Connecticut western news., 1920-02-19

which my division has been on overseas service, much of this time has been spent in the trenches in the front line, and we have had an excellent opportunity to know and appreciate the value of the work the Y. M. c. A. is doing. said Maj. L. D. Turner, Infantry, 90th Division. U. s. R., in a recent statement made here.
 q have personally witnessed the Y. M. c. A. delivering cigarettes, chocolates and newspapers to our men while in the front lines under almost continuous artillery and ma chine gun fire
 "The highest compliment you can pay a soldier is to say that he did his duty. Can I say more when say that the Y. N. c. A. workers have not only done their duty, but have gone often times far beyond that and made personal sacrifices which have been an inspiration to ali who saw them
 -The I'M. c. A. workers have taught the soldiers os the United states army many lessons in self sacrffcei and have left q memory of deeds well done which win never be forgotten by those who saw the" Capt Dudley T. Dawson. ss7th Field Hospital, A. E. F., supplements Maj. Turner's statement with this opinion of the "Y."
 While the general tendency to cyfticise the F. N. C. A. service with the army exists, let me pay my re- spects to the loyalty and devotion | which was characteristic of the vast 1 majority of their workers, in the at tempt to do one of the hardest jobs of the entire war program. They had received no preliminary training for this, work and tt is only fair and reasonable to assume that a perfect ty working system was absolutely impossible under the circumstances. :"
 Capt Dawson calls attention to the problem of securing, transporting and delivering canteen supplies for an army of 1,5oO, 900 man, especially when troops were being rushed from one point to another under secret orders and Y. MO. A department heads were not informed by military authorities where to send their sup | km& I,n fw~f "a amount of stationery alone that 1t distributed to the soldier, deserves great credit, is the statement made by the officer.
 If the average critics will only take the time to compute the enor- nous amount Of work done by the r. M- c. A. for the good of the American soldier and his family, be will be greatly surprised by the volume of things actually accomplished" states Dawson.
 During three weeks in which
 was located at Baccarat had the
 pleasure of meeting the majority oi
 the Y. M. c. A. men who were with
 our Division, and as whole found | kl1Cu b0 1G R1AEAONlC 01u O1uCCxO III
 their efforts to accommodate and
 serve the American officers and sol
 diers. One of my duties was to go
 to the forward areas for the purpose
 of famiharizing myself with the
 roads and terrain, and in all these
 trips made it custom to look III the Y. M. c. A. hut in every little vii lage where our troops were quartered
 meet the secretary and investigat,
 the character and size of the stool
 in his canteen, and his general capac
 ity to meet the needs of the soldiers
 The last two weeks of our occupanc.
 of this sector I was stationed a
 Mervillon, little village some fou
 kilometers toward the front lin, from Baccarat, and my company hat
 charge of the abulance service o the whole sector. This gave me
 splendid opportunity to observe tn [ work of the Y. M. c. A. in this secto
 and I would say that on the whole
 was highly satisfactory.
 f After total stay of five weeks fl Q this sector the Division was take i. by convoy into the Argonne- Meus h sector. Realizing with what diff Q culty we as an army made this move i, I can easily see that it was quite !. difficult task for our Y. M. c. A. uni |. to follows us, for there was alway .- such a shortage of transportation i Q our Division that we could scarcel V move ourselves and maintain or . supply department, so we wer < usually unable to offer assistance t . the Y. M. c. A. in the transportatio 1. of their canteen supplies.
 ,. Yet, recall quite vividly my con a pIete surprise to find on the ne, Q day after our arrival in the Bois q d Hesse that the T. M. c. A had opene , a large stock room and canteen on q two kilometers to our rear in tl " village of Recicourt immediate n went to the canteen and purchase