He had just been given command of Battery D, the most incorrigible doughboys in the service. “I think of Battery D as the most mischievous, unpredictable, and difficult-to-handle unit in the whole AEF [American Expeditionary Forces],” recalled one member, Harry Murphy. “Most of the young fellows were athletes of some kind,” recalled Battery D soldier Floyd Ricketts. “I was a semipro ballplayer around Kansas City, and there were fighters, and football players, and basketball players.” Harry was no athlete. Battery D soldiers were predominantly Irish and German Catholics, and Harry was no
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