The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1918-01-13
Americans Show Hero
ism During Raids on
Base Hospitals Along
Battlefront in France.
~ MILTON eaoNNER.

ment there is a thrilling set of stories
OF German barbarity and American he
roism. These stories are the officia
reports of what German aviators di,
10 American base hospitals and Amer
lean ambulances.
Serving With Allies.
Recently l learned that there wer,
IL American base hospitals in France
of which six were serving our allies.
And 1t was officially announced !;
stort time ago that we had $3.50 med
zeal officers. nurses. etc. attached Il
the British and French forces: So
medical officers and 40 nurses were
with the British. We had with The
French 40 ambulance sections each
consisting of as officers and men.
1t Is some of these that have beer
under fire and 1t is some Of these tina,
have been killed and wounded.
1t seems such a wanton thing to dc
and the results accomplished seem te
the 1ayman SO small that l asked ar
official just what the theory was about
these raids on hospitals.
"Method" 10 Answer.
The German never does anything
without method" was his response.
He figures to accomplish three
things by his raids
"First-he does not want our
base hospitals very near the front
line trenches. II they are thus To-
Gated wounded men can be quickly
treated. u BY bomb attacks he
forces us to send our hospitals
back some distance he thereby in
ereases the chances Of our wound
cd setting oansrene and also the
number OF cases in which amputa-
tion becomes necessary. He there
BY deplstes the fighting forces
quicker.
"seeond-He cold. bIoodedIy fig
urss that 10 kill doctor is equal
to killing 500 soldiers. We can
train soldiers in few months; we
arhiraMTh.s same thin,a 1i' apn pi.
in a lesser degree to trained
nurses"
And now you know why on a cieal
moonlit night in France every doctor
nurse and orderly In the big base
hospitals near the German lines is CT
the qui vive for the throb- throb of tht
airplane.
Sentinels on Watch.
1t is on such nights that sentinels
keep up unccasing vigilance, and, es-
pecially. to sec that they have emer.
Eency lights for the operating room
SO that the horror may not occur OF
a man being partially operated on ant
then coming to in the darkness fol
want of proper anesthetics.
Here arc few facts from perso,Ir'
letters and reports sent back to Anne:
lea: .t
DR. George +. Brewer famous pro.
fessor Of surgery in Columbia Univcr.
sity. Is in France in charge of the Co.
lumbia- Presbyterian Hospital Unit. II
mid-July his hospital was asked I,
send volunteer teams to casualty clear.
Ing stations just behind the lines.
Loses Eye-stieks at Post.
These teams consist of an operating
surgeon, anesthetist, operating nurs,
and orderly. DR.. Brewer himself wa.
four miles from User canal during tn.
hol iisHtilE tHcTs' IeCsitlHS one uas
900 wounded.
In August his station was at
tackled by airplane hombers three
times in five days. Miss Melon.
aid. his office nurse, lost her right
eye. She pluekily remained on the
job.
Kenneth CASTOR of the Harvard
Medical unit, wrote his mother in New
Jersey concerning any number of rail-
experiences. In the early fall he sal,
the Germans were maintaining /. re-.
ular campaign against hospitals.
The hospital to which he was al
tached had aviators hog.rin,, over i
for three hours one night raining down
bombs. Two surgeons were killed an,
five were wounded. two of the bi,
tents were riddled, some small tent
were blown up.
Seek Safety in Open.
The officers and men slept ont in liz
open fields for safety. The nest nif.h
the Germans attacked two hospital
to which the Americans na move
the wounded and were thus comIelle,
to close one of these Ravens. Late,
CASTOR was stationed with a hospita
in little ruined village.
A German gun. after firing ar6un
the village, pumped two big shells in
TO the hospital which was filled to ca
pacity with badly wounded men, III
kind of cases that have just f!ghtin
chance to live.
Two of these men were killed ont
right and five were wounded agar
For a wonder none of the nurses va
hurt. Says CASTOR:
''can you imagine anything more
terrible than to be wounded badly
and under fire? The 80 or 50 cases
were, Of course, 50 terrified that
they would have killed themselves
worrying. 80 that the hospital had
TO be emptisd at once. We worked
until midnight moving them out
81 range. II was mean work. for
the easss were all painful and the
roads bad. ! had to 90 very slowly
fer five kiienastsrs and at that one
peor fellow screamed At every
hump"
But the worst experience was tn;
x 49, -
8zIs