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been suspecting of toadying, to the army officers who were instructing us. Those Irishmen did it openly and unabashedly. During the first month I was in a company commanded by a regular army captain of infantry, Ben Nicklin. During that month he was promoted to major, a rank that entitled him to ride horseback. A New Yorker named Flynn started taking up a collection from us to buy a saddle and accoutrements for Nicklin. The saddle was duly presented to him, together with a typewritten list of the contributors and the sum each had given. Flynn's name, like Abou Ben Adhem's, led all the rest. The same thing happened again, with only a change of names, after I had transferred to the field artillery training battery commanded by Captain Alfred L. P. Sands. He was likewise promoted to a majority (the regular army officers were going up the ladder swiftly in 1917). This time the collection was started by another New Yorker named Sweeney. We did not buy a saddle for Sands, because he already had one, being in a mounted service. He prided himself on his horsemanship and played on regimental polo teams. I don't recall what we bought for him, but it was something equally expensive. Naturally Sweeney did the honors. I have always been somewhat ashamed for having lacked the courage to refuse a contribution in both those cases. But I had a lot depending on the goodwill of Nicklin and Sands. I did not know how either of them felt about accepting a gift from people at their mercy. Having later on become more familiar with the army ways of doing things, I don't think either Nicklin or Sands was insulted.

Not all the New Yorkers were like the two samples I have mentioned. One of them, Robert Low Bacon, was somewhat older than most of us. He served as first sergeant in Sand's battery.  Bacon was a millionaire from somewhere on Long Island, the son of a former ambassador to France. I regarded him as a snob who had something to be snobbish about, both in his background and in his own ability. At our graduation he was commissioned as major, the highest rank given to any of [[strikethrough]] ou [[/strikethrough]] our cadets. I didn't hear anyone criticize that rating. When we moved to New York in 1947 I learned that Bacon was a congressman from an ironclad Republican district on Long Island. He served for many terms, and died in office before I retired.

Transcription Notes:
This method of indicating correction seems way too confusing? - transcribed for readability per Smithsonian instructions