sisters, relatives and
friends. He died, but his death has not been in vain. His spirit
lives to cheer his comrades on to greater deeds of patriotism.
His loved ones at home can be proud of 'Al.' He died every inch a
man and patriotic to the core.

"His grave was not neglected. The boys tenderly sodded its mound
and placed a wreath of holly, plucked from the hills of Creuse,
where he last trained. The grave is marked with a wooden cross,
on which is inscribed his name, rank, and command, and to which
is attached the soldier's identification disc.

"It is Grave No. 84 in the American cemetery, situated on a
gentle slope of one of the picturesque hills of Creuse province,
overlooking Camp La Courtine."

CHAPTER XXVI.

IN MEMORIAM.

In the moment of laying aside the uniform there surged through the
heart of every member of Battery D emotions too deep for words.

The rainy days and mud of France were at last a thing of the past.
Yes, truly a thing of the past to those staunch comrades who survived
not the ordeal to return home.

Those who survived and returned home, have had an invaluable
experience. With memories of those experiences there will always
linger the thoughts and associations of departed comrades.

As battery members they all toiled together in France for a common
cause. All shared the common thought of seeing the war period through
bravely, then to return home, bigger, better and stronger as a
soldier-citizen.

The comrades of Battery D whose lives were cut short by the Grim
Reaper when they were at the height of their development as trained
soldiers, all cherished thoughts of getting back home. They gave
expression to such thoughts in their letters home.

Joseph A. Loughran, in a letter written to his parents just before he
was stricken with the illness to which he succumbed, wrote these
words: "Save a couple of chairs for my wife and myself at the Xmas
dinner table, for God willing we will surely be there."

In another portion of the same letter Private Loughran wrote: "Oh,
boy, won't it be great to get back home again after going through all
the trials that I had. If any one told me a few years ago that I could
go through what I have and still be as healthy as I am, I would not
believe them. I am as healthy as an ox and weigh 180 pounds."

Thus it is that thoughts of departed comrades stir emotions too deep
for words; emoti