Lieutenant Karl Woodman, the son of Peabody High School Principal William Woodman and a member of the 14th U.S. Engineers, led "plucky troops across the Meuse River" in France and sent a gripping account of the assault in a letter to the Enterprise.

"I can tell you that I'll remember these experiences all my life and you can't imagine how good home will look to me.  Many a dark and rainy night I've trudged up to the front line with my platoon of men to do some wiring around the farthest outpost or to perform some other task where shells and machine gun bullets were flying, never expecting to get back, at least not without wounds, I have endured hardships which I had never dreamed of, but would not for the world have missed doing my part over here."