Veteran of War Already but Commission to Fight Under U.S. Flag Denied

Although Charles E. Bedaux of Grand Rapids saw service in the Foreign Legion, including actual experience in trench warfare, speaks French and know the geography of the country like a book, he cannot get a commission in the United States army. He has been turned down because he is not a full-fledged citizen of the United States.

He will obtain his final papers in two months, but Uncle Sam is inflexible and will not consider his application for a major’s commission in the ordinance department before that date. The secretary of war told Congressman Mapes there was no chance at this time. Bedaux’s record on file with the war department shows that he spent five years in the J. B. Say College of Arts and Trades of the University of Paris, and is a member of the Efficiency Society of Paris and New York. He helped organize the second and third Foreign Legion Regiments. He is at present an efficiency engineer.

Muskegon Chronicle, July 3, 1917, page 6.