The Washington herald., 1918-05-12
GIVEN
REAL TRIBUTE
FOR BRAVERY
Secs. Daniels and Baker
Send Encouraging Mes
sages to Loyal Women.

With inspiring messages from
President Wilson, Secretary of War
Baker. Secretary of the Navy
Daniels. and from one of Washing
toms own boys. Private William
Booth Covert. Mothers Day, dedi-
Gated to. the most sacred parsonage
the world knows. was last night
ushered in to an America whose
war mothers are daily making
heart-repding sacrifices in sending
their boys to help defeat the prin-
ciples Of evil
Day of Prayer.
President Wilson's message to
Americas motherhood carried with
it the hope that the day would be
set aside as one of prayer for our
boys at the front
Secretary of War Baker said:
ITO the Mothers of America
bring you a message from your boys
in France. They are cheerful and
earnest and full of fGht-as proud
of their country. as their country
is proud of them.
From you they yet draw inspira-
tion, and to you they send a mes
sage filled with determination and
with hope They hope to make this
war the last war that America will
ever have to fight against a mill
tary depotism, and they want to
fight till that hope has been
achieved.
They ask you to be of good
cheer, to be with them fondly in
your thoughts. and to sustain your
hearts in the day of battle as they
will sustain theirs.
DanieIs' Statement.
Secretary Daniels statement fol-
lows:
ITO Mothers of Defenders of Ne
mocracy: The courage of the mothers
iE the homes is reflected by the brav-
cry of the men at the front. 1t Is
always true that the morale Of a
nations soldiers and the ideals for
which they fight are born in the sUir-
itual heroism of a nations mothers.
Let the nation join in International
Prayer to all Mothers of Defenders
of Democracy to cheer and strengthen
them, their sons, and the nation it.
self to fight to win the fight that
must be won.
Our country stands before the
world as a nation fighting for the
ideals of nations, and the world
knows that the mothers of America
are sending men of ideals to the front.
In that lies our strength. Faith and
prayer are the two basic supports
of national idealism. International
prayer for all mothers of Democracy
there are thirteen millions of them
cannot but aid every soldier in
camp, or trench. as well as strength
en- every mother at home.
(Signed) JOSEPHUS DANIELS,
Secretary of the. Navy.
What Covert Says.
Don't worry about your boys over
therei'' This is the message which an
American boy who has spent six
months in the French trenches brings
to the mothers of America. 1.-The
thought that our folks at home are
worrying about US makes for greater
depression on our part than anything
else we have to endure.
'T have actually come to believe in
thought transmission, so greatly did
the feeling of those at home react
upon me during the two years I was
abroad with the troops. 1 could have
died with smile upon my lips when
I lay badly wounded. but the thought
Of my mothers grief was a constant
weight upon my mind. Other fellows
have told me that their greatest
cause for depression was the con-
slant thought that their mothers
were worrying about them.
Praises Red Cross.
of course, We don't want our folks
to forget US when We are three thou
sand miles away. We want them to
think of us all the time, but we want
to know that they are looking on the
bright side Of things. hoping for and
expecting only the best. From ex-
perience know that 1t reacts in our
favor"
The soldier Is Private William
Booth Covert. of Washington, d. c.,
employed by the Washington Herald
before he Joined the colors. Believ-
ing in the cause of the allies, Covert
Joined the Canadian army In 1915 and
served In several engagements. He
received nine wounds in the battle of
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