Williams news., 1917-11-15
By William G. Braisted, Surgeon Gen. eral, United States Navy, in New York Herald Magazine of
 the War.

the War.
 It is perhaps somewhat strange, anG
 yet it is a fact, that friends, and espe
 c1ally parents, of boys who enlist 1T
 the navy are more gravely concerned
 for the health of the men than with | the prospect of battle casualties. | This state of mind is evidenced ir
 hundreds of letters which come to the
 office of the surgeon general and in | the personal calls of scores of fathers and mothers who are apprehensive that
 their sons may become i'll and not re | ceive proper medical care. As one mother put it, 'If the boys are going to be wounded or killed it | is only what we must expect. It's part of the war sacrifice and 1t can't be helped. We must give our lives and the lives of those dearer to us | than our own without question, but it is terrible thing to think of their being i'll or exposed to disease need lessly with no one to take care of them"
 The answer to this woman was to | show her through the medical depart ment's headquarters in the navy an- nex building and to explain to her just what is being done, not only to care for those who are i'll but to prevent men of the navy from becoming i'll. She went away contented-her mind at rest. A mothers care can, of course, not be replaced by anything in the world, but she was satisfied that should her boy contract any ailment he would have everything it is hu- manly possible to give him except her care.
 Obviously, it is impossible to ex- plain personally to all callers just how the medical department of the navy is conducted and how 1t works, but through the Magazine of the War I will be able to reach thousands of mothers and fathers who perhaps have been concerned about the same thing
 In the first place, an ill or delicate man cannot perform the duties re- quired in the navy. He is a burden. He not only is useless himself while Ill but it requires other men to care for him, and he often becomes men, ace to his shipmates.
 From the standpoint of efficiency, then, the navy must do everything in its power to keep the men we'll and strong. If for no other reason this should reassure those interested in en- listed men in the navy.
 Then take the medical officers. It is their duty to cure the ill and pre- vent the well from becoming ill. If they do not perform this duty satis- factorily they come to be known as inefficient officers. It is a matter of pride with them to discharge their duty well and faithfully. Moreover, it is the spirit and tradition of the corps to feel human interest in all the men and boys who come under their care. They are specialists in their line and yet they regard the men with the same personal feeling that family physician has toward his pa tients
 That Is a feeling which cannot be bought and paid for. It is the out growth of their training, a part of the esprit de corps of the medical depart- ment.
 At tile heads of the branches and bureaus of the navy department are men actuated by the same principles men who feel that it is the enlisted sailor who is making the greatest sac rifices for the flag and that he is en- titled to the very best in comfort and care.
 No man who is not physically sound and in good health can enlist There fore the recruit is supposedly we'll when he enters the navy. The first weeks of his service are passed at a training station, where he is made stronger physically, and here the reg ular life and exercise make him even more healthy, as everybody can testify | who has watched the recruits arrive at a station and has seen them leave a | few months later, standing straighter, more and often an inch | taller.
 He is then assigned to some unit | in the regular navy. There he is un- der the constant supervision of physi- l clans who have made a study of the | conditions under which he is living | and the ailments and disease to which | he is liable. This is more than could | be said of him at home.
 In the office of the surgeon general of the navy hangs a map of the United | ~~~~-~~--~-~-~~~~~~~~~~