The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-12-13
RED CROSS AIS
WOUNDS or WAR
$4,000 Disabled Ex-Service Men
in Hospitals After -Four
Years of Peace. I
CHAPTERS FIELD OF SERVICE
Every Veteran Needing Help Gets
Individual Attention of SYM
pathetic Workers.

When on November II the world
halts to observe the fourth annIver.
sary Of Armistice Day. n the Ameri.
can Red Cross inaugurates its Annual
Roll Call for the enrolment Of the
1923 membership, the people Of. the
United States may well pause to think
Of the unparalleled contribution to the
cause of peace made by our Army and
Navy in the World War. The glory Of
It is a common tradition; but the
wounds Of war remain. They are not
healed in a day, in a year, nor in four
years. And on Armistice Day there
will be under treatment in Government
hospitals over $4,000 ex-service men,
broken physically by wounds, expo
sure, nervous strain and exhaustion
incident to their service in the q
The Government without stint Is I'M
dertaking to furnish these disabled
men with the compensation and med
ical care to which they are entitled,
yet their especial care is a duty Of the
Red Cross. Why? Because the Gov
eminent cannot handle the cases Of
e~1-service men individually; 1t must
handle these men in bulk under 8
standardized policy. The Government
has neither the authority, the funds
or the equipment for working out the
problem Of the individual man. There
T. ,rharn thn Ap,nrfnon Rad {,rnda
finds it's greatest field for service, aid
ing through its very active Chapters
in reaching the disabled man with I'm
mediate practical help, assisting his
family while his claim Is emerging from
the process Of. adjustment, furnishing
articles Of comfort, funds to tide over
the difficult periods, the friendly touch
of personal encouragement, helpful
recreation and worry-dispelling arfuse-
ment. It is the warm hand Of SYM
patty and understanding which the
American Red Cross extends to tho
majority of these disabled e1-service
men. some of them friendless In the
whirl Of life, thousands Of them with
wives and children dependent upon
them, and hundreds of them frequent
~ helpless in the face Of grim ne
cessity.
2,e7s Chapters Aiding Veterans
IN this work, upon whose accom-
plishment the American Red Cross Is
urging a recordbreaking enrolment in
the Roll Call which opens on ARMS
tice Day and closes with ThaAksgiv'
ing Day, 2,679 Chapters In all parts OF
the country are engaged. This is $50
more than were working for e1%-seryice
men last year when approximately
s1O,OO0,0 900 was expended by the Ma.
tional Organization and the Chapters
working together in harmonious unity.
For the current fiscal year Nattoaal
Headquarters appropriated $9,0ea.
$3.50, an increase of $365,560.S4 oves
the amount spent for the work among
e1-service men in the year ended June
20 last. Since It Is estimated that the
Chapters will expend close to $1,000.
600 from their own funds, the grand
total Of Red Cross expenditures for
this single work Is expected again to
reach the, $4,000, 900 mark by June 80.
1923.
Hospital and District Office Work
During the fiscal year q total of ovef
1000 persons, paid and volunteer, has
been engaged in Red Cross duty tn
hospitals or district offices Of the q. s.
Veterans Bureau. An average Of 5000
new cases requires definite and par.
ticular attention each month. The de-
mand for Chapter-made articles for
hospital patients Is constant.
During last year Service Claims and
Information Service at National Head
quarters handled $1,000 compensation
and insurance claims, 24,56O allotment
and allowance cases, and 900 miscek-
Ianeous claims. Since February. 1918.
It has disposed Of 64,174 allotment
checks payable to veterans which the
Post Office Department reported unde-
iiverable.
The Chapter is the unit Of the Red
Cross organization which Is accessible
to every disabled veteran or his fam.
ily. Between July 1, 1921, and June 80,
1892, the Chapters had reported 1885,
O9 Instances Of service to e1~-service
men and their dependents, at a cost
estimated from reports o at hand Of
more than S5,340,0W.
The basis Of this far-reaching work
Of the Red Cross Is the individual
needs Of the disabled veteran to the
end that he may obtain his rights uu-
der the law, that his especial wants
may be Immediately supplied, that his
v and his family's situation may %
rendered happy and cheerful, and that
their outlook for the future may
Visualize incentives for Independent
and fruitful effort