Chapter 11

Chapter 11

That night I wrote a story for the Record-Herald, sent it by cable from the U.S.-occupied cable office, and scooped every paper in Chicago with a first-person account of America’s latest venture into big-stick diplomacy.

Then, Katharina and I celebrated our daylong survival with several drinks in the hotel bar and dinner in the hotel dining room. We decided it might be prudent to speak German rather than English. Americans were not the most popular nationality in Veracruz.

We were awakened from a sozzled slumber around 8:30 the next morning by heavy rifle and machine-gun fire. We got dressed and took the stairs to the lobby. Dozens of people were standing at the hotel’s windows, gazing out at the deserted streets. The gunfire outside seemed to be everywhere, and every onc……