Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1921-10-28
CARE FOR DISABLED VETERANS.
Atlanta, Ca, Oct. %, 1921.

Atlanta, Ga, Oct. %, 1921.
Louisiana is among the leading
states Of the nation in the care it is
giving to its disabled soldiers and
members of their families, according
to reports received at headquarters of
the Southern Division of the Ameri-
can Red Cross. No less than 1000
veterans are aided each month by
Louisiana Red Cross Chapters in
their struggle to overcome the handi-
caps Of wounds, gas, and disease in
their battle back to peacetime : use
fullness.
The money paid these men by the
Red Cross, or expended in their be-
half, is entirely outside of any money
or compensation they may receive
from government bureaus. The Red
Cross work for these veterans is en-
tirely separate and distinct from that
performed by the government,
though the work is, to an extent,
corollary. |
Here is an instance of the type Of
work the Red Cross is doing. AL
young man, who wore the silver star
OF a wounded veteran, but whose
shoes were torn and whose clothes
were little more than rags, walked
to the office of a Red Cross secre-
tary in a Louisiana town. He
WIS hungry and discouraged. All he
wanted was handout of something
to eat, such as he had received at
farm houses as he made his weary
way through the country. He got
his handout and the Red Cross worker
also got his story from him.
Il had work in the lumber plant at
Bogalusa," he said. "The job was tool
heavy for me, though. You see got
rather bad dose of gas in the Ar
gonne, and I've never quite recovered
from its effects. I've never had the
opportunity of learning any special
kind OF work, so l have to make my
living at heavy jobs, and l haven't
the strength left to hold them"
1t developed that the boy was still
suffering from a disability acquired
in the service. He was totally igno-
rant of the fact that Uncle Sam was
looking for men in his fix with the
one idea of giving them aid.
The Red Cross cared for him until
his papers could be put through. I'll
kept track of him during the six
months he was in a government hos
pital. When he came out the Red
Gross had job waiting for him.
Instead Of riding the rods back
home, as he had planned to do, he
saved his pay and went back home
to an aging and anxious mother with
his head in the air, clothes on his
back, and money in his pocket, and
best Of all, a new determination to
meet the world and its problems.
Again there are men sent to the
: various hospitals, who leave behind
families totally or partly dependent
on the meagre little amount the gov
eminent allows them. The Red Cross
amplifies this or finds employment forl
members of the family, or in many
cases, pays the expenses of wives
and children where they have to be
near the husband and father duringI
his period of convalescence.
In hundred other ways, the Red
Cross is helping the veteran, es-
pecially in the rural communities.
The work referred to above, by no
means represents the total done in
behalf Of the ex-service man by the
Red Cross in Louisiana. Many Chap
tiers have failed to report on work
done, especially during the dullness
of summer when organization is lax.
However, the work has to be done,
and is being done, as demands for
soldier relief are steadily increasing
with the renewed efforts of the vet
erans' bureau to reach every worthy
veteran who needs aid.