The men of the battery were not initially impressed with their new captain. The next morning, the company awoke to find a notice on the bulletin board. Half of the noncommissioned officers and most of the first class privates had been demoted. A rise in punishments was accompanied by an increase in rewards. The food got better. Truman made sure they wrote to their mothers and sweethearts. Truman impressed his troops with his loyalty and compassion.
All we had to do was do our duty and he was going to back us up, and he did. Truman privately worried about how he would behave under fire. At Toul Hill in France in , soldiers marched for ten days through deep mud, thick as paste. Gun wagons bogged down. Rain fell. Everyone was soaked, hungry, cold, and exhausted. Undernourished horses dropped dead in stagnant muck.
Worn out men reached out to steady themselves on the caissons, which was forbidden due to the extra burden it put on the already-overworked horses. A colonel noticed, and, in a fury, ordered the fatigued men to go faster and double-time up the hill.
Rather than follow those orders, Truman ordered the battery off the road to rest for the remainder of the night. Somehow Truman avoided reprimand and this incident and others demonstrated that he would protect his men. In return, he earned their loyalty.
After the allied victory, men headed home. The shop did well at first, but by summer , it was struggling in a post-war depression. With the store failing, it would close in early Harry was interested. The court had a presiding judge, elected at large, and an eastern and western district judge, elected from their districts. The Pendergasts sought to nominate Truman for eastern district judge. Truman was a war hero. Well known in the county and an active and admired member in the Masons and other fraternal organizations, Truman had also amassed a significant base of veterans who were fiercely dedicated to him.
