The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-11-20
CARE FOR DEPENDENTS
]. 5. FIGHTING MEN


oehts OF Americas fighting men are
being cared r,c Wherever they NAV
ne ana whatever may be the difficult
ts@ or reaching them In this task
American Red Cross Home service has
oeen OF far flung usefulness the rec
ord established by 1t proving so graft
/ IylnE that home service. which has
} been confined to assistance Of rho
Families of soldiers and sailors is
now being expanded to he OF general
usefulness to the people.
| lie helping hand Of home service
is strikingiy portrayed in scores of
| incidents, reported to Red Cross Ma
tioEal headquarters. Wherever the
Iamllies of American fighters were
ited cross Home service workers have
found them, even in the mountain
businesses or deserts of distant coun-
/ trlcs. helping them communicate with
/ their loved ones and particularly see
! ing 70 II that funds allotted to then.
| w 'ner boys actually reached them.
III lnnuincrabte instances too re-
turned doughboys have turned to
! nome service 10 help them in a wide
I variety OF problems Whatever the
! hetp required. nome service men and
/ women, of whcra there are thousands
fonhd a way to help, often under
I picturesque, even romantic, circum.
stances
Ihere was a lonely Syrian mother
ilVing Tour days by camel across the
desert from Damascus. Her son.
HeoEse HamwaT. having e,nigrated to
America. responded to the call to the
coiers in 1917 and fell fighting in the
SFsohne, leaving only a vague ad-
! "fess OF his mother it was found
Nhch the war risk insurance bureau
/ undertook to begin payments to her
on his $4,000 Insurance.
( In The uncertainty DEVELOPING tho
! matter was placed in the hands Of
| INC american REQ Cross mission 10
faies'lne, as routine home service
case Long searching located the
I aSed mother and she was brought
20 Damascus b. camel, accompanied
ny witnesses, Bedouins in full gala
attire of the desert. After much
( ha'avar the identity OF the woman
was iuily established and certifica-
ton of it forwarded to Washington,
= !he OLD lady returning TO her lowly
nome 10 await the remittances that
VIII ease her remaining days
!, antonio ana Angela del puppo were
( iaifi% weli-tndo folk with a little
s2rF' in Treviso. about three miles
from the PiavH when the war came
10 that part of Italy, they were driven
"Ht OF their home into Austrian ter
f0ofy as prisoners. while their lit
! tie farm became = battlefield. They
"Sr" held as farm laborers in Aus
: IRA. knowing nothing of the real
progress OF ne fighting They never
/ heafd mat the United States had en-
! '"red the wa and that their son in
| 'lae country. Antonio, had enlised and
, "as hghtins for them in France.
Antonio. meantime, had for months
be"n making frantic efforts to learn
what had become OF his father and
mother. Red Cross Home service
workers. in Italy conducted an investi-
( &at4"n. and few weeks go were able
10 send word to Antonio who sur
NlVeu the fishting, that his parents
h'id been found, just released from
captivity in Austria. and that the Red
tross would assist them until his al
iotnlent money could reach Italy.
In the rush of getting the American
SoIolers nome from France the dough
boy didn't have much time TO wind up
/ ms affairs there. Not long ago home
service received from n dpmobi,ized
soldier in this country letter and
-afndavit showing he had 5000 francs
on deposit in France and asking the
Re1 Cross to get it for him All the
soldier had remem hereii was the nsn1c
OF the town, the name of the bank
ne had forgotten and his bank book
i'ad been lost in action
by the process of elimination home
service workers located the bank and
the deposit, the bank officials accent
ing the word Of the Red Cross that
1t had authority to collect the little
fortune and they turned il over to be
forwarded TO the former soldier.
Another American soldier, suffer
ing from she'll wounds in hospital
IN the United States, asked the Red
cross to learn the fate of his parents
IN Italy. fearful they might be dead
or II living were not receiving the
alloiments he .n,aaa them, as he. had
not heard from them for many
months
In a remote hill town the America
ked Cross girl assigned TO the ease
found the father and mother we'll
and amply provided for by the money
mat came regularly from the sons al
lotment, Ana il was the swellin.
pride OF the father over the boys
honorable record in the war that was
tho direct eanse of the wounded Ind
failing 10 get me news of his parents
ne so longed for as he lay in his
hospital cot The father was so proud
OF MS son and spent 50 much time
voyaging around the village detailing
hls exploits to the villagers that no
had had no tim" to write to the her,
of his tales But he writes regularly
now, in accordance with the Red
Cross girls tactfui suggestion. and Tho
wounded hoy is mending the more
rapidly
Far into the almost barren hills of
the Ahruzzi went an American Red
'rofs girl. TO learn why the parents
OF young Italian OF the American
army who had died in France, had
never claimed the insurance for which
'hey were named beneficiaries When
she arrived a the threshold of tho
low stone house she found candies !
burning and the neighborS in rustv
MACK gathered for ceremonial. The
orc 1ather OF The soldier laid his hand
dpoE the Rel Cross girls arm no