Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-11
(Section III.)

The outstanding event in the mill
tary side Of the Red Cross work In
Italy has yet to be set down1-the
turning owe to the Italian Medical
after the Red Cross reached Rome and
less declared war against Austria, OF
! three than five days after the United
States complete ambulance sections.
Each section is made up of 20 am
balances. a staff car. a kitchen trailer,
a motorcycle and two camions. Each
section comprises 33 men. veterans OF
the Norton-Harjes and American
Field Service in France. who come
in as volunteers with the ran OF
commissioned officers.
The nucleus of this service was a
fleet of something owe 20 cars, which
left Paris on November Is and did
not reach Milan until December 8.
They came by a long route through
Marseilles and Nentinmiglia. Some
day. in lighter times. the full epic OF
their. transit will be written. They
were the recipients Of demonstrations
in M%arseilles. in other French and
Italian cities.
But ambulances are scarce in
France; these were veterans no less
than their drivers. and had pounded
over shell-torn roads all the way from
the British sectors to Verdun. Cars
chose the south of France to go on
repose or. permanent sick leave. and
only IL came through to Milan in
shape to he of use. But here they
were met by new recruits, SO Fords,
the gift of the Red Cross of the Amer
lean Poets Ambulance. which, with
active members both in Italy and the
gift of another so ambulances direct
to the Italian army. These had gone
into frst-line service between Novem-
Der / and 20.
Poets.Rcd Cross Section.
The presentation of the combined
Poets-Red Cross section took place on
December 13 in the yard of an old Mi
Ian palace used by the military as a
garage. Crossed Italian and American
flags decked the walls of the ancient
quadrangle. The cars of the first two
sections, 40 of them. were arranged in
la horseshoe. with the camions in the
middle. before q raised platform a.
one end. Here were the projects of
the Colonel of the Santa Militare and
the representative of the French mis-
sion. the commander of the British
flying corps. the president of the local
Italian Red Cross and the American
consul. chairman of the American Red
Cross committee of Milan. More i'm
portant here were the 100 members of
the American Red Cross Ambulance
Corps for Italy. in khaki. six of them
wearing Croix de Guerre, standing at
salute as a bugle sounded. and the
general SEN to receive them in the
name of the Third Army swung into
the yard with a bodyguard of plumed
B~ersaglieri. -
The presentation was made by the
acting director general Of the Red
Cross in Italy, who pointed out that
they were the first American units to
reach the italian front: that they had
volunteered for the service in Italy;
and that it was a service in a war
eral responded in kind, and the
French commander introduced him to
the ambulance men who had won the
war cross for acts of bravery in ar
ing for the wounded in France.
An hour later the first section left
the yard with American flags flying.
They drew up in the Piazza de Du-
ONO. where the mayor Of Milan bid
them farewell. 1t was a gala day in
%thronged with, crowds that did not
stop to ask by what magic carpets the
"Americana' had been whisked in
four days time to the doors of the old
Gothic Cathedral but accented them
for q fact bound up in determine
ton of war. and cheered them unre-
mittingly until they had streamed
through the city gate that led off to
the old battle-ground of Selferin on the
way to the Piave front. The second
and third sections followed during the
succeeding fortnight, and the Red
Cross is under commitment u bring
the corps to a total of 200 cars.
Work With the Army.
In the act of the staggering need
for hospital supplies and equipment,
those thingsnwere~the first concern of
the Red Cross men in Italy charged
with laying the groundwork for a
Military Affairs Department.; but be-
ginning had been made in two other
directions. following presidents estab-
lished in France. in gift and canteen
work for the men in the field and en-
route to and from their homes.
Here it may be permitted again to