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Show iJtlfUBIfORDIS Ij WOW LIEUTENANT I COLONEL s Vcws of the promotion of Major l i nobert J. BInford, formerly professor 'I if military science and tactics at the -1e 5 rtah Agricultural college, to the rank Ok S iCutenant colonel came in a rather Mi t dramatic manner to the college today m . hcn student Life, tho students paper IS t the institution, received a communi- TP ? ration from a former student, v. L. m ' Mlncar, now captain In the 20th field m i artillery and seeing active service In ft?4 ! rrance. Captain Mincar was major of U5 , he cadet battalion at the U. A. C. ; when Colonel BInford, then a Heuten- W. -teas commandant. The letter, pa' 1 Tv-hlch also gives a vivid account of fl rantnin MIncar's first experience under ur ? " ..wo. 9, t i have been under nre, on several !' occasions. Believe me, shells surely do 5k ' have an entirely different sound corns' corn-s' iDr from than going. I have ahvavs wondered what I would act like when i& i was being fired upon for the first time. I novr- Dv the wildest t' ' stretch of Imagination, I couldn't sav 1 that I enjoyed the sensation. But with ?S ' each succeeding shelling I feel just a S& utile more at home. I hope in time to 'S3, be able to pay no attention to JL tf , I will tell you, as nearly a3 I can remember it, Just how my first evper-M evper-M i ience under fire was staged. It was at 6 45 in the morning. I had been 'up from 1 to. 2:30 a. m. directing the un-lft un-lft '- loading of ammunition which is nl-fr nl-fr wars brought up In the dead of night. ; i was sleepy. The guns In the vicinity l :- bad been throwing high explosives Jf jrer into Germany and I wasn't paying " auch attention. Then there was a pell, pe-ll, cullar, long drawn out, squeaky shriek, : followed by an explosion nearer than W usual. I opened my eyes and came to sL ' life, bo to speak. Then came another, ;tM irst the distant bang of the gun and ' jicn the noise of the shell, indistinct f ' it first, but getting louder and shriller I is it came nearer. Then the detona-JF detona-JF lion of the shell as it struck, followed yt 1 by the splinters falling on the tin rcof Ji ; of my dugouL gj "By this time I was fully awake. The f only other officer 1 had with me was a I tall New Englaudor, a graduate of I Yale, and a prince of a fellow. At this ! , stage of the performance, he stuck his head in through the door and said, 'Captain, I believe we are being shelled.' shell-ed.' Just then another shell landed and, I remarked very casually (?) 'I know I d '"'ell we are being shelled.' I crawled into a pair of pants, my rub- j ber boots and sheepskin coat, put on j a gas mask and my tin hat and proceeded pro-ceeded to get the men from their splinter proofs to their bpmb proofs. "I was nervous, not so much for my -1 self as for the responsibility. You see ' I was some miles from my headquarters headquar-ters and it was up to me. I thought ; that I had my men under shelter, but when I got back; to my post my telephone tele-phone buzzed and the man out in front of the trenches on watch for Infantry rockets reported very formally, 'Sir, the battery is being shelled,' Just as 'i cool and calm as the se'rgeant major would say, 'Sir, the details aro cor- reel,' or. my top sergeant, 'Sir, the ;s battery is present. He Is just a kid i j of 19. Of course I told him to get out I of there and cot to his- dugout, as he 1 ihad no protection and we were being shelled by a six inch battery. "I called the kid to the office after It was all over with and questioned :'j nlm as to why he had not gone at once "t to a place of shelter. He replied that ;( he had been posted there and had re-v re-v ccived no orders to leave. 1 pressed ,j him further as to why lie waited for orders in a time of groat personal dan-r dan-r geo and he came right back at me j with, '1 was ordered to quit my post only when properly relieved.' Upon expectlon of his post I found that :') three 6-inch shells had landed within ,' 60 "meters of him. I have recommend -Jd him for the Croix de Guerre. "I had the surprise of my life when I took over this position. I went down to pay my respects to the commanding I ofQcer of the doughboys. The adjutant i took me into the presence. He was sitting with his back .toward me. The adjutant introduced me to the colonel. The colonel turned around and said, 'Why, hello Minear.' And what do you think? It was Binford a lieutenant colonel." nn |