II 



TO CUBA 



UP to the last moment we were spending every 

 ounce of energy we had in getting the regiment 

 into shape. Fortunately, there were a good many 

 vacancies among the officers, as the original number 

 of 780 men was increased to 1,000; so that two com- 

 panies were organized entirely anew. This gave the 

 chance to promote some first-rate men. 



One of the most useful members of the regiment 

 was Dr. Robb Church, formerly a Princeton football 

 player. He was appointed as Assistant Surgeon, 

 but acted throughout almost all the Cuban cam- 

 paign as the Regimental Surgeon. It was Dr. 

 Church who first gave me an idea of Bucky O'Neill's 

 versatility, for I happened to overhear them dis- 

 cussing Aryan word-roots together, and then sliding 

 off into a review of the novels of Balzac, and a dis- 

 cussion as to how far Balzac could be said to be 

 the founder of the modern realistic school of fiction. 

 Church had led almost as varied a life as Bucky 

 himself, his career including incidents as far apart 

 as exploring and elk-hunting in the Olympic Moun- 



(41) 



