The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-09-16
OVERSEAS JOB
 BY RED CROSS
 DRAWS PRAISE
BY WALTER CRONKITE United Press Atlantic Fleet
 Correspondent


 Correspondent
 New York, Sept 16-(UPl-The American doughboy and the Amer ican sailor, traditionally scanty in their praise of anything, today are sending word back from the British Isles that the American Red Gross is doing swell job"
 The United States service man Is better fed, better clothed. better paid and better housed than any other soldier or sailor in the world, but there are some points in nnak- ing him comfortable where the Army needs a helping hand, and the Red Cross has pitched in val- iantly overseas to lend 1t.
 The Red Cross, with the aid of the British Red Cross, is furnishing thousands of soldiers with living quarters when on leave, with res- taurants where he can get staple American food in almost the full unrationed quantity to which he is accustomed, with recreational ser- vices, and, of course, with the usual hospital and first aid services as needed.
 The soldiers first contact with the Red Cross comes the minute he sets foot on foreign soil. He has spent more than week crammed into a transport on the North At lantic It usually is raining in British Isle ports and it usually is cold.
 Brighten Dreary Arrivals
 Because of the difficulties in- volved on a docking transport, the soldier usually hasn't eaten since breakfast and 1t is dusk before he gets ashore. He is chilly, wet, lonely and unhappy as he is herded into a long line under train shed that leaks like bargain basement dish pan. Then, seemingly out of mo- where, pops the Red Cross.
 Friendly British girls and women dig into the backs of their truck mounted mobile canteens and begin passing out sandwiches, biscuits, cookies, fruits and hot tea or coffee.
 Up and down the line they go dis pensing their victuals and telling the American doughboy how glad England is to have him along.
 Backs stiffen along that whole row of hundreds of thousands of pack laden soldiers, smiles come back to dreary faces. And someone, through a mouth full of sandwich, opens up with an old khaki song such at "Tipperary" or something humorously inconsistent just as Jingle Jangle," and all join in.
 The Red Cross does enough tummy- filling and resultant morale building under those bleak train sheds to win undying gratitude. but that is only an lnfinitesimal part of the work for which soldier after soldier, sailor after sailor, and of- ficer after officer, upon learning that was returning to the States" invariably said:
 Have. Own Hotels
 "You can't tell them back home too much about how we like the Red Cross"
 Most of those statements were made in the Hobbies of Red Cross hotels. In every big city near which Americans are based or into which they pour on leave, the American Red Cross has taken over a hotel lock, stock and barrel. They've taken out the fine fixtures and most of the luxurious equipment and now each room accommodates two spring and thick mattresses that bear no resemblance to Army cots or Navy hammocks.
 The fancy dining rooms have been turned into cafeterias and the ball rooms are reserved for emer- gency dormitory space should, as frequently happens, all the rooms be filled on busy night.
 The fee is standard in these hotels to which only American Ser- vice man and officers are admitted. Five shillings a night pays for lodg- ing and breakfast-about one dol lar. Other meals average about 40 cents each.
 Mail and Message Centers
 This service is no luxury or mere convenience for the American sol- dier. It is a necessity which the Red Cross is filling Hotel accommoda- tions in the boom cities of the Brit ish Isles are, first of all, impossible to obtain without long term reser- vation or a willingness to bribe handsomely the clerk, and second ly, are far beyond the financial limitations of an American service man.
 The hotels also serve as a clear ing house for information, meet ing place for buddies of the armed services and a mailing address. The envelopes addressed in feminine handwriting and with return ad- dresses in Leeds or Surrey or Edin- burgh waiting to be claimed when next their addresSee happens into the Red Cross hotel.
 Many of the messages on the bull letin board follow this pattern, though: Bill =. Sorry can't keep date. Tell Marjorie. My ships pull ing out. See you next trip.-Joe."
 Or:
 Harry - Nice to have known you. My units moving. Maybe I'll see you again.-Bob."
 "A R .a