Letter from General Enoch H. Crowder to Frank L. Greene - July 9, 1918

Transcript

July 9, 1918. Personal and Confidential Honorable Frank L. Greene, M.C., House of Representatives. My dear Mr. Greene: Any reply that I could dictate this morning would be inadequate to express my appreciation of your note of July 7. I shall reserve, for a personal interview with you, the acknoweldgment which I desire to make. I will only say this now-that when I parted company with that legislation I realized that the last chance I had for any military preferment was gone; not that it would be impossible to revive it, but that it would be impossible to revive it upon terms which would afford me any gratification. I do not care for death-bed offerings, and recognition which comes at the close of the war as did that which came to me at the close of the Spanish-American war, when I enjoyed a Brigadier-Generalship of Volunteers for a few days, is not any longer acceptable. I genuinely prefer, from this time on, to work without reward. The narrow prejudice which says no rewards for service outside the actual theatre of war will prevail to the end. I doubt very much whether the War Department will take advantage of the legislation which the Army Bill carries to grant me a Distinguished Service Medal, although I was informed by Mr. Dent that the Secretary of War said that that would be the first use that he would make of the Law if it were passed. I shall not myself bring up the matter. Very truly your, E.H. Crowder, Provost Marshal General. EHC-vbr