Under orders from headquarters of the American Expeditionary
Force he traveled through the war zone. As a guest of honor he was sent
to cities in southern France. In Paris he was received with impressive
ceremonies by President Poincare and the government officials, It was
during this period that many of the military awards were made to him,
and brigade reviews were selected as the occasions for his decoration.
Against this background of enthusiasm, the tall, reserved, silent
mountaineer, in natural repose, moved through the varying programs of a
day. As all was new to him, he complied with almost childlike docility
to the demands upon him, but he was ever watchful that his conduct
should conform to that of those around him. If called upon to speak, he
responded; and he stood before the cheering crowds in noticeable mental
control. The few words he used did not misfire nor jam. They ended in a
smile of real fellowship that beamed from a rugged face that was
furrowed and tanned, and always with the quaint mountain phrase of
appreciation, "I thank ye!" In the months he remained with the army in
France he grew in personal popularity from his unaffected bearing.
The letters written home to his mother during this period show him
basically unchanged.
These letters, usually two a week, were the same as those he had been
writing all the while.
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