The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-04-15
DR.. MARLEY IS
MADE MAJOR IS
MEDICAL CORPS

News regarding the appointment as
major OF Captain Stephen C. Markley,
of the U. s. Medical corps, has been
received here by Mrs. Markley.
Major Markley, who has been over
seas for several months. writes that
the engineers with whom he has been
attached have finished their work at
Pontarlier, France. Although he had
had hopes that that meant home for
him, he had instead been put on a
new assignment and expects to be
kept overseas until summer.
II have been appointed medical
inspector for large territory Of the
country west of the Mouse river, The
territory extends to Verdun, ST. Mi
hiel, and north OF there, then west to
the Marne." he writes. There are
troops everywhere in this area and
each detachment has an infirmary and
medical station. 1t will be my duty
to make tours of inspection and to
report conditions found. ! will be
going out all over this country where
some of the fiercest fighting of the
war has occurred.
Near Argonne Wood.
Refugees are slowly coming back
to this territory, and are beginning to
repair their houses and get the fields
under cultivation. Engineers are
working all over the country. They
are discovering numerous piles of am
munition in the woods and other
places, and are blowing up many of
these. From the hospital we can fire.
quently hear heavy explosions. The
woods about here have many dead
men buried in them. We are in sight
Of the Argonne wood where such
heavy fighting took place.
The graves registration squad are
working all over this region, and will
have work to do for months to come.
They find dead men in all kinds of
strange places. Probably these sol
diers were wounded in battle and
crawled under bushes by the side of
logs and in rock crevices for safety
and died there. During the battle
many were not buried in dug graves
for lack of time, but earth was thrown
over them in a mound. The rains
wash off this earth and many times
the bodies are exposed. Soldiers are
working all over this section now TAX
ing proper care of these bodies. Such
is war in all its horror. May we never
have another war! 1t will be difficult
for me ever to forget these things. In
this part Of France we are seeing the
results of war in all its tragical hor-
ror. Nearly every town and village
around here has been shelled and
bombed, and some of the towns are
practically wiped out. One sees most
ly wreckage. Whole squares have
been demolished, while other build
ings seem not at all disturbed.
This hospital was bombed by an
airplane, but no damage Of conse-
quence resulted. There are about
twenty-five medical officers here now,
and one hundred enlisted medical de-
partment men who act as nurses in
the wards, and do other hospital du-
ties. We have a number Of German
prisoners who act as helpers and or
derlies about the ward. We also have
a number of German sick prisoners.
This whole region is full of German
prison camps, and there are thousands
of German prisoners in this part of
the country. They are used Nnder
guard to repair roads and other dam
age they themselves have done. Some
are very young looking, appearing to
be only sixteen or seventeen years
old.
my address hereafter will be Evac-
uation Hospital No 10,A. P. o. ga"