Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-05-21


= I have q letter from Mrs.
Betty Campbell. who can't say
enough nice things about the
way the Red Cross delivered
word Of the arrival OF her
daughter. KaIhlecn,-
1t. Campbell il in Africa.
She kept him informed Of events
nv Nmail and even cables. hut
thought she was lucky II let
ter arrived in from three 10 six
weeks. I've spent $40 on cables
that have NEVER been re-
CeiNed,' she writes.
SO whom Kathleen was horn.
she asked the Rcd Cross what
they could do about H.
The Red Cross turned il over
10 us home service department.
All North Africa WAS trembling
Ander tho death throcs Of Won
rnim $ army hu' the Red
Cross found - Campbell. de-
iIvoTcd rhe message. and brought
back reply. Message re-
Cciycd much love 10 you both,
within 10 da5
Writes Mrs. Campbell. when
that happens darn u, You Just
want 20 hc sure that every
else knows Of the swell and dIf-
fcul' lob the Red Cross IS
dong
And so We h toll how The Rcd
Cross docs u and what you can
expect. II YOU need help
9f-tff4pof messages wrrrr
the Red Cross handles for in
dVdualS. these Three 20 by
cable OF radio SAYS William !.
Norton, chairman Of the Detroit
unit:
Births.
= Deaths in the immediate
family
2 In extreme cases. serious
illness Of an immediate relative.
Those messages 20 through
just as fast as they can he
moved.
But" said Gwen German.
who handled the CampbellS
message. and il assistant direc-
tor NJ home service. please eN-
plain how hard II II Ia do"
Mrs. Campbell, as matter of
fact. was lucky. Even these
pressing messages sometimes
are delayed-but they're still
the fastest thing you can get
They 60 hy telegraph 10
Washington The war depart
-'f-r---' TJ-Ttv -r-TvvTET IN CuCT,
Then. As fast as there IS open
time on cable Nar radio. IN ho-
tween messages Of military
necessity, D. goes across
n In Africa tho army decides
NeNt II reaches a Rcd Cross
~icld man and finally he hands
y 10 some impatient young
father who Is wondering and
waiting IN q sir trench, or even
"a tank or airp.anc
or in Alaska such mes
sage arrived for q man who
was out flying a plano. Another
plane. on ITS way out. Scrawled
the message on a hiG piece OF
paper. flew along side him, and
let hun read tho nowS that way.
The Red Cross would Ike 10
GIVE priority 70 other messages,
too. bat IL Just plain can't \
year ago 20 kilograms day
were being sent from the Do
troi, headquarters. Now It's 100
a day seven days a week, and
still rising Leon Grdlcy home
service director. estimates that
$50 more home service workers
viii he needed in the country
ny July.
They cant. a. I said, guaran-
tee that YOU will get a reply In
10 DAYS or two weeks. \ bottle
neck may develop somewhere.
\ soldier may he moved from
one place 10 another. But they
% il as fast aS Is humanity
possible.
The Red Cross checks casualty
md missing lists. and " a hoy
i>n't listed there, a field man
.ctS on his trail.
Miss German SAID. by the
way. that she herself hadn en-
countcrcd a single one Of these
cases in which anything had
happened IN the hoy lie Just
hadn't written, or his letters
had been lost. But, she added.
when people haven't heard for
there's not much COM
prt in trying 10 tell them no
news is good news, even though
that's generally true ~
Obviously all this IS a stag
gerNgly bic Job, but tho Red
Cross " doesn't mind All they
ask is that people ny not 10
ask for anything that isn't inn
portantly necessary and that
they understand that there may
be delays sometimes no matter
how hard they work.