The Washington herald., 1919-01-01
HUMAN S ALV AGE
Daily Casualty List from Industry Would Show One Year Over
Eight lines the Casualties Of Our Troops Europe Battle
heds-lndustrys Job Is to Reduce This Waste.
By LIEUT. COL. HARRY E. MOCK, M C, U. S. A.

Human salvage birds fair to be-
come one OF the greatest by-prod-
ucts of this war. Our Government.
Fronting by the example Of other
countries. prepared comprehensive
plans for the practical reclamation
OF our disabled soldiers and today
many are receiving the benefits
thefeoI. This work is founded upon
spirit of gratitude and love. but
is given TO the disabled man in pay
ment of the debt which his couptrS
owes him and not as a charity. AS
result men, with few exceptions,
who come home from the war
MANNED or sick will not be thrown
into the Industrial or business dis
card. Rather they will have the
opportunity to become once more
useful economic units of society.
In warfare a certain percentage
of the soldiers Is bound to become
disabled, but the disabilities serious
enough to put man on the shelf
are very rare. Practically every
man. no matter how handicapped he
may be, can come back. In fact, a
handicap puts more fight into a
man, makes him strive harder than
ever before. and results quite often
in his making good TO a greater ex-
tent than IL he had never been dis
abled.
As Mike Bowling, who lost both
hands and legs when a young man,
yet climbed up to a bank president
in spite of his physical handicap,
delights in saying: Il feel sorry
for a cripple and thank God that /
am not a cripple. man may be
worth 100000 a year from his neck
up, and worth only $3.50 per week
from his neck down"
As a nation we have failed to
teach such ideas as these to our
boys and girls. We have failed to
help our citizens who have become
permanently handicapped back to
the road where they can go on by
their own initiative. TOO OTten the
disabled man has passiveIy accepted
his fate. and his friends have al
lowed him to loaf or to accept a
position where no incentive or fu-
ture existed. such as the proverbial
watchman. These cripp!es and in
vaIids, seeing the money made by
professional beggars, have even
drifted into that class or to seeking
charity by selling shoestrings on
the street
No disabled soldier following the
present war shall sink TO suCh
! ignominy II the plans Of the Medt-
4 cal Department Of the army can be
consummated. At least eighteen
| general hospitals in various sections
| of the country are now practicinE
physical reconstruction with a view
/ to securing the complete cure or
! the maximum improvement in every
case This treatment consists not
| only in the dressing Of wounds and
| the administering of drugs, but also
| includes giving every disabled man
| chance to overcome the mental
| depression which follows disability.
helping him to get back his strength
and pep" as soon as possible:
| finally discharEinE him as an ac-
! tive. earning individual once more,
| or capable Of being trained into
| such an individual. Thus these hos
pitfalls include many therapeutic ad-
| juncts. such as physical training
! centers. gymnasiums. school rooms
| and shops. As the man progresses
toward recovery he is assigned Tor
| definite hours TO each Of these va
| rious activities The shops enable
| curative work to be given which
will help to restore function in the
| deformed hand or leg. As far as
| possible this curative work is given
! a practical trend. The schools edu-
| cate many an illiterate or near
J illiterate soldier during his long
! weeks of conValescEnCe.
Better Jobs Ahead.
! At Walter Reed General Hospital
| several hundred disabled soldiers
are undergoing this treatment. Men
with amputations. with marked de-
formities. with heart disease. and
with almost every other conceiv-
able form Of disability, spend from
one to six hours in the gymnasium
| schools and shops which have been
provided to help accomplishe their
cure Many Of these men have beer
in the hospital for months. When
they are finally discharged every
one Of them will be able to obtain
a better job than he had before the
war.
Soldiers whose handiCaps are such
as to prevent them from returning
to their former occupations, or who
are otherwise in need of vocational
training. are turned over to the
Federal Board for Vocational Edu.
cation upon their discharge. This