Omaha daily bee., 1918-08-31
I [.

A la Cantine Americana, Lemoges, July
Dear Father: Your letter and Agnes
came together and greeted me on my return
from the country. My heart is always al
home. How l long to see you'll But the
longer stay in this work the more | realize
how am needed
NV own branch Of the service occupies Sc
much OF my time and fills so absolutely my
horizon that have not made much OF a study
of the other women's work in Red Cross, but
any derogatory statements about the Red
Cross ought to burn the tongue that utters
them. However, with millions OF men over
here who know, or will know, its ministra-
TONS there is no necessity tor advertisement
by us.
The officers who censor the boys mail
say the principal theme is always Red Cross.
They say that the doughnuts are always sec
ond in Importance to the fact that there are
bully American girls" who remind them OF
home. And, that is what we want to do-to
keep them alive to the fact that there is a
happy normal life for which we are all fight
ing and to which we hope to return. If
these boys got the idea that that life was a
thing of the past there would be nothing to
hold them; there are plenty Of substitutes
offered over here, but one reminder OF home
by letter or through contact with US anchors
them in the family affection from which they
have been so rudely torn.
Nine de Luze, with whom I was staying,
met lot of our boys and she is amazed to
hear them talk so much OF home. She had
an idea that there was very little home life
in the States. but she says these boys think
and speak of nothing else.
OF course, there are frivolous ones among
the Red Cross, but it is frivolity that the
quality of the owners service redeems. l
remember at Issondun seeing the white,
pinched little face OF our youngest canteener
over the shoulder OF an enlisted man she was
dancing with-and / remembered that the
boy she had been with constantly for three
months, and whom | am sure she loved
had fallen in his machine and been killed a
few days before
saw another girl open letter from her
fance, written in a base hospital, saying that
he was wounded and the shaky handwriting
duty in the officers mess, and so was |. AS
passed her later I heard table full of Off
cers--young flyers, who won't any Of them
be alive in year-laughing uproariously-
that some girl was being frivolous. 1t was
over two weeks before she really know that
her lover was safe and she continued to work
and laugh and be entertaining. She finally
was allowed to 60 to him and | afterward
saw his name heading the honor roll for con-
spcuous bravery--but we will all think she
was pretty brave, too.
| have the most wholesome respect for
the great number of women have met work
ing over here. Their ability to keep norma
and cheerful is amazing. OF course, few oi
them are accustomed to the sort of work
they are doing, and the great physical effor
alone sometimes fatigues them almost be-
yond their powers of endurance. Add to that
the sympathy they are called upon to give
and the emotional strain of seeing our
wounded boys and the refugees, etc.
There is a quality that our boys have
quite inexplicable, that makes it possible foI
us to laugh and joke with them at all times
As they go off to the front and on their re.
turn, lying on stretchers, too sick to raise
their heads to drink the coffee we are giving
them-they are always droll, sometime:
quite a dry smile mitigates the tragedy.
was holding one boys head on my