Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-08-30
MISSING IN ACTION"
A Report that Tries the Souls OF
Relatives. $

Relatives. 81
Probably the greatest ordeal, to q
family comes when q soldier u 6Apertr.
cd "mirsing in action" says W., }.
Castle, director of the bureau OF cOm-
munication, Washington, and this un-
Certainty is due to the fact that the
report may mean ANY one OF seVeral
things. 1t may me4p5shat soldier has
been killed. or thai ees been injur-
- severely, i1ea g siRR Y
mean that he was taken prisoner. In
the greater number Of cases 1t Will
turn out that men who are reported
missing in action have been captured
by the Germans. This informant Is
further quoted in the press:
The bureau OF communication
does not wait for an inquiry from the
family when a soldier Is reported miss
ing in action. The name, regiment
and company OF the man are sent at
once TO the searchcrs in all the hos
pitfalls. Effort is made to find the SOL
dicr who saw the missing man last
and il Is likely that survivors OF the
engagement in which the man dlsap-
pcared may be found in some OF the
hospitals. Those who took part In
the engagement are asked, when
found, whether they knew the missing
man, whether they saw him at any
time during the fight; If not. whether
they have any hearsay knowledge of
what happened to him.
The evidence obtained, no matter
how conflicting, is forwarded to Wash
ington, where bulletins, successfully,
are issued TO the family, with a eau
tion us to what information Is hear
say.
while this investigation is going on
among those American soldiers who
were in the same engagement, anoth-
er Is being conducted to determine
from German sources whether the
man was taken prisoner. This Is
done through the international Red
Cross at Geneva. AS soon as an
American soldier Is reported missing,
the name Is sent to Geneva and thence
the request for information Is sent 10
the German Red Cross. AS the Ger
man Red Cross is desirous of obtain
ing reciprocal information as to Ger
man prisoners captured by the Allies
We find shdt prompt attention is given
to oul requests.
Information as to prisoners captur-
cd by the Germans is generally receiv-
ed by US, through the international
Red Cross, days, sometimes weeks,
before n report is received by the state
department or the publication Of the
official lists by Germany. In a few
cases we have received information
that q man reported missing Is a
prisoner in Germany within a week
after he disappeared. but usually the
time required is five or six weeks.
The Germans often permit us TO send
cards to their families stating that
they have been captured.
The prisoners are first sent to
central camp in Germany; thence
they are distributed. When they ar
rive at the other camps the Prison
ers' Help committee Is permitted to
send a notification to the American
Red Cross in Bern. Switzerland, In
order that regular food supplies may
be promptly forwarded. The Ameri-
can Red Cross maintains warehouse
at Bern, with supplies Of food and
clothing from the American Red
Cross and the quarternasters' de-
partment of the United States army.
There are also stores Of clothing from
the United States navy.
-Four parcels of food are supplied
to each American prisoner OF war
every two weeks. Clothing Is also
sent, as needed. and tobacco. A self
addressed postal card. for acknowl-
edgement of the receipt Of the pack
age, Is enclosed, and. with few ex-
ceptions. the prisoners return the
card. There are at present In the
warehouse at Bern 5000 tons Of food
and incidental supplies. besides
stock of clothing. These supplies will
be doubled within six weeks by the
addition Of shipments now in trans
It"