The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-03-01
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM A TION
BUREA U
THE PORT OF MISSING MEN.
5DER1C J. HAEKIN, Director
Washington. D. c.


Washington, D. c., Feb. 24.-"We
feel very bitter against the ones in
authority for not trying to hunt our
boy, after he fought in mud and blood
from one end of the line to the other
in the worst branch of the army. His
father is in poor health, and the sus-
pense and grief are killing him by
inches. He is our only child, our only
dependence in our old age. May the
Lord help you find him for u.s."
This is an excerpt from one of the
thousands of letters that have recently
poured into the surgeon generals Of
flee of the army, asking aid from it's
new division-tne Port of Missing
Men. From all parts of the country
they come, and from all classes of
persons who have lost track of their
I boys since they went to France, and
are eager for any scrap of informa-
ton. Some of them enclose photo
graphs of soldiers, and some contain
soiied envelopes that have carried let
tiers to France and brought them back
again, because the men to whom they
were addressed could not be found.
Still others are sent by registered mail
to impress the surgeon generals Of
flee with the Importance of the in
Quiry.
In the surgeon generals office the
letters are stripped of their main facts
the name of the missing man, his
cOul pdHy anu regiment, anu the OdlS
and name of the place where he was
last reported to be-which are then
mailed to the Port of Missing Men.
This is the interesting name that has
been attached to a newspaper column,
appearing in all the army hospital
papers, including the three large ones
in New York, Newport News and
Washington, and the twenty-six small
ones scattered turnout the country.
The total circulation of these papers
is estimated at $4,000. In other words,
$4,000 soldiers read these papers and
note the names of the men reported
under the head, The Port of Missing
Men" Out of the $4,000, there is al
most certain to be one soldier who has
known one of the men reported miss
ing in the column. Maybe he was in
the same company, and knew where
the man was last stationed. In the
ma jority of instances, he is even likely
| to know what ultimately became of
him. In any event he is apt to be able
to shed some light on the situation.
The other day, for example, the
surgeon generals office received a
| letter from a Washington woman,
asking for information concerning the
| Whereabouts of a certain lieutenant
stationed somewhere in France. She
/ was writing for his mother in Homo
| lulu. The name of the lieutenant was
! Missing Men and was seen by pri-
! waite in one of the army hospitals, who
! reported that he had been in hospi-
! tai with such an officer at Savenay,
! France. At that time he had been
recovering, the private asserted, and
was soon to go back to duty. The
| mother of the lieutenant had not
! heard from him since last May, and
! this information, coming over six
| months later, was extremely reassur-
| ing.
| You may ask. along with most of
| the anxious mothers, sisters and wives
| who write to the surgeon generals
| office. why this information is not
reported by the adjutant generals Of
| flee of the army. Ones first impulse
/ is certainly to sympathize with the
| woman who was bitter against the
| ones in authority for not trying to
hunt her boy" and with one more
/ indignant mother, who writes: I'VE
| cannot help but feel that If the gov
! eminent had given as much atten-
ton to locating the boys after the war
was over as they did to get them at
the beginning of the war. they would
know something about the missing
boys" But upon investigation. they
are compelled to admit that the ad-
/ jutant generals office is certainly do
| ing all that it possibly can with a
| difficult problem.
Consider some of its difficulties:
: LII Illc Liz pAdCtt II Has VI
men to keep track of. Millions of
men with plenty of opportunity for
| getting lost. In trench warfare. a
| mans head is the most imepriled
portion of his anatomy, and it is not
| unusual for mans head to be blown
| completely off. With it. disappear RS
| that Identification disc which every
American soldier is supposed to wear
around his neck-when he does not
| misplace it or forget to wear it. When
/ tha relief On l.
! ty of this sort, it is often unable to
| identify it. Back at headquarters. they
| know that certain men have not re-
! turned. but they cannot be positive as
to what has happened to them.
All these things serve to prevent the
adjutant generals office from securing
correct information in regard to "a
mans wherea bouts In the long run,
| their representatives may run down
| the facts concerning a mans disap-
| pearance, but in many cases no clue
| is available. There is one other
source of informa ton. however, which
| heretofore no government has ever
| taken advantage of. That Is the re-
turning soldier. 1t was a member of
the staff of the hospital paper. THE
| Right About" who conceived the idea
/ of utilizing this source thru the
/ column in his paper. which he called
the Port of Missing Men. The surgeon
generals office at once recognized the
value of such a column of inquiry. and
| arranged to have it printed in all the
! hospital papers. Lieutenant Cruding-
/ ton is in charge of the work. He is a
| young eX-newspaper man of broad
sympathies and great ability. who is
organizing the Port of Missing Men on
the largest possible basis, inspired by
| the fact that it has already helped
| many people to locate their missing
| men. "Of course, what We do Is
simply supplemental to what has al
, ready been done by the adjutant gen.
erals office. and our scope is limited
too" said the lieutenant in discussing
the column. We cannot, for example
print photographs, or find men who
have enlisted in other armies, or trace
husbands who have used the army as
an excuse for deserving their wives