History of the 151st field artillery, Rainbow Division, by Louis L. Collins, lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Edited by Wayne E. Stevens, PH. D. Pub. by the Minnesota War records commission.

X. THE HOME-COMING1

For three long, wearisome days, days of unbroken monotony,
the box cars carrying the regiment crawled across France. Never
did journey's end bring to travelers greater sense of relief than it
did to the officers and men of the 151st Field Artillery upon their
arrival at Brest on the morning of Saturday, April 12, 1919. They
marched immediately to the embarkation camp where they were
" deloused, de-odorized, and sometimes to my notion," says the
colonel, " defamed."
It was here at Brest that Colonel Leach received from the
French government one of the highest honors in its power to bestow
upon a soldier, the cross of the Legion of Honor. Two more tedious
days, days of excited anticipation of the homeward journey, and
then at last orders to embark. At nine o'clock on Wednesday
morning, April 16, the colonel boarded the cruiser Huntington
and was assigned quarters by Captain Kellogg, and two hours later
the entire regiment came on deck. Just before the vessel sailed,
the French staged one of those little ceremonies so indicative of
a certain phase of their character. A launch was sent out from
one of their battleships, the occupants of which, an artillery colonel, a colonel of the French mission, and a personal representative
of the President, came aboard the American vessel to pay to their
departing allies the last respects of their grateful countrymen.
They made the Americans feel many times repaid for any services
rendered to France. Two hours later the vessel steamed out of
the harbor and the second lap of the journey had begun.
The ship was crowded to its maximum capacity of two thousand, a circumstance which made it impossible to serve more than
'This chapter is based for the most part on Colonel Leach's War Diary, from
which quotations not otherwise credited are taken; the St. Paul Dispatch, the
St. Paul Pioneer Press, the St. Paul Daily News, the Minneapolis Tribune, and
the Minneapolis Journal for May 7, 8, and 9, 1919; and a special edition of the
St. Paul Dispatch and St. Paul Pioneer Press for May 8, 1919, which contains
the message of Benedict Crowell quoted on page 190.
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