Read the most recent article from Wilbur D. Jones, Jr. that discusses “How N.C. National Guard units hastened Germany’s surrender in World War I”.
Packed in their trenches, soldiers of the 120th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 30th Infantry Division (“Old Hickoryâ€) awaited dawn’s over-the-top signal to spearhead the allied assault.
Their commander, Col. Sidney Minor, fitfully marked time: “At 4:30 a.m. all troops were [ready] and the slow passing second each seemed an age. At 5:45 we stood with watch in hand. Could the seconds never pass? At 5:49 all was still, a deathly silence. As the final second came, the thunder of all ages seemed to break at once, the earth trembled and the flashes of hundreds of guns in the early dawn gave it all a fearsome aspect.â€