"In Galveston he waited in vain for his credential from Washington, although all the other correspondents had received theirs days before. Shortly before sailing time he learned why it had been withheld, the reason being what Jack always referred to thereafter as the 'Good Soldier canard."
On April 16, 2024 Jack and Charmian's plans to go to Japan were abruptly changed when Collier's offered him eleven hundred dollars a week plus expenses for himself and Nakata to go to Mexico to cover the Mexican Revolution. When the magazine agreed to pay Charmian's expenses as well, Jack accepted. They left on the 17th of April for Los Angeles. From there they rode the Sunset Limited to El Paso and Galveston.
The War Department falsely accused Jack of writing "The Good Soldier," a propaganda pamphlet urging young men not to sign up for the army. After Jack convinced the General’s aide that he had not written "The Good Soldier," General Funston approved his credentials. Meanwhile, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels had wired Jack permission to go on a destroyer, if Funston didn’t relent. On April 24 Jack left for Vera Cruz on the U.S. Army Transport Kilpatrick, while Charmian followed on the Atlantis. Since there was no war, he was once more deprived of the opportunity to show his ability as a war correspondent, but he did write seven excellent articles. |
