Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-19
'GEN.RE[AD LAUDS|
| REDcROSS IN WAR
Morked as Omit With Army
! and Rendered Great
] Service.
WORK IS NOT COMPLETED

the home influence. The home in
fluence means morale. and morale
means victory. This axiom is laid
down by the surgeon general of the
United States Army, Maj. Gen. Mer-
rite W. ireland, writing in the Feb
ruary issue of the Red Cross Maya
zine. In his article, which is en-
titled THE Red Cross and the Ameri-
can Army" the surgeon general gives
the Army medical departments esti-
mate of what the Red Cross did to
help win the war, and this estimate
is apparently as high a one as pos
sible
Dirt Greatest Enemy in War.
No more inspiring or practical gos-
pei exists for humanity than that the
world should be clean-physicaily
mentally and morally-points out
Gen. Ireland, and the Red Cross is it's
evangelist Americas greatest enemy
in the war, he declares. was, not
the Germans, but dirt; yet never has
war been won with so little suffer
Ing and death caused directly by this
enVeloping contagion
For this achievement" writes Gen.
Ireland in part. I'VE have to thank
most of all the Red Cross. Gen.
Pershing said that the women of the
country deserve a large share of the
credit for the success of the Ameri-
can forces. The Red Cross provided
an inexhaustible store of supplies
All the splnts used in all our hos
pitfalls in France. both Army and Red
Cross, came from the Red Cross. 1t
furnished more than a quarter of
billion surgical dressings; it sent
over annnph
or the overseas force to possess one.
Worked Together Like One Unit.
The Army medical and sanitation
work and that of the Red Cross are
Two services which require no liaison
ofdcers," continues Gen. Ireland I'VE
worked together like one unit. Prob
dered by the Red Cross home forces
was the supply of trained nurses it
Furnished our hospitals. The Army
Medical Corps trains a. few nurses,
but could never hope to turn out the
large number provided by the Red
Cross If we needed a thousand for
Q given work we telegraphed the
War Department The War Depart
ment notified Miss Delano. The
nurses arrived on schedule.
Hospital Problem Solved.
sAn especially notable service rem
dered by Red Cross nurses occurred
during the early American campaign,
when cur men were brigaded with
French divisions. When wounded
they were, of course, taken to French
hospitals. Unable to answer ques-
lions or tell their needs. they were
IN very unhappy plight. Scores of
Red Cross nurses speaking both
French and English were Immediately
sent to these hospitals. and the prob
lem was solved. In this war. where
neyeral armies were operating to-
Eether. the only common service was
that of the Red Cross.
Another much appreciated assist
1nce came from the fact that the Red
Cross could establish itself in places
4orbidden the Army medical depart
aent Within the district of Paris,
Tor instance, we could not establish
Army hospitals. The Red Cross, how
ever, in that district. is now operat-
ing units 1. and 3, as well as a tent
hospital. which had at first 500 beds,
hut when ! came away had 200.
Got In Where Army Couldn't.
s The Red Cross could also establish
store depots in places the Army
could not enter for strategic reasons.
For 1t to be busily in evidence in the
most unlikely places was no novelty
Thus as the Red Cross workers were
kept posted as to our plans of at
tack. they were able to place hospital
supplies whore they would be most
handy without arousing the Huns
eusptcions.
Tn the Chateau Thierry sector the
American Red Cross hospital serv-
ktce received its first baptism of fire
I In q general engagement in which
our troops took part At Chateau
1hierry came the great emergency
surprise Offensive, began a drive to-
ward Paris So rapid was their initial
advance that the French medical de-
partment lost more than 40, 900 beds
and considerable stores. The Red
Mross rose promptly to the occasion.
was taken over by the Red Cross and
made into large, non-mobile evacu-
alton hospital BY the time the
hfencn American counter attack had
begun two Red Cross mobile units were
esta bhshed at the front One, in charge
Of Maj. Mccoy. was at Jouy-sur- Morn
south Of Chateau Thierry Another. in
charge Of Maj. Moorhead, set up its tents
at Coincy. As the counter attacks
developed there streamed back a tide
OF american wounded that kept the
workers busy day and night Each
hospital unit had about eight or ten
operating teams, working constantly
IN shirts Later both these units were
moved swiftly into places where the
nghtfng was thickest. They served
at the drive across the St Mihiel
salient and later with the advance made
from TouL
st. M1hieps Wounded Light.
In the st. MihieI fighting all the
circulating hospitals experienced a
pleasant surprise. American head
quarters expected a bitter struggle
and our hospitals were prepared to
handle wounded on an unprecedented
scale 1t turned out, however, that we
had overestfmated the morale of the
enemy and underestimate the vaIor
OF our troops. The salient was taken
with comparative ease and, as you re-
call. In record time, and the num-
Der or wounded was very small in
deed"
Gen. Ireland prophesies that the
fcture work of the American Red Cross
In france will not be ended until the
work OF our Army is ended. and per-
haps not even then. Without the Red
Crose army of mercy to follow in the
tragic furrows made by the engines
CT war, he says. the aftermath of SUI
fer1ng In France this winter would
make an inconceivable desolation.
Fighting with mortal weapons NAV
cease. but this campaign of mercy Of
tne Heo Cross VIII never cease as long
90 the need OF cleansing and healing
present among the races of the
esrtn. says Gen. Ireland in conclu-