Ripley County democrat., 1918-09-20
TREAT WOUNDED
IN FACE OF FOE
Red Cross Workers Refuse to
Retreat While There Is
Work 10 DO.
N HERO ROLE.
incldsnt ef Early Spring ofsenslve Of
Huns on the semme That should
Mako Americans Proud of
Their Men. 4

A
Their Men.
Washington. The story Of the part
America and Americans played In aid
inf the British and the French during
t. Early spring offensive Of the Ger
mans on the Sompe can never be ade-
Quafely told. The whole picture Is too
BIZ 10 paint on one canvas. It is only
W describing the work Of individuals
and particular groups of workers that
some idea Of the American, effort and
its effectiveness ia this historic battle
can be- brought home to the people
back home-and then only In small
way y
While It ~ perhaps only q very
small incident In the history Of that
great affair, the story of how small
band Of American Red Cross workers
carried on" at one Of the evacuation
hospitals back Of the British front
shopld make Americans proud. When
eli but q few Of the hospital stan had
left with the two hundred or more
patients and the Germans were ad-
vaneing only a few miles away. four
American army surgeons, assigned to
the American Red Cross for work at
thIs particular hospital, declared their
intention 0f sticking till h. frose
ever And sir Red Cross ambulance
and truck drivers, as well a. several
American Red Cross nurses and aides
aSfuck" with them.
The Americans made their decision
not because of sheer Bravado. but be-
cause the hospital had the .opportu-
nityiof serving q few wounded sol-
0iers rum taS "a. .dzss--and could save
their lives. And at this writing these
Americans are still there, giving much
needed medical attention to French
! and British soldiers who are brought
back to this hospital because 1t is
the nearest one back Of that point OF
the line.
Stay on the Job.
The big guns Of the British and
French have been planted In the rear
Of it--and then moved farther back.
The Boche airmen come over at night.
The little group Of Americans have
seen the troops, guns and Transports
20 by In streams to points In the rear,
but as long as the wounded are
brought there. these Americans will
stay.
A few hours after American Red
Cross headquarters in Paris learned
Of the big German offensive, It dis
patched eight trucks and motor cars
to this hospital to aid In the evacua-
ton Of the patients. Night and day
the Red Cross drivers worked bring.
Ing the. wounded from the hospital to
Paris.
When this had been accomplished
the Red Cross cars went out into the
surrounding country to pick UP the
wounded, who were attempting to
walk to hospital, and to aid the
refugees struggling along the rad
Besides transporting these two hun
dred or more wounded men to places
Of safety, the Red Cross cars aided
ls0 refugees to the rallheads In three
days.
But their work had only begun
Despite the evacuation Of the hospital
and the consequent order for more Of
the stan to accompany the patients to
points Of safety, the wounded kept
coming In. Ninety per cent Of them
were serious cases. Practically all
demanded Immediate operations MOI
simple operations, but major ones,
where q steady nerve, delicate touch
and sure hand were necessary to give
the wounded the best chance for life,
Work Night and Day.
Night and day the American sur
geons worked. There were few
nurses to assist, but oil were tired
completely tagged, mentally and
physically. Every one needed rest
But there were the men coming in
every few hours. their bodies pItifull5
torn, and suffering untold agonies. So
no one thought Of stopping, and even
when one did get few hours on duty
there we're the big guns only Q few
hundred fect from the hospital. They
belched and roarcd all night.
OF course. some Of the cases were
hopeless and no amount Of surgical
SKIN or medical attention could save
them. Here again the American Red
Cross men came In for more work
they had to dig the graves and act q
pallbearers. =
One night was especially hard The
dsctors were kept busy 10 the eper'
sting room until fhree o'clock n the
morrlIne. The nurses had to have 9
bit ot resf. One nlirse eoly was aysil'
Y s w il' sl "a y W I{ss s f