What can be the matter with those overhead when they will so sacrifice human lives when fresh men would be able to do better work with fewer casualties?

The 82nd Infantry Division, known as the 82nd Airborne Division since WWII, was one of the U.S. Army divisions that led the American offensives in WWI and paid the price. The toll is engraved on tombstones across the American cemeteries in France, Arlington and elsewhere. One source put the 82nd's causalities as 1,338 dead; 6,890 wounded; 8,228 total.

Sunday, October 20, 1918:

Ambulances at Fléville

Went on post this noon at Fléville. Luyx, McGinnis, G. Taylor and myself are driving the four duty cars. My aide is Grady Chapman, a hospital boy merely loaned to us. He’s alright and makes one of the best aides I have ever had. Before the car has pulled up at the dressing station he is out and by the time I am turned around and have the tail gate down he has the patients out and ready to load. A shell or two in our vicinity make him even speedier. He doesn’t like shells, strange to say.

Requisitioned a new room in Fléville to be used exclusively for ambulance men of our section -- thanks to Kendrick’s ingenuity and ambition. The room is in the old parish beside the church which are about the only two buildings in town not entirely demolished from shell fire. The house has been hit in several places so that our room was a mess of debris. A rather interesting feature of the room is the fact that an allied shell had come in through the window and burst within the room merely spattering the heavy stone walls with pieces and tearing up the floor pretty badly. We cleaned the room up placing a big box spring over the shell hole--moved in a good stove, blanketed the windows and had a very, very comfortable room.

Monday, October 21:

Were relieved this afternoon after a rather busy night without much excitement. This is as quiet as I have seen this front. The 82nd is now holding a very short portion of the front because of their great losses. An 82nd captain today told me that the 327th and 328th have but 800 men left. Think of that--out of 6000 originally! And this 800 are absolutely spent having advanced and advanced again and again for the 17 days that they have been here having just come from the St. Mihiel push. We are carrying many cases of utter fatigue and shell shock out of the 82nd these days. 

What can be the matter with those overhead when they will so sacrifice human lives when fresh men would be able to do better work with fewer casualties? Living in mud and slop, advancing faster than artillery can be brought up to support them, their morale is rapidly being shattered. Time and again they avow gone over in broad daylight with out a barrage only to be shot down by the Boche machine guns which literally fill every shell hole and clump of bushes. It’s terrible! And yet the 82nd will stay in here for 9 more days, acting as reserve for the 78th. Then instead of going for a good rest they will go immediately on to another front which they call a quiet sector, but there is no quiet sector that I know about now days.