Diary of Pvt. Charles Altman - Part 3
General Petain, Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies operating on the French front, on July 3, 1918, issued the following general order: “To-morrow, the Independence Day celebration of the United States, the first American troops which have debarked in France will defile in Paris. Later they will join us in the front. Let us salute these new companions in arms who without thought of gain or of conquest, but with the simple desire of defending the cause of right and liberty, have come to take their places in the ranks beside us. Others are preparing to follow them. They will soon be on our soil. The United States means to put at our disposition, without reckoning, their soldiers, their factories, their vessels, and their entire country. They want to pay a hundredfold the debt of gratitude they owe to Lafayette and his companions. From all the points of the front a single shout on this July 4th will be heard, ‘Honor to the great sister. Long live the United States!’”
— Pvt. Charles Altman
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