The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1945-03-02
Ocean Springs Girl Describes Work OF
Red Gross In England With Wounded

Springs and former volunteer Red
Cross worker there, describes her
work with the American Red
Cross in a hospital in England.
The letter was written 10 Miss
Jessie Boyd, executive secretary
of the jackson County chapter.)
January 81, l945
Dear Miss Boyd:
Every time | see a patients face
light up when he gets n of the
Red Cross ditty bags to 'put his
things in" / think about the
sewing room and make a reso-
luton to write you and tell you
and the volunteer workers some
thing about the work over here
in the hospital, but as you see,
I'm just now getting to it.
There are five Red Cross girls
with the hospital, and even
though we are extremely busy,
we have things running now. We
have a nice large building, with
an office, a kitchen, and a large
lounge and game room. The
lounge is furnished with desks,
settees and field tables, for mag
zines, and bookcases around the
wall. Most of this we got by 60
ing on a truck to another hospi-
tai which was moving to France.
Even u boxes of geranium
plants came from the other hospi-
tai, because when we moved in
here the buildings weren't even
completed. In the game room we
have two ping pong tables, and
plenty of card tables and folding
chairs, and a piano. The under
meath front board of the piano
stays off because they liked it
that way. | think it plays louder.
Around the piano is a wonderful
spot, especially on Sundays, when
we have a group of girls out for
open house. I remember one Sun
day night after the girls left the
men were in very high spirits
and began singing their parodies
of songs-more and more crowd
ed around the piano and one lit
tie fellow laid down his crutches
and began acting out the songs.
One good song was about a sol
der who was burned OUT with
Calvados just outside Paris. 1t
seems he should have used it for
lighter fluid as the rest did, in
stead of drinking it.
We worked so hard on the
building, having nothing to start
with but the floors and a few
packing crates, that we were dis
couraged plenty of times, but
something always happens to
make up for all the hard work a
millions times ever. When our
first Convoy by sea from the
front" came in, the ambulatory
patients came in the morning for
coffee. They looked around like
they were in a dream. Margaret
was serving coffee, and the men
were sitting around talking
mostly close to her, if they could
manage it and one patient said,
Gee, this looks like the Waldorf
Astoria to mel But better yet
We got everything here, even the
sewing circle!"
Red Cross craft work is so i'm
portant in the hospitals, that we
hear it is one of the first things
the inspecting general asks about.
We have our own craft shop, with
yarn, plexiglass, leather, tools
and art supplies, and some of the
patients make perfectly beautiful
jewelry, rugs, etc., to send home.
One of our two recreation work
ers is in charge of the craft shop,
and works with the patients there
in the afternoon. In the morning
she takes crafts on the wards.
Ward 25, where the men are all
bed patients in traction, looks
like a patchwork quilt when they
are working on their rugs and
weaving. Saturday morning (gen-
eral inspection of the hospitaD
they put them out on the bed to
show them off to the inspecting
officers.
All this eventually devolves on
Margaret, our Staff Aide, who
does a million and one things,
but who is officially in charge of
the lounge and library. After
coffee in the morning, she wraps
packages and sells stamps, and
she wraps nearly all of the rugs
and craft work to send home to
the wives and sweethearts OF the
patients. The Purple Hearts are
all wrapped and mailed by us, too,
and along with il we hear the
story of each. and admire the
medal.
We are planning a dance for
this Thursday for the patients,
and they like that of course bet
fer than any form of entertain
ment. even if they have to come
in a wheel chair. This Thursday
Jimmy. who is a bed patient, but
who IS wonderful on the guitar,
is going to be wheeled over to
play for a girl to do a rhumoa
and hula dance for a floor show.
They worked this up Sunday
Lien BETTY was here for open