and I remarked BB very casually (?) 'I know.' d Hj well we are being shelled I crawl-H crawl-H ed Into a pair ot pants, my rubber Hi boots and sheepskin coat, put on a HJ gas mask and my tin hat and pro- HJ ' ceeded to get tho men from their HM spllnte'r proofs to their bomb proofs. HJ "I was nervous, not so much for H myself as for tho responsibility. You B see I was some miles from my head- HI quarters and It was up to me. I Hj thought that I had my men under Hj' shelter, but when I got back to my BH post my telephono buized and the VH '40 mun out ln front ' tno benches on H watch for Infantry rockets reported HJ very formally, 'Sir, the battery Is bo- B ing shelled,' just as cool and calm H as the sorgednt major would say 'Sir ' tho dotalls aro correct.' or 'sir tho 'H battery Is presont.' lie is Just a kid B ot 19. Ot courso I told him to get - out of thero and get to his dugout, H as ho had no protection and wo wero H being nhollod by a six Inch battery. BJ "I called tho kid to tho offlco at- tor it was all over with and ques H tloned him as to why ho had not J H gone at onco to a place of shelter. H 4 Ho replied that ho bad been posted Hfl BAY AbVbbVbVbbWbbVbbVbBB1 there and had received no orders to leave. I pressed him further as to why he watted for orders in time ot great personal danger, and ho came right back to me with 'I was ordered to quit my post only when properly rolloved.' Upon inspection of his poet I found that thrco six inch shellB had landed within fifty meters ot him. I have recommended him for tho Croix do Guerre. I had tho surprlso of my life when I took over this position, I went down to pay my respects to tho Commanding Com-manding Officer ot the Doughboys. Tho adjutant took mo Into tho Presence Ho was sitting with his back toward mo Tho adjutant Introduced In-troduced mo to tho Cononol. Tho Colonol turned around and said, "Why, hello Mlnear." And what do you think? It was Blnford a Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Colonel. |