Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/236

 234 THE FORT SHERIDAN ASSOCIATION

I hope it will be my privilege to go to France with you, and from what 1 have seen of the men at this camp I am sure their commanders will not blush for them, for I feel that you realize that you have a high duty to perform and that you will do that duty to the best of your ability.

On Thursday evening, August 9th, the rewards of three months of tireless study and struggle were meted out. It was an evening of intense and hushed excitement. Some studying had been done following supper, but after a few moments of attempted application, all endeavor failed. Soon there w^ere dis- tant cries of "All out!", "Fall in!", and one company after another, at intervals of fifteen minutes, tramped tensely and silently out of their company streets. But the entire quota of a company did not go. After the men had formed in the dim light of dusk, the captain called to his men "at ease' and read the names of about thirty candidates. Why these men had been told to step from the ranks was not immediately announced, but it was later made known that among them w^ere those w^ho had been assigned to the Regular Army as pro- visional second lieutenants, those who were to be commissioned in the quar- termaster or ordnance corps, some w^ho w^ere dismissed for good and those who w^ould be given the choice either of attending the Second Officers' Train- ing Camp or going into service in the National Army as non-commissioned officers. Let it be said to the great credit of this latter group that the majority of those w^ho entered the National Army as non-commissioned officers first rendered invaluable service in helping to train the new^ recruits, follow^ed in nearly all cases by recommendation to the Third Officers' Training Camp and the winning of a commission; w^hile of those who chose to enter the Second Officers' Training Camp, practically every man gained a commission, some of them even of the grade of first lieutenant.

The remainder of the company — about 80 to 1 00 men — closed ranks to the right, and, at the appointed minute, under command of their captain instructor, faced to the right and followed the road w^hich led to the ominous tower. A few feet from that first door, w^hich had been entered in May w^ith the little postal of admission, was another door. Here entered the solemn procession, and trudged up the stairs. After indefinitely climbing, the in- structor grasped a knob. The door opened and the men filed in. There w^ere desks there. They seated themselves before any desk. The instructor walked to the front of the room. His steps w^ere painfully loud. He unbuttoned a breast pocket and pulled out a crackling roll of paper. Some candidates leaned forward, others slouched carelessly back. With a slight cough, he commenced to read :

Adjutant General's Office, August 7, 1917. To Commanding Officer, Training Camp, Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

Inform those concerned that the following appointments have been

made from Company,. Provisional

Training Regiment, to date from August fifteen, nineteen seventeen.

To be Majors: Section (Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry) Officers' Reserve Corps.

To be Captains:

To be First Lieutenants:

To be Second Lieutenants:

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