Butler College in the World War. Press of Wm. Mitchell Printing Co. Greenfield, Ind. When we return to our country we shall do so empty-handed; we shall take nothing back but the ashes of our dead. On the minutes of the annual meeting of the Butler College Alumni Association of June, , occurs the statement, "Miss Graydon was appointed to compile the record of Butler College students in the present war.
That was a sacred task committed to the secretary of the association. At once her efforts began and without cessation they have continued to date.
The labor has met compensation in offering opportunity to know more largely than otherwise possible the deeds of Butler soldiers, their attitude of mind and their force of character.
It has been lessened by the delightful cooperation of many of the boys. But in the effort to make correct and complete the list of graduates and former students of the college who had participated in the war, it has been difficult. There are, doubtless, unmentioned names which would have appeared in the record could they have been located.
From the known Butler service men, it has been impossible to secure at all times replies to letters of inquiry; and frequently the innate modesty of the young men themselves has caused reticence. So, with unsparing effort, this volume is only as complete as the editor, in face of opposing obstacles, could fashion it.
