de in
the name of President Wilson, at the villa where Marshal Foch had his
headquarters, and was an impressive ceremony.

A guard of honor was drawn up and trumpeters blew a fanfare as Marshal
Foch, with General Pershing on his right, took position a few paces in
front of the guard. General Pershing said:

"The Congress of the United States has created this medal to be
conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service to our
country. President Wilson has directed me to present to you the first
of these medals in the name of the United States Government and
the American army, as an expression of their admiration and their
confidence. It is a token of the gratitude of the American people for
your great achievements. I am very happy to have been given the honor of
presenting this medal to you."

In accepting the decoration, Marshal Foch said:

"I will wear this medal with pleasure and pride. In days of triumph, as
well as in dark and critical hours, I will never forget the tragical
day last March when General Pershing put at my disposal, without
restriction, all the resources of the American army. The success won
in the hard fighting by the American army is the consequence of the
excellent conception, command and organization of the American General
Staff, and the irreducible will to win of the American troops. The name
'Meuse' may be inscribed proudly upon the American flag."

MARSHAL FOCH'S RECORD

Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, was born at Tarbes in the French
Pyrenees, August 4th of 1851--a year during which all Europe was
agitated by the approach of war. His earlier education, largely
religious, was had at the schools of Saint Etienne, Rodez and Metz. In
his twentieth year he entered the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris for
a course of instruction in military science, after which he was
commissioned a lieutenant in the artillery branch of the French army,
rising to a captaincy in 1878.

In 1892, with the rank of major, he became an instructor in the war
school, specializing in military history and theory. He returned to army
service as a lieutenant colonel in 1901, and in 1907 was made a general
of brigade. Shortly thereafter, at the close of a term in command of
artillery in the Fifth Army Corps, he was put at the head of the war
school.

When war broke out in August, 1914, General Foch was in charge of the
military post at Nancy, a point commanding the way between the Vosges
mountains and the