The Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1918-1919, 1919-04-24
HIGHER MORALE:
FOR YANKS Nm
Red Cross Home Service Sec.
ton viii Look After Folks
at Home.
TAkE;BuRDEN FROM SOLDIERS
Men In Service Are Often Dlsheart
ened by Distressing News From
H6fHe-cheerfui Letters From
Folks 70 Greatest Need.

WaShIDgtOn.-The American Red
Cross siihs issued the Red Cross Hand.
bo0k. ss'"he book which is intended,
among other things, to strengthen the
morale, ef the people at home was
writer ~ w. Frank Persons, the dl.
rector generuf Aof civilian relief of.ths
American Red Craxs. ~,
Again and ngatn swoFd comes from
overseas OF men dlshearfened" by bad
Jews from home, mailing brave eff.
fort to go on with their work but
with no zest to IT, Mr.. Persons says
1T is the task Of the home service
sections 5of3the Red Cross to see to /.
that there are in the families of these
soldiers no anxieties or.problems which
are likely to get into letters and bring
distress to the soldiers overseas and
40 loneliness which we could help
meet here.
Want Letters Fro m Home.
mot comfort kits, nor even smokes
will so warm the hearts of our boys
as the letter from home saying that
all is we'll and that the home service
Of the Red Cross Is standing BY"
MIR. Persons recently returned from
France where he organized the bureau
Of home service In the American Red
Cross organization in that country. He
asserted that his observations in
Fratce made him more firmly con.
WINGED than ever that proper conoi.
tons in. the homes Of soldiers and sail.
ors and the maintenance sof close con.
tact between the men and their fam.
lilies was; necessary to preserve the
morale Of the Soldiers.
"The fighting man wants to know
all about, what is going on at home."
Mr.. Persons continues. "Ite wants tc
know all the details about his family
and then about his friends and his
community generally. He wants to be
kept in touch with local civil Affairs
and what is going on in his town and
state. We are coming to see that this
interest is q powerful support to
mans stamina. 1t keeps hin sane and
healthy. It braces him up to know
that those with whom he has lived
and who mean so much to him appre.
ciate the sacrifice he Is making.
"Any worry about the condition OF
his dependents or relatives tends to
put q soldier into a condition where
he, IS subject to shell shock. Il have
this son the authority of eminent spe.
cialists who are dealing with such
cases in the military hospitals. A sol.
der, who is untouched by bullet OF
she'll may, from shell shock, return to
his trench in such nervous condition
as tQsrequire hospital treatment and
long rest. The best insurance
against this serious by-product OF. mod
ern warfare, the physicians say, Is
for the man to 60 over the top or meet
charge in buoyant, untroubled
frame of mind in which his sole con.
Cheerful letters from home help te
produce the proper mental attitude.
but confidence that the home folks
lack for nothing Is an essential foun-
dalton.
Red Cross Will Help.
"Soldiers become concerned when
letters fail to come regularly, anxious
and uneasy when disquieting rumors
arrive, and worried and distraught
when they learn of troubles at home.
An.American commander at the front
and a leading military surgeon In
Paris both stated that the Red Cross
could do nothing more important from
a military point. Of view .thansto main.
tain the welfare Of the homes OF our
fighting men.,
'There:, can be no more certain
means Of steadying his morale than to