The next morning, we found Colonel Funston
as the Twentieth was breaking camp in the Luneta.
“Well boys,” Funston said as we reported to
him in his tent. “We have been assigned to a critical position just
north of the city. We will be seein’ the elephant tonight, that’s
for damned sure.”
He was right. We had no more established our
positions and were still in the process of digging trenches when we
came under attack by Filipino insurgents. Manfred and I were
ambivalent about fighting against these people. After all, it was
their country, and in their eyes, we were invaders. But when the
fighting started, we had no choice. We had to defend ourselves.
Unlike the Twentieth, Manfred I had had been
issued the new thirty-caliber bolt-action Krag rifles. I also
carried my Winchester
