The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-03-27
Red Cross At Work

"Out of the mouths of many witnesses the
truth shall be established.'' And this is cor.
rect of course, but We all know that it is the
evidence of our friends that brings surest con-
viction.
This is why word from one we know
reaches the heart more easily than reams
turned out by public relations people on any
theme that holds public attention.
It is particularly true of the Red Cross and
its present appeal for financial support, it is
why letters from Red Cross operatives who
have been called into war service pack a
real punch.
Such a letter has just arrived from young
woman well known in Wilmington-Catherin
Hodge Caveny, who was long employed in the
legal department of the Atlantic Coast Line
Railway Company here and in Washington,
and who is now in Red Cross service as hos
pital secretary in England.
Space is not available to publish her letter
in full, but we here print excerpts from ii
which cannot fail to impress us all with the
ma gnificent efficiency of the Red Cross in one
of its chosen fields - caring for sick and
wounded service men and looking out for
their comfort and recreation during con.
valecence.
There are seven of us here" she writes
of the staff at the hospital where she is at
work "Our work is divided into the Social
Service Department, Recreation Department
and secretarial Department" OF the work
they do, she writes:
r,ir1e ron olro welfare
and social service problems have a
wonderful way of filling the void that is
left by the army because of it's lack of time
to devote to the personal problems of the
Individual soldier. soldier who is sick
certainly has his chances of getting well
retarded if he is anxious about the health
or welfare of his family at home and we
often are able to remove their cause for
worry by securing for them through our
cable service a current report on the state
of affairs at home Sometimes, too, moving
about from place to place, perhaps even
from other hospitals to ours soldiers
records do not catch up with him, and the
army won't pay out any money until they
have his complete records. However,
mans needs are always with him, regard
less of whether his records show such
tenacity, and on this basis we consider
him good material for an investment OF
the American people in the form OF a D.
loan for whatever amount his case seems
to warrant. have seen loans for the pur-
chase of post exchange items, for the pur-
pose of enabling a soldier to avail him
self of pass while he is convalescing, for
morale purposes in allowing him to send
gift to his wife or someone else on Christ
mas or for birthday, and Tor many other
and varied worthy causes. l have made out
the checks for small amounts and Tor
larger ones, but small or large, 1t has
been source of tremendous pride to me
to see the promptness and cheertulness
with which the American soldier repays
been source of tremendous pride to me
that they wanted to keep their record
clear for they never could tell when IN the
future they would wan to call on us again.
Sometimes when there seems no immediate
possibility of the patient being able to re
paw the money needed, we give him grant
which does not entail any responsibility
to repay.
Some pretty knotty problems concern
ing allotments have been solved by our
social workers who give the soldiers the
benefit of their knowledge in untangllng
the situation and help them contact the
proper authorities in the government to
see that their checks come through. The
failure of a check to- arrive sometimes
causes acute distress in the case where
soldier has married overseas and is I'M
able to support family on his part OF MS
salary or where his checks become over
due and are not received by his wife IN
the States.
One of the most satisfying services we
have been able to render at this hospltal
has been to establish contact between
soldiers here as patients and members u
their families who are in enemy occupied
Geneva. and it would do everyone Worla
If Good to see the reaction OF the patleht
GOV the boy whose parents were IN Czecho-
s1ovaoia and who had not heard from
+he,, for wear and a half, to see MS
f,oe light I'D when the message from the1n
Voc delivered and hear him say: Ihank
va, ca much. I have been so worried, ana
4h;s naws will certainly help me to get
WE'LL cottonwood
Then there are the boys who are returned
n tho zone of the Interior Gu S. Az, many
of them who require a good deal OF at
+en+ion from our social workers IN helping
+beno adjust to their incapacltles, gong
h.clx tn duty. too, often calls for bit OF
he1,, in thinking through the soldiers ad-
i,,sfment. especially if many of his bud
dies have gone home, but he is consider
cd good material for active duty. And for
most of them it is the tremendous adjust
rnent of being in 8 Hospital that requires
time and effort by The social worker. All
of the families back home will appreciate
this fact, for they all know that a sick
man. be he civilian or soldier. presents a
real problem for someone.
The entire responsibility OF the recre-
alton for patients in an American mill