The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-13
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC }. HAsKIN, Director,
Washington, D. @. =
ROUNDING UP THE VETERANS.


ing the government to give him a new
glass eye, because the first one they
gave him was stolen while he was In
swimming, and another man who had
most of his face blown away while
in the service, but does not ask COM
pensation because he does not con-
slider himself q hero, are a couple of
the curiosities revealed by the round
up of world war veterans which has
just been conducted by the veterans
bureau here.
Like many other varieties of gov
eminent officials working in their
field, the representatives of the bureau
found themselves frequently handi-
capped by the fact that people be-
lieved they were revenue officers look
ing for stills. The bureau sent its
representatives into all parts of the
country, resolved to find every veteran
of the war who had q claim for COM
pensation and give him his due.
over $4,000 disabled ex-serv1ce men
have been interviewed since August.
Evidence in the cases of 56,334 OF
these veterans indicated that claims
resentativeS assisted these claimants
to compile and prepare the necessary
evidence. These thousands of claims
have been speedily acted upon, for out
of these 56,334 claims filed only 4,395
are pending, the remainder having
been adjudicated and notices of settle
ment forwarded to the claimants. AS
result of this unique program OF
taking official Washington to the
veteran, unusual cases from all parts
of the country many of which the gov
eminent is meeting with difficulty, are
coming to light Of day for the first
time.
An Unattached Fighter.
There is, for example, the case of
c. H. Pearl, a Grand Rapids, Mich,
r-s,4@ 1rr- hi 11Ek
arm as a result of a shrapnel wound
incurred in the trenches. Pearl Is
apparently "a soldier without coun-
try"
It appears that this unproven vet
eran enlisted in the American ambu-
lance service of the French army in
1917. After serving his enlistment he
applied for transfer to the American
expeditionary forces. but on advice OF
the attache, he re-entered the French
service for three months Six months
later he was wounded and sent to Il
hospital.
-Four weeks afterward his organiza-
ton was transferred to the United
States army, but Pearl was not sworn
into the United States service because
he was in the hospital and was over
looked. Consequently, when released
he was a free agent and not a member
of any army. The soldier obtained a
position with the quartermaster'
department but his condition be-
came worse and he re-entered the hos
pital. Upon his release he worked in
France and last July came back
to America.
When the Michigan cleanup squad
arrived in Grand Rapids to handle
local claims for compensation, Pearl
applied to it for an award due t. his
injuries, but he was unable to show
by official records that he had served
the United States during the war.
Neither could he prove that he was
actually in the service of any coun-
try when he was released from a
French hospital.
Nevertheless, Pearl is getting a
square deal regardless of his inability
technically to prove that he was ever
III service. His case is deemed to be
one of those in which certain technf-
calities must be temporarily removed
in favor of simple justice.
From Michigan also comes an
unique demand of another veteran for
a. new glass eye to be purchased by
the government. The former soldier
lost his eye in service, and among
-other compensations was awarded a
glass eye. A few months ago his glass
-eye was stolen together with his
clothes while he was in swimming.
He asked the government for a new
one Immediately, bat the claim WAS
disallowed.
Had the eye been broken, the ruling
read, it would have been replaced, but
inasmuch as it was stolen the govern
Inent could assume no responsibility in
the matter. The veteran asked the
cleanup squad to make an effort to
obtain a reversal of the decision,
which is now being done.
Veterans Ignorant of Rights.
There, are many instances of vet
Grams having been found and compen-
90 fad NV n1a dc M Il
know that they were entitled to gov
eminent aid. At Stockton, Cal, a bat
tie SCARED ex-service man desiring
compensation came before the clean
up squad. He said he had heart
trouble. So slight was his ailment,
however, that the examining physician
found that it would not entitle him to
compensation. But to his great sur
prise he discovered that the vet had a
scar about ten inches long and two
inches wide on his hip where a muscle
had been shot off.
His chief complaint seemed to be
that he had heart trouble, but he
casually mentioned the fact that he
had this ugly shrapnel wound in the
hip and besides bullet Wounnd in one
arm. He almost forgot to mention the
latter disability, the doctor said.
1t was also found that he had not
fully recovered from a sort of paraly.
sis Of the throat, arms and legs. The
vet said that he had always been too
busy to file a claim for compensation,
before, but that while working in ths
mountains he saw a poster ANNOUNCE
ing that the cleanup squad was COM
ingNto Stockton so he decided to go
there for an interview. He was rated
as so per cent disabled and therefore
entitled to $40 a month compensation
When the cleanup squad sat in
Hartford. Conn, a veteran came be-
fore it. He showed the doctors of the
squad a wound in his left side that
made them stand aghast. The head
of the cleanup squad was called into
the room and he, too, admitted that
in his crowded experience in the de-
partment with disabled ex-serVice
men, he had never seen such a ghast-
" wound. This soldier had not re-
ceived a penny of allowance since his
discharge over two years ago.
An explosive bullet had opened
wound across his left side, Just above
the hip, over IA inches long, and had
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