Iron Cross

“ Why, every time they steal a picture they get an Iron Cross. I know a man who saw a German wearing a perfect rosary of Iron Crosses; the fellow was boasting of having bayoneted more babies than any other man in the regiment. ”

“ Medal, in gold or silver, is awarded for bravery in saving life by land or sea.
Other Countries.—As has been mentioned above, foreign decorations for military service usually take the form of Orders in many classes. There are, however, numerous long service decorations, which need not be specified. The most famous of the European war and service decorations are the Prussian Iron Cross, the French Médaille Militaire, and the Russian St George’s Cross; all these are individual decorations.
The Iron Cross is given to officers and soldiers for distinguished service in War. ”

“ Iron crosses have fallen in thick showers on the German armies; during the month of July, 1915, no fewer than 3,400 of these decorations were awarded to the Bavarian army alone. Still, as far back as November of last year, Herr Köhrer wrote: "In the villages on the slopes of the Argonnes and on the banks of the Aisne, nearly every second soldier is wearing an iron cross. One has the certain conviction that it is not an army of fifty or sixty thousand, but a nation of heroes which occupies the plains of France and fights for us. ”

“ I marveled that a company cook should wear the Iron Cross of the second class and I asked the captain about it. He laughed at the wonder that was evident in my tones.
"If you will look more closely," he said, "you will see that a good many of our cooks already have won the Iron Cross since this war began, and a good many others will yet win it—if they live. We have no braver men in our army than these fellows. They go into the trenches at least twice a day, under the hottest fire sometimes, to carry hot coffee and hot food to the soldiers who fight. ”

“ It is announced that four German War Correspondents have been decorated with the Iron Cross of the Second Class. We have always maintained that the War Correspondent, like his fighting brother, is not immune from the perils of warfare. ”

“ Virtue would strike me blind if I should laugh at your wars. By music, pipes, and stripes you are excited to things contrary to all harmony. Iron, a metal more proper for ploughs and tillage, is fitted for slaughter and death; men raising armies of men, covet to kill one another, and punish them that quit the field for not staying to murder men. They honour as valiants such as are drunk with blood ”

“ In the battles in France he won the second class of the Iron Cross. After the peace he entered Paris but once, fearing to infringe upon the ten ducats that he saved monthly from his pay to send to his mother. ”

“ They stay like a wall, man beside man, in their iron armor. They advance in one compact body. They strike, and the Litwa are scattered like sand, or throw themselves flat on the ground and are trampled down. There are not only Germans among them, because men of all nations serve with the Knights of the Cross. And they are brave! Often before a battle a knight stoops, stretches his lance, and rushes alone against the whole army. ”

“ The citation called the Twenty-eighth a "Famous Red Fighting Division," but even this formal designation has not supplanted, in the minds of the soldiers, the name of "The Iron Division," which they regard as their especial pride.
And, to make the record complete, scores of the officers and men throughout the division have been cited for gallantry and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Pershing, while others have won the French decoration, the Croix de Guerre. ”

“ The Title of the Cross.
One of the most interesting relics in connection with the holy nails is the Iron Crown of Lombardy. This, as may be seen by reference to the illustration (Fig. 1) , is a circlet of gold, ornamented with precious stones, and it is indebted for its name of “Iron” to a thin band (A) of that metal, which is inside the gold circlet. The Crown itself is of very antique form, being even devoid of rays, and is too small to go on the head. ”

“ Iron crown, the ancient crown of Lombardy, so named from a thin band of iron said to be made from one of the nails of the Cross; Iron entered into his soul, the bitterest pang of grief has touched his heart.—Bessemer iron, pig-iron suitable for making Bessemer steel.—Have too many irons in the fire, to be trying to do too many things at once ”

“ You must imagine them coming back from the war, and pale, benign, leaning on their canes as returning heroes do in plays, talk across the footlights to real young soldiers you have just seen limping in with real wounds—pink-cheeked boys with heads and feet bandaged and Iron Crosses on black-and-white ribbons tucked into their coats, home from East Prussia or the Aisne. ”

“ The cross is of white enamel resting on gold scrolls and bears at the center an iron crown. It is awarded to officers of high rank for services in war.
The Medal for Military Valor.—This medal of two classes, gold and silver, corresponds to the French Croix de Guerre, and is awarded to soldiers and sailors for conspicuous acts of gallantry in action in the presence of the enemy. The gold medal is very rarely bestowed except as an honor to the memory of a soldier or sailor who has lost his life in the execution of the deed which the medal commemorates. The ribbon is blue. ”

“ The medals awarded to the survivors of the wars were invariably of metal, some, like our Victoria Cross, having been made from captured cannon. This oval medal, however, is of iron and bears on the obverse King Frederick William's initials in German text capitals, surmounted by the Prussian crown and underneath Fur Pflichirtreue im Kreige (For faithful service in war) ; encircling the whole is the legend Gott war mit uns, Ihm sey die Ehre! (God was with us, to Him the honour) . On the reverse is a cross patée with rays issuant between the arms and in the centre 1815. ”

“ The superior decoration of the grand cross, a cross of double the size, is reserved for officers of high rank, who have successfully carried out a campaign, won a decisive battle, or conducted a brave defense of a fortress or position. ”

“ For it seems that the worker takes his hand from the work, and draws the iron out of the furnace, in order that something of the work which is being done may be seen; and then there is occasion for the soul to observe in itself the good which it saw not while the work was going on. In the same way, when the flame ceases to attack the wood, it is possible to see how much of it has been enkindled. ”

“ They gave up their lives for humanity, no sacrifice was too great for them to accomplish, while inexorable necessity compelled them to bloody expression in an age of blood. The Fighting Groups constituted the one thorn in the side of the Iron Heel that the Iron Heel could never remove. ”

“ CHAPTER I Men of Iron
"You are not soldiers! You are men of iron!"
Such was the tribute of an idolized general to the men of the Twenty-eighth Division, United States Army, after the division had won its spurs in a glorious, breath-taking fashion at the second battle of the Marne in July and August, 1918.
The grizzled officer, his shrewd, keen eyes softened to genuine admiration for the deeds of the gallant men and with real sorrow for the fallen, uttered his simple praise to a little group of officers at a certain headquarters. ”

“ To obtain that small piece of bronze of the value of threepence he will lead the forlorn hope, be the first to storm the breach, and ever ready to expose his life to any danger. The Victoria Cross is as much to a soldier as the gage d’amour the knight-errant in the days of chivalry received from his lady-love, and swore never to part with. ”

“ When the final toll of this dreadful war is taken, high up on the lists of fame, supreme in the immortal and shining roster of the saints, should stand the names of the men and women of the Red Cross. The zeal of fighting could not uphold them. ”

“ The sight so amazed the Germans that they actually stopped fighting and waited for him. Perhaps it was the Red Cross on the doctor's arm that influenced them, but imagine a body of soldiers in the heat of a charge suddenly stopping because of one man! ”

“ For the iron I wrought has helped build up a civilization, while the German's 'Blood and Iron' has sought to destroy it.
“France stands knee-deep in her own blood while the iron of Germany is being hurled into her breast. Iron Workers of America, to you has God given the answer to the German thunderbolt. The iron of the republic shall beat down the iron of the kings. ”

“ For years the names of oil king and iron master have been a hissing and a byword among the hot-heads in America. Yet oil king and iron master filled a world with motor lorries. The blessings these have brought to every man are more than he can measure. We mention this as one: They stopped the Germans at Verdun and saved our civilization. It was an iron war and our iron won.
My days were spent at forge and puddling furnace. The iron that I made is civilization's tools. I ride by night in metal bedrooms. ”

“ At his nod of assent she deftly untied the faded blue ribbon with which the packet was secured, removed the tissue-paper covering, and brought to light a jewel-case, in which lay three military decorations—the badge of the Loyal Legion, the plain, bronze star of the Grand Army, and the enamelled Maltese cross of the old 19th Army Corps. ”

“ Men of all ranks flew to arms with the utmost ardor; and an exterior symbol too—a circumstance of chief moment,—was here chosen by the devoted combatants. The sign of the cross, which had been hitherto so much revered among Christians, and which, the more it was an object of reproach among the pagan world, was the more passionately cherished by them, became the badge of union, and was affixed to their right shoulder by all who enlisted themselves in this sacred warfare. ”

“ O tales of heroism are more thrilling and exciting than the narratives of the exploits which have gained the coveted reward of the Victoria Cross; and a story never has so much reality and vividness as when it comes first-hand from the performer of the deed. Accordingly, we have asked a number of the heroes of the Victoria Cross—a truly noble army—to relate in their own language how they came to win the most glorious decoration open to a soldier, the plain bronze cross "For Valour." ”

“ All was unseen, much was unguessed; the blind fought the blind; and yet through it all was order, purpose, control. We permeated the entire organization of the Iron Heel with our agents, while our own organization was permeated with the agents of the Iron Heel. It was warfare dark and devious, replete with intrigue and conspiracy, plot and counterplot. And behind all, ever menacing, was death, violent and terrible. Men and women disappeared, our nearest and dearest comrades. ”

“ As many as twenty-four have been won by Catholics, of whom eighteen are Irish, a share out of all proportion to their numbers, but not—may I say?—to their valour. In order to appreciate adequately the significance of these figures it is necessary to remember the nature of the deed for which the Victoria Cross is given. It must be exceptionally daring, involving the greatest risk to life. It must be of special military value, or must lead to the saving of comrades otherwise hopelessly doomed. Above all, it must be done not under orders but as a spontaneous act on the soldier's own motion. ”

“ His dark-blue military coat of finest cloth was set off by heavy epaulets of gold and by a broad azure ribbon crossing his breast and bearing the jeweled insignia of the Legion of Honor. The crimson sword-sash which bore his sword sheathed in a scabbard of gold flashing with jewels, completed in his own dress the tricolor of France. He wore high military boots, I think to carry out the military effect of his epaulets and sword, for it was in the character of soldier, the hero of many battles, the winner of glory for France, that the people idolized him. ”

“ The Colours of the Infantry are to be of silk, the dimensions to be 3 ft. 9 ins. flying, and 3 ft. deep on the pike, which, including the Royal Crest, to be 8 ft. 71⁄2 ins., the cords and tassels to be crimson and gold mixed.
“The Royal or First colour of every regiment (of infantry) is to be the Great Union, the Imperial colour of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in which the Cross of St. George is conjoined with the crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, on a blue field. ”

“ The Croix de Guerre is a beautiful medal in bronze, artistically designed and executed. It hangs suspended from a ribbon of striped red and green upon which are fastened the palms or stars for each particular citation given by the army or division. If any individual soldier is mentioned for an act of heroism in especial terms by an army order he is presented with an additional palm for each of such citations. Some of the French airmen have received so many citations that the medal itself would hang down below the waist if the ribbon were properly lengthened to accommodate every palm awarded. ”

“ Long before he is old enough to hear the terrible war-part of the story, War shall be at an end, please God, and the Red Cross shall mean [Pg 85] to the nations left upon the earth what it means to him—arms that enfold a suffering humanity, lips that press a great mother-love to all its hurts and make them well. ”

“ At home in the auxiliaries, in the hospitals, on the transports and at the front, wherever sickness and suffering called.
Early in the campaign they seemed to awaken to the true meaning and the great mission of the Red Cross, and, setting before them the standard, they have followed it from one field of suffering to another. True soldiers of humanity, they have labored earnestly and incessantly, and have proven themselves worthy to wear the emblem of their loving, faithful service—the Red Cross of Geneva. ”