Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
January 16, 1919
The Chattanooga News
Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee
What is this article about?
During WWI occupation in Coblenz, frontline officers voice frustration at being outpromoted by those stationed at home, exemplified by a major serving under a former junior and a comrade dying as a lieutenant after months of combat.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
RESENT ARMY PROMOTIONS.
Officers at Front Find Comrades at Home Are Being Elevated,
(Edwin L. James in N. Y. Times.)
Coblenz—Today I met on the street a major, a friend of mine. He told me he had just received orders to go home. I started to congratulate him. He stopped me.
"Don't say it," he said. "I am in the regulars, you know, and I have got to go home and serve under a man who was my junior before we entered the war. I have been over here fighting for a year, but he has gone up faster than I. It's sort of rough, I say."
Still thinking of what he had said, I walked into the office of another officer. He happened to be a major, too.
"Mr. Correspondent," he said, "you have been boosting what we have done over here. You have called it good work. You're wrong. They did better work back home. Look here. Read those two paragraphs."
He shoved across the desk a copy of a college weekly. The first paragraph he had marked read: "Major ... was promoted to his present rank shortly after his advancement to a captaincy. He is still with the field artillery at Camp Jackson."
The second paragraph he had marked read: "It has just been learned that a lieutenant of Company ... of the infantry, died Oct. 1, from wounds received in action."
"I brought over," the major said. "He fought six months and died a lieutenant."
Officers at Front Find Comrades at Home Are Being Elevated,
(Edwin L. James in N. Y. Times.)
Coblenz—Today I met on the street a major, a friend of mine. He told me he had just received orders to go home. I started to congratulate him. He stopped me.
"Don't say it," he said. "I am in the regulars, you know, and I have got to go home and serve under a man who was my junior before we entered the war. I have been over here fighting for a year, but he has gone up faster than I. It's sort of rough, I say."
Still thinking of what he had said, I walked into the office of another officer. He happened to be a major, too.
"Mr. Correspondent," he said, "you have been boosting what we have done over here. You have called it good work. You're wrong. They did better work back home. Look here. Read those two paragraphs."
He shoved across the desk a copy of a college weekly. The first paragraph he had marked read: "Major ... was promoted to his present rank shortly after his advancement to a captaincy. He is still with the field artillery at Camp Jackson."
The second paragraph he had marked read: "It has just been learned that a lieutenant of Company ... of the infantry, died Oct. 1, from wounds received in action."
"I brought over," the major said. "He fought six months and died a lieutenant."
What sub-type of article is it?
Historical Event
What themes does it cover?
Misfortune
What keywords are associated?
Army Promotions
Officer Resentment
World War I
Military Hierarchy
Coblenz
Where did it happen?
Coblenz
Story Details
Location
Coblenz
Story Details
Officers at the front in Coblenz express resentment over comrades at home receiving faster promotions, with one major facing serving under a former junior and another noting a lieutenant who died without promotion after six months of fighting.