AMERICAN RED CROSS BASE HOSPITAL No. 38 in the WORLD WAR UNITED STATES ARMY BASE HOSPITAL No. 38 organized under the auspices of the JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL stationed at Nantes, France 1918-1919 by W. M. L. Coplin * .♦ Director Philadelphia 1923 I Copyright, 1923 By W. M. L. Coplin Published February, 1923 PRESS OF E. A. WRIGHT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA II TO THE BENEFACTRESS OF BASE HOSPITAL No. 38 The fairest of blooms shall pass earthward, The brown and the sear seek the wood, There is naught that endures past the morrow Save the fact that our hands have done good. The good that we do is immortal, The rest may go down to the grave, For He Whom we meet at death's portal Shall weigh up the good that we gave. The smiles that we bring to another Shall lighten the sorrows we bear, Like a kiss from the lips of a Mother That smooths out the furrows of care. And she, who life's sorrows could lighten, Shall claim Heaven's joy as her own, And her memory here ever brighten When the gloom of our sorrow has flown. W. M. L. C. Adeline Pepper Gibson Dedicated to the Memory of ADELINE PEPPER GIBSON Whose munificence made possible American Red Cross Base Hospital No. 38 Who accompanied it overseas and Who died in the service of Her Country at the Hospital Center Nantes, France January Tenth Nineteen Hundred Nineteen III PREFACE In presenting this regrettably delayed volume the Director wishes to acknowledge the invaluable assistance so freely and fully rendered by colleagues who shared in the overseas work and without whose aid nothing worthwhile could have been accomplished. Shortly after returning home a publication committee was desig- nated and allotments of sections made. Several submitted excellent contributions but it was found that to each of us practically the same features and incidents had appeared of dominant interest and consequently, if published as received, much of the same story would have been related in succeeding chapters, often in almost identical terms; this seemed undesirable, therefore, it became necessary to rearrange, reassemble and finally to rewrite almost the entire book and in that form the result is hesitatingly presented. That part dealing with the Medical Division, prepared by Dr. Henry and Dr. Mohler, has been but little changed; facts set forth in preceding parts have been deleted and a few statistics included which, with certain minor changes, leave the chapter quite as orig- inally written. The pressure of a busy professional life, and the fact that Dr. Nassau, Chief of the Surgical Division, has been impressed to per- form unusual and time consuming duties in College and Hospital since his return, precluded his active participation, but he has most generously advised and assisted in many ways. The Chaplain responded in his characteristic careful and comprehensive manner; Chapter XVII is headed by his name as the only part not materially altered by revision of any kind. Many data obtained from the work of the "38" shock team at the front have been compiled largely from Dr. Tyson's report of the special detail, and some first hand knowl- V VI BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT edge possessed by the Director. But few additions have been made to the excellent description (Chapter XIX) of the voyage on the "Nopatin" from the pen of Frank C. Baxter of the Enlisted Personnel. George Allen Smithy also from the ranks, after much persuasion, prepared the "Reverie" (Chapter XXIV) comprising some thoughts from a member of the Hospital Corps who was with the organization throughout its service; to the original manuscript a few minor additions have been made and, to avoid duplication, material elsewhere presented has been deleted. "Recollections by an Officer" (Chapter XXIII) has been slightly extended by the addition of a few minor, unimportant details, but is left anonymous at the request of the author who strongly opposed credit which I felt he merited; reluctantly his expressed desire has been respected. Dr. Stone, during the entire period of activities, evinced intense interest in athletics and to his observations and record I am indebted for data upon which Chapter XXII is based. The chapter dealing with the trip from Brest to Nantes is from the pen of George Allen Smith; to his excellent description only a few minor additions have been made. Throughout the preparation of the volume I have been under the greatest obligation to Dr. Forst for invaluable assistance in compiling data, revising manuscript and helpful and discriminating criticism. Dr. Hustead, Chairman of a former Committee, Drs. Owen, Burns, Borzell, Gaskill and other officers have most kindly helped by facts contributed and time given generously. For many important data and for necessary statistics relating to "38" I am under deep obligation to Dr. Bertolet for access to his comprehensive report and for personal contact with his knowledge of the men and work concerning which his official positions of Registrar and Detach- ment Commander brought him accurate, first hand information. James Reed Clark and Carlyle P. Wright have given valuable aid in preparing illustrations, arranging and preparing legends and in seeing the plate matter through press. Statistical data, of a general character, given in many places, are official and selected from Colonel Ayers' well-known publication. Mr. Benedict of the Phototype Engraving Company, has given personal attention to the preparation of illustrations, some of which PREFACE VII are from most unsatisfactory originals, with what I feel may be truly designated as very good results. To the printers, E. A. Wright Company, the organization and particularly the Director, are under great obligation for patient and accurate attention to many details. Most quotations, blocked on otherwise blank pages, are from publications by the National Council for Reduction of Armaments. To Mr. Richard T. Dooner we are indebted for the artistic photographs prepared for this volume. Finally, I may here be permitted to express my personal obli- gation to all for patiently enduring delays that, unfortunately, have been in considerable measure, beyond my control, for kindnesses, courtesies and generosities innumerable, for fraternal assistance, confidence and amity, prized above all other things, ever stimulating to better endeavor and for which I can offer no return save enduring gratitude. "To give, a duty; to serve, a privilege; to strive, a pleasure." W. M. L. C. CONTENTS I. Introduction 1 II. American Red Cross Hospitals-Problems in Hospitalization 3 III. Hospitalization in the American Expeditionary Forces-Hospital Centers 13 IV. American Red Cross Base Hospital No. 38-The; Jefferson Medical College and Hospital Unit 23 V. Kenneth J. Ellis-A Memorial Poem 55 VI. The Divisions 57 VII. Medical Division 59 VIII. Surgical Division 69 IX. Laboratory Division 83 X. Nursing Division 87 XI. The Soldier's Eye-Ophthalmological Service 101 XII. The Neuropsychiatric Service-Mental Cases. 109 XIII. Roentgenological Service-X-ray 115 XIV. Shock Team at the Front 121 XV. Dental Service 131 XVI. Our Padre 139 XVII. Thoughts from the Chaplain's Pen 141 XVIII. Enlisted Personnel 147 XIX. The S. S. "Nopatin" 165 XX. Brest 175 XXI. Brest to Nantes 187 XXII. Athletics 195 XXIII. Recollections, by an Officer 205 XXIV. A Reverie, Recollections, Incidents, Reflec- tions by an Enlisted Soldier 219 XXV. Adieu-A Poem 231 XXVI. Appendix A-List of Officers, Nurses, Civilian Personnel and Enlisted Men 233 XXVII. Appendix B-Contributors 241 XXVIII. Appendix C-Civilian Organization 247 IX Base Hospital Thirty-eight I INTRODUCTION THE following pages are intended to record some facts relative to the history and service of the American Red Cross Hospital No. 38, organized under the auspices of the A. R. C. and The Jefferson Medical College and Hospital, and, after mobilization, functioning in the United States and in the A. E. F. as U. S. Army Base Hospital No. 38. Incidentally, and as part of the narrative, an attempt is made to introduce the reader to related aspects of hospitalization and to numerous phases of organization and of relief measures, particularly in France and specifically in war; through- out has been constantly borne in mind the thought that, if read at all, it will be by the uninitiated rather than by those familiar with the matters presented. No pretense is made that the history will be found complete or in detail; that has not been the end or the aim desired. It is hoped that something broader and better has been achieved; that the "motif" is wider in its scope and higher in its purpose, possibly also in the result attained. Constantly there has been borne in mind the exalted vision of the gentle and noble woman to whose memory it has been an inestimable privilege and a cher- ished honor to dedicate this small tribute. She enter- tained no illusions concerning the transient or even the so-called enduring glories of war; it was all repulsive to 1 2 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT her; she held in profound contempt much of war's pomp and circumstance and poured on the flames of its horrors the boundless pity and inexhaustible generosity of a great heart. Often the writer talked with her, and knows that her wish would be best fulfilled if some master could put in deathless words the story of this abomina- tion of abominations-war-and could lead mankind to a fuller knowledge of the suffering, devastation, brutal- izing influences and the many other harrowing and repulsive qualities of martial strife; she hated it all from the first, and at no time saw glories worth a drop of human blood, or a solitary tear from a mother's heart trembling on a sorrowing cheek; as the days swept on, and as she came closer to the agony of mind and body, that bitter hatred lessened not a jot though the breadth of her sympathy and the inextinguishable fire of her will to do knew no bounds. If in these pages some glimpse is given of the scenes she knew, if a weak, wavering and inexperienced brush has succeeded in portraying, no matter how feebly, just a little of the vastness that she envisioned, and if any line herein contained awakens in other hearts a desire to labor for enduring peace and for the end of combative strife, then has the volume, to that extent, been not in vain, and to that degree it carries forward the consuming flame that fired the depths of a splendid life devoted to charity in the truest sense, and given in full measure to a cause she held most dear. II AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITALS PROBLEMS IN MILITARY HOSPITALIZATION A DEMOCRACY, though highly developed and relatively efficient, is rarely, if ever, prepared for anything that requires forceful and effect- ive organization. Organization is a quality of autocra- cies; modern military organization is exclusively the property of an autocracy and must ever so remain; civilian organization rarely reaches any considerable suc- cess except it partakes, at least to some degree, of the finality of power that hedges the king. So, when the clouds of war rose on the American horizon, the small medical organization of our regular army was not ade- quately provided with facilities for large schemes of hospitalization. Funds were not available and no regu- lar officer or corps of officers, such as the Medical Corps, possessed or could obtain authority to anticipate needs clearly obvious and equally clearly unobtainable through regular military channels. This could be no fault of the Medical Corps, or of any department; it rested upon and was part of the inherent weakness of the system, of 3 4 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT any system where all rule, few have vision, and none is omnipotent. An autocracy such as Germany, could, by decree, create; a republic could not. Congress, rarely impetuous, was, in a hesitating manner, struggling with what seemed more urgent and even as the country swept toward the cataclysm of war and medical officers saw all too clearly the needs and the pressing urgency of the situation, their helplessness was unrelieved; men, intel- lectually, professionally, and technically equipped, were being driven into combat with disaster, disease and death, unprepared, unarmed, without adequate equip- ment or the resources with which to prepare, and with no organization possessing the authority to do what many saw must be done if any manifestation of preparedness in the way of hospitalization was contemplated. It is a long story, one not pleasant to contemplate, one dealing with tentative preliminary experiments-disappointing activities of well-meaning, ephemeral, independent groups and hastily assembled organizations without gov- ernment authorization or recognition; honest endeavor and sincere effort, decentralized, immature, unsatisfy- ing, and worst of all, assuredly doomed to failure. Finally, however, the American Red Cross was recog- nized as the only channel through which might be piloted a possible scheme of preliminary and at least prepara- tory hospitalization that, when the government was ready, could be made useful. The vision of a group of organizers made possible, and the American Red Cross AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITALS 5 created a Department of Military Relief within which further details were worked out. The new activity of the American Red Cross was fortunate in securing as Director General the efficient guidance of Colonel Jef- ferson R. Kean, of the Medical Corps, U. S. A., a trained, accomplished officer admirably fitted to assume charge of so large an undertaking. As a part of the activities of the newly created department it was pro- posed to organize and to equip 50 base hospitals on the basis of 500 beds each. These units were developed in various centers, the idea being that groups of medical men could be assembled around some local hospital of established position and repute, largely from its staff, thereby giving to the body the elements of mutual knowledge of each other, the spirit of institutional en- thusiasm and patriotic loyalty, the experience and guid- ance of a foster mother and such association with the parent institution as might best facilitate assured suc- cess. Although commonly organized on the basis of 500 beds sooner or later practically all became 1000-bed hospitals and most of those that functioned in France again doubled their re-rated capacity, often exceeding 2500 beds. The personnel of each base hospital included 36 officers, 100 nurses, 6 civilian employees, 200 enlisted men. Of the 50 hospitals originally contemplated four were organized in Philadelphia, No. 10 from the Penn- sylvania Hospital, No. 20 from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, No. 34 from the Episcopal 6 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Hospital, and No. 38 from The Jefferson Medical Col- lege and Hospital. The scheme provided that the organization would be perfected under the American Red Cross and, after mobilization, each base hospital would be transferred to and become a part of the hospitalization provision of the Medical Department of the U. S. Army, and under the operation, direction and control of the appropriate regu- larly constituted governmental authority. The plan and its results have been criticised and, no doubt, many details might have been improved, but it is hard to see how anything better could have been more efficiently and more promptly brought into action. The 50 base hospitals brought to the service of the nation a personnel in excess of 15,000 and cash and equip- ment totalling something like $5,000,000. Among the officers were many of the ablest men in the country, and, as all were volunteers, every officer and enlisted man, every nurse and civilian employee brought to duty that will to serve, that desire to help, that enthusiasm, that urge to conscientious endeavor, that noblesse oblige which always means so much and without which nothing great is likely to be attained. There was much of the spirit that strode the decks of the tiny convoy that sailed from Spain on its epoch-making voyage more than four centuries be- fore, something of the pilgrim's stolid, purposeful deter- mination that landed on Plymouth Rock; a touch of the cavalier of the Carolinas; many were imbued with at AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITALS 7 least some of "the spirit of '76," the patriotism of Lex- ington, of Concord, of Yorktown and of Appomattox and Gettysburg. Disciples of Florence Nightingale were going to a new and greater Crimea, to horrors transcending those of Sebastopol and Scutari; other noble women, like the cherished benefactress of "38," were giving their fortunes and their lives to the cause, leaving homes of comfort and even luxury for the stress, suffering, sorrow and death of war, perhaps, alas, never to return. It was all worth while, surely those who served, those who came back, and those who remained behind can never forget, and will never be forgotten. Here is the place to record the fact that few men who so generously gave to the Allied cause did so at greater personal sacrifice than medical officers. As a rule, they comprised two groups, one composed of mature, experi- enced, conscientious practitioners of medicine, surgery, and the specialties, including laboratory workers. These were men of wide knowledge, usually firmly established in their respective departments, often teachers of more than national repute, always favorably known in their respective communities, and quite frequently laying aside assured incomes, some of which were well up in five figures. Surely they had nothing to gain; they need not seek the bauble fame, and the modest remuneration received was, in many instances, quite unequal to the maintenance of families left behind. Most of this group had attained that age when the glamour of adventure no 8 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT longer appeals and when rest is sought and peaceful quiet courted about welcome firesides. Many knew hos- pital organization from the ground up, had long been members of distinguished staffs, or had held administra- tive positions of the highest order. Such men had much to contribute, little to acquire, and none can estimate their losses, financial or otherwise, or know the sacrifices that they and their loved ones made. The second group included the more active and phys- ically better equipped younger but fully trained profes- sional men; for the most part they were already success- ful practitioners of several years' experience and estab- lished in their respective professional fields; practically all had extensive hospital service, had been internes in larger institutions, knew emergency medicine and sur- gery, had highly receptive minds and were alert and fully trained in every detail; one was chief police sur- geon in a large metropolitan service; another an ophthal- mologist of many years' experience; still another a neurologist holding teaching and hospital positions of responsibility; the group also included laryngologists and otologists of repute, orthopedic surgeons and genito- urinary and venereal experts who were masters in the science and art of their respective specialties. These men were thoroughly established in their professional careers, had lucrative practices, often recently acquired, and frequently were so situated financially that they must make generous sacrifices which they could ill AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITALS 9 afford. The most critical period in a doctor's career is that when difficulties professional, social and financial have just been overcome and the struggle to attain first wins over obstacles that, formerly, seemed insurmounta- ble. To lay down his work now means that much must be fought out again; that, when he returns to resume activities, recognition must again be won, lost patients and families, alas, sometimes friends, have proven fickle and found other advisers, or emergencies have led them to seek someone else. Again, men in this group are fre- quently but recently married, have young children, pos- sibly have just purchased homes and consequently find added to other sacrifices the trying experience of leaving behind those who most need their guidance, support and love. Men in "38" left young wives and youthful moth- ers, sometimes quite alone. Sometimes a dear one, about to know woman's greatest blessing-motherhood-must fight it out alone, while her knight served his country, incurring dangers which she often saw greatly magni- fied, and which brought to her life much of the suffering of the battlefield; her days were anxious and sorrowful, her nights often sleepless from dread and apprehensive worry, beset by dreams of wounding or death or again of the coming one whose welfare now seemed to rest wholly on her weak self, sustained only by that undying love, the supremacy of which no mother ever knows and of which we have no full measure until she who gave has folded her hands forever. Surely those who lost and 10 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT know, and those who feared that they might lose, and therefore also know, must spend their years in this human struggle to lift man above the strife, suffering and sorrow of devastating war, and when at last they pass into the Beyond they must toss the torch to the women who follow. If woman, who has most suffered in all wars, can bring about universal peace, can see the arbitrament of justice supplant the might of force, can break the sword, melt the cannon and for all time furl the world's banners of battle, she will have added new glories to those of motherhood, will have again been last at the cross of sorrow, and first to acclaim the resurrec- tion, and her love, white handed, will have again con- quered where all else has failed, will have achieved victory, before which all those of a thousand battlefields shall fade and be forgotten. As the Holy Mother at- tained immortality by her suffering at the foot of the Cross, and becoming mother to all sorrow, as the Lady with the Lamp became sister to all who knew war's agony, not only in the Crimea but for all time, so may those who drank the embittered cup of experience and travail bring forth a new coronet-the white-jeweled crown of deathless peace. The day has come when humanity should reverse its accustomed process of mem- ory by forgetting the evanescent glories of war and eter- nally remembering and forever perpetuating that memory of the cruelty of assault and rape, the wanton waste of men, the torture of childhood, the barbarian AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITALS 11 with his poisoned well, the broken bodies, and the myriad horrors that feed and fatten in wartime. But I have digressed from the proper subject of Red Cross hospitals, their uses and the objects of their crea- tion. Whatever view may eventually prevail as to the commendable features, the objections and the final suc- cess of the plan, there can never be any doubt that the Director General and his co-workers, and his successors, gave generously from their stored experience and envis- aging wisdom, and those who actively participated in the organization would neglect an obvious duty if they did not place on record their deep sense of appreciation, and tender fullest gratitude for the splendid help so freely given by workers at headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington. In turn the Surgeon-General's Office heartily co-operated and in the A. E. F., General Ireland, Chief Surgeon, gave every support to the or- ganizations. In this group of agencies the base hospital organized under the auspices of the Jefferson Medical College and Hospital found its place; numerically it was known as United States Army Base Hospital No. 38; less for- mally as "38"; in Philadelphia, it was brought together, financed, equipped, trained and turned over to the Gov- ernment on October 15, 1917. My first wish is to see this plague of mankind (war) banished from the earth.-Washington. War is never a solution; it is an aggravation.-Disraeli. III HOSPITALIZATION IN THE A.E.F. HOSPITAL CENTERS BEFORE proceeding with the history of Base Hospital No. 38 it may be well to say something of the general plan of army hospitalization oper- ated in France; especially is this desirable because con- stant reference will be made to the subject and many terms will be used that would, in the absence of any in- troductory explanation, probably appear obscure to the uninitiated and casual reader. In approaching this war it is reasonable to suppose that at one time it was not believed that a foreign military force of vast proportions would be necessary; however, the aggressive endurance of the central powers and the terrific Allied wastage resulting from casualties, which, from battle deaths alone, amounted to nearly 5,000,000 men before the end of 1918, made imperative an overseas force of a magni- tude previously never contemplated and an achievement in expeditionary mobilization and transportation un- precedented in the history of nations. In April, 1918, the Germans had a rifle superiority of 324,000; by June the Allied strength exceeded that of the central powers, 13 14 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT and in November this lead attained 600,000. The United States sent to France 2,084,000 soldiers; of these, 1,390,000 saw active service at the front.* In this, the bloodiest war in history, our allies had suf- fered heavily, approaching in losses those of the Crimea, which held the previous mortality record; in the present conflict, combat and battle casualties for the first time exceeded losses and wastage from disease; among our allies of 100 men called to the colors, 20 to 25 were killed or died; the American loss during the period of hostili- ties, was 2 killed or died, for 100 who took part. There are many other and more important explanations for the enormously greater loss by our allies, but the efficient organization of relief and the elaborate and comprehen- sive schemes of hospitalization must be given due weight. The total overseas bed capacity of 50,000 in July, 1918, reached 250,000 by November with an easily possible crisis accommodation for 300,000 sick and wounded. The program was considered elaborate, even extrava- gant; such a view would appear to be further justified by the fact that the number of beds actually occupied did not exceed 200,000. If, however, one recalls that combat ceased November 11, 1918, just before the maximum capacity was attained, and if one takes into consideration the enormous demand that must have arisen had the armistice not intervened, it becomes apparent that any- * The figures quoted here and elsewhere are those given by Col. Leonard P. Ayres of the General Staff, in his statistical summary of "The War with Germany," issued by the Government Printing Office, Washington, 1919. HOSPITALIZATION IN THE A. E. F. 15 thing less broad and comprehensive might readily have been disastrously too small and certainly would have permitted no factor of safety so absolutely necessary to deal with unexpected epidemics, unforeseen and excess- ive casualties, building and other losses due to floods, storms, fires and possible capture; the last no American ever believed possible. The bombing and destruction of rail-lines, inordinate transportation dangers, unfore- seen supply stress over some approach to the battle zone or along one pathway of evacuation might, at any time, have made unpracticable the use of a large hospital group and consequently have thrown an excessively heavy load on some other area. Any plan of hospitaliza- tion that provided no factor of safety must obviously have been deplorably insufficient. The scheme outlined and the results attained deserve every commendation; if there was one sound criticism that appeared fully jus- tified it was that trained, equipped and mobilized units such as "38" should have been overseas months sooner, the long Armory wait to which "38" and other base hospitals were subjected must be deplored; however, the critically inclined must recall that combat groups were urgently needed, that strained lines, faced by aggressive drives, were holding by a thread, might be broken at any time, that the central powers were numerically ahead, that they were feeling out possible weak sectors, that both sides trembled with apprehension, and that mili- tary disaster might come to the heroic defenders at any 16 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT moment. It was better to strain every nerve to forestall any such calamity and to pour into France an ever- increasing combative force, trusting to sustained effort for bringing to maturity, and in time, the perfected pro- gram of hospitalization fully outlined and splendidly advanced on this side, ready for service and transport- able on the shortest notice. Therefore, while "38" fumed and fretted in the Ar- mory, fought the battle of Stenton Field and all but mutinied at Chadd's Ford, opportunity and facilities were maturing in the A. E. F.; new construction was speeding up in France, elaborate preparations were making and, all in good time, our call would come. The first bases to go over were, for the most part, sent directly to Allied relief, usually British, and served in buildings prepared by those whom they were detailed to help. A little later the new arrivals were assigned to permanent buildings, schools, colleges, resort hotels, monasteries, etc., taken over by the French and allotted to Americans. Thirty-eight, however, was to be a part of a "Hospital Center," one of the large bases contem- plated in the great scheme of developing hospitalization in the A. E. F. A "Hospital Center" was planned to provide a group of Base Hospitals, varying in number from 4 to 10, or, should occasion arise, possibly 20; each was to maintain its identity, and, so far as possible, its personnel, to pro- vide 1000 to 2000 beds and, in part, to discharge into an HOSPITALIZATION IN THE A. E. F. 17 attached convalescent camp having a capacity of 5000 to 10,000 men. The Center was under the general direc- tion and supervision of a Headquarters Staff, compris- ing a Commanding Officer, Laboratory Officer, Sanitary Officer and other consulting members, Quartermaster, Supply Officer, Adjutant and clerical service. The in- dividual bases, or participating units were, as stated, largely autonomous but subordinate to the H. Q. of the Center. Certain large facilities under the direct control of Officer of H. Q., served all subsidiary units; these embraced the Consulting Experts, including the Labo- ratory Officer, any and each of whom could visit and assist, if necessary, direct action in any base compassed by the Center. The H. Q. Supply Officer and Quarter- master issued supplies to the corresponding respective officers in the participating organizations. A common laundry, often of huge capacity, served the entire Cen- ter; commonly upon a central double track, hospital trains came in and H. Q. directed the distribution of patients; spurs and switches, sometimes miles of tracks were necessary to handle the enormous loads of incoming supplies without in any way interfering with the arrival and dispatch of hospital trains, or the reception and dis- charge of patients. Some of these "Centers" attained pretentious dimen- sions and still larger ones were in progress of construc- tion or extension when hostilities ceased. Nantes might have reached a capacity of 10,000 to 12,000, possibly 18 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT under stress 15,000 beds; Allery more than doubled Nantes, and the Center at Beaune, Cote d'Or, was ex- tending to a rated capacity including convalescent camp, exceeding 30,000 with, in a monastery nearby, a depart- ment for carriers of communicable disease, the size of which could not be foretold, but it is quite possible that an additional 5000 would have been included. In addition to the more general administrative and other advantages accomplished by centralization, it was possible better to classify and segregate certain cases; one hospital, in part or almost as a whole, would receive communicable disease which could be still further sub- divided; to another unit could be assigned nervous and mental patients; one group could be largely devoted to medical cases, another to surgical, or either of these major divisions could be further split up into, for exam- ple, assignments for head cases, mouth surgery, eye patients, bone injury and disease, gas gangrene, etc.; on the medical side, wards could be devoted to pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases, to heart patients, gastro- intestinal affections, tuberculosis, acute fevers, and so on. Such classification of patients also rendered possible a corresponding grouping of the most experienced offi- cers and the attending nursing staff most highly skilled along particular and more or less special lines. The plan also provided for an individual clinical laboratory for each unit, and a large central laboratory HOSPITALIZATION IN THE A. E. F. 19 doing the bigger, more difficult or more complex work and often specializing in epidemiologic studies, wound bacteriology, morbid histology, the preparation of media on an enormous scale and exerting a controlling and directing or guiding influence on all the subsidiary units, 5 to 20 in number. In this Central Laboratory were brought together those officers and technicians most highly trained, often along more or less special lines, under the direction of an experienced senior, known as the Laboratory Officer of the Base, whose duty it was to co-ordinate and direct the assembled specialists. In the better equipped and adequately manned Central Laboratories everything possible in the largest of our metropolitan laboratories could be as readily done, often under most skilled direction, for not infrequently talent of an exceptional order was available. Centralized hospitalization also permitted welfare organizations to do their best work; the Red Cross, the K. of C., the Y's, Christian and also Hebrew, had large "Huts," trained and amateur talent, the latter often cleaner and better, provided music, reading matter, smokes and in many ways helped bring life back to men often glum, bitten by war-dogs and homesick beyond words. Athletics, entertainments and relaxation could be organized on a larger scale. It all helped, and the soldier was not the only one who sought recreation if not dissipation, just a bit of a fling, which the welfare people 20 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT greatly tempered, and, no doubt, frequently made innocuous. The vision that created these previously unheard-of programs was wise, comprehensive, and constructive; that the country was unprepared to fill the order was not the fault of the planners, but to elaborate a scheme that matured to 399,510 hospital beds-1 for every 9 men in the army-and to provide the personnel, equipment and erect accommodations for 287,290 men, 3000 miles from the primary base of supply, across a hostile sea fre- quented by every possible source of marine danger, and successfully to operate some 200,000 of the beds pro- vided, stands today the supreme achievement in military relief attained by any nation in the world's history; in accomplishment it exceeds the combined results of all efforts of all time antecedent to 1914. The U. S. Navy deserves the eternal gratitude of all beneficiaries for completing the difficult and hazardous transportation, and the Medical Corps of the Army and its advisers the distinguished honor of having perfected the program and carried it through to successful and honorable con- summation. Base Hospital "38" constituted a part of the Hospital Center at Nantes; it was the first hospital on the general field; No. 34 was earlier on duty and receiving patients some time previously, was a part of the Center but not in the group functioning on the Grand Blottereau; in Nantes "38" was the first completed on the temporary HOSPITALIZATION IN THE A. E. F. 21 barrack plan which was really an American improve- ment on the British organization macle possible by the experience of predecessors who so gladly and fully gave of their accumulated knowledge acquired through fail- ure or disappointment as well as attained success. For- tunately hostilities ended before the Center at Nantes, as well as many other similar provisions, reached any- thing like completion; however, so far as it went, every- thing was well done and "38" led in the end attained. In the preceding and present chapter an effort has been made to present certain preliminary data without which much that follows might not be clear. Now that a foundation has been laid, the necessary approach, at least in part, prepared and detailed, the reader may, in the next chapter, begin to learn of "38," its organization, mobilization, and participation in the Red Cross and Army programs hastily outlined in the preceding pages. Though I have been trained as a soldier, and participated in many bat- tles, there never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword. Ulysses S. Grant. Base Hospital 38--Officers and Men Before Armory, Philadelphia U. S. A. Base Hospital No. 38 Hospital Center Grand Blottere.au, Nantes, France U. S. A. Base Hospital No. 216 IV AMERICAN RED CROSS BASE HOSPITAL NO. 38 (THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL) WAR is the summation of all tragedies, the pinnacle of all follies, the abysmal depth of all horrors; the conjoined, co-ordinate, contem- poraneous supremacy of flame and famine, of holocaust and hate, of disease, disaster and death, of slaughter and starvation; it is the insanity, the infanticidal, homicidal, suicidal mania of nations, the paranoia of civilization, the darkness of doomsday, out of which shines but one lone star, red- and purple-rimmed, the light of the Samaritan who feeds and clothes, arrests bleeding, binds wounds, bears anesthetic, sedative and opiate, nurses with tender hand, brings water to lips athirst and dying, wipes off the sweat of agony, takes the last faltering message to loved ones at home and, when comes the end, closes star- ing eyes, composes limbs, enshrouds and coffins, covers with the flag the soldier loved and for which he died, and bears the fallen victim to his last rest, his dreamless sleep of peace eternal. These servants of the lowly Nazarene, these purveyors of mercy and kindness, all out of har- 23 24 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT mony with the fields in which they labor, amid scenes no pen has described, ply their calling from projectile- swept field and shell-torn trench to bomb-wrecked and fire-swept hospital far in the rear, along lines of commu- nication, at ports of embarkation, on hospital ship in port and at sea, until at last, the returned soldier rests on the bosom of loved ones at home, or bivouacs forever on Fame's eternal camping ground. Much, if not most, of this work was done by those who enlisted to serve in Base Hospitals. Officers, nurses and hospital corps men, often detailed or detached from an original Base Hospital, at one time or another served in every position from firing line back through the appar- ently unending labyrinth of "communications." To bear its share of war's grim burden, Base Hospital No. 38, of The Jefferson Medical College and Hospital, was organized. Founded in 1825, and nearing the centenary of its existence, the work was not new to the parent insti- tution which, through almost one hundred years, had sent its graduates to every battlefield and into every dis- aster in the nation's history, had given Silas Weir Mitchell and William Williams Keen to the work of the great Civil conflict, and in the World War its graduates to the number of 1462, and more than 370 undergrad- uates, served in every professional capacity from Surgeon-General Merritte W. Ireland (Class of 1891) to the humblest positions in the service of their Country. A bronze tablet, erected by living alumni, testifying to THE JEFFERSON UNIT 25 the patriotism of Jefferson graduates, has been placed in the College building; upon this roll is inscribed the names of 25 sons of this venerable institution who gave their lives to the country in the war of 1917-1918. Even though they were not members of this organization, let their names be entered here as of that noble host who made the supreme sacrifice that mankind should move onward with the advancing suns:- Frederick George Carow Boaz Baxter Cox Reese Davis Joseph Edward Dudenhoefer Thomas Reed Ferguson Frank Harris Gardner Percy Stevenson Gaston Burgess Allen Gibson Francis Findlay Hanbidge Frederick Arthur Henderson John Hislop Carl Edward Holmberg Robert Lord Hull Richard Lawrence Jett Harry Milhern Lavelle Justin A. McCarthy Casper Joseph Middlekauff Gustav Lewis Norstedt Russell Cisney Parson Wendell James Phillips BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT 26 William Emmett Purviance Grady Rudisill Roberts Abner Potts Hubert Sage Lindsay Cochrane Whiteside Chester Cameron Wood ORGANIZATION OF BASE HOSPITAL NO. 38 The Jefferson Medical College Base Hospital, organ- ized under the direction of the American Red Cross, and known as Base Hospital No. 38, was rendered possible by the generous contributions of Adeline Pepper Gibson and Henry S. Gibson. Organization was begun May 3, 1917. Before the summer had ended officers and en- listed men had been selected, necessary commissions obtained, and most of the preliminary work completed. The Muster-Roll, embracing 35 officers, 100 nurses, 6 civilians and 200 enlisted men, is given in full, with de- tails of services, in Appendix A. Major W. M. L. Coplin was designated Director, and Chief of the Laboratory Division; Major J. Norman Henry, Chief of the Medical Division, Major Charles F. Nassau, Chief of the Surgical Division. When trans- ferred to active service, Major John S. Lambie, M.C., U. S. A., was detailed by the Surgeon-General as Com- manding Officer of the organization which, by mobiliza- tion, became United States Army Base Hospital No. 38. MOBILIZATION AND TRAINING The organization was mobilized October 15, 1917, and THE JEFFERSON UNIT 27 went immediately into training at the Second Regiment Armory, North Broad Street near Susquehanna Ave- nue, Philadelphia. The novitiate in Philadelphia ex- tended from the date of mobilization to June 21, 1918, when the unit embarked for France. During this period of preparation it was decided, at the suggestion of the Director, to inaugurate a new and hitherto untried plan of preparing officers and enlisted men for active hospital duty in the overseas service. Previously the custom had been to assemble the personnel of Base Hospitals at some training camp, for example, Allentown, where military and certain didactic instructions could advan- tageously be given. Obviously the functions which hos- pital corps men are supposed to perform differ mate- rially from those of any other military unit. Necessary though a knowledge of policing and military drill may be, the men should know something, the more the better, of hospital organization and the care of patients; conse- quently, it was decided to institute two courses of in- struction, one didactic, the other practical. The former was inaugurated October 24, 1917, by an Introductory Lecture by William W. Keen, M.D., Sc.D., LL.D., Hon.F.R.C.S. (Eng. and Edin,), Em- eritus Professor of Surgery, The Jefferson Medical Col- lege, in which he outlined the history of hospital organi- zation and duties as he knew them in Philadelphia and in Army hospitals during the Civil War. This was fol- lowed by lectures given by members of the Staff and 28 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT others, covering problems of hospital administration, the care of patients, treatment of injured, transportation, sanitary science, antisepsis and on other subjects bearing directly upon the functions of Base Hospitals. In addi- tion to lectures given by officers the organization was favored by the co-operation and assistance of Professors A. P. Brubaker and Randle C. Rosenberger, of the Col- lege Faculty. Through the courtesy and cordial co-operation of the Jefferson Hospital, Pennsylvania, St. Agnes, St. Jo- seph's, Philadelphia General, Philadelphia Hospital for Contagious Diseases, Frankford, Episcopal, Lankenau, Presbyterian, Jewish, and Samaritan Plospitals, valu- able instruction was given to small groups of men de- tailed to the institutions named. Subject to unit organization and authority, each hospital assigned de- tails of men to laboratory, operating room, ward, and accident room, where they saw useful, practical service. The courses, both didactic and practical, were continued throughout much of the winter, thus affording the men some familiarity with the nature of the work they might be called upon to perform in France. Concurrently, officers improved in every possible way their knowledge by special work in laboratories, X-ray departments, surgical and medical clinics, and the specialties. Some of the officers were detailed to the Rockefeller Institute, New York, for special training. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the co-operation and invaluable assistance THE JEFFERSON UNIT 29 given by the institutions named, to place on permanent record this highly merited recognition, and to thank them for their helpful aid in the new project. EQUIPMENT To the cash foundation given by Adeline Pepper Gib- son and Henry S. Gibson, generous citizens of Philadel- phia, contributions by others, including $5000 given by Mrs. Thomas P. Hunter for operating rooms, brought the total to $79,992.39, practically all of which was expended for equipment. In addition to cash contribu- tions many gifts were made directly; these include an ambulance by the Residents of Logan, another by em- ployees of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, another by the Philadelphia Teachers Association, an- other by the West Philadelphia Auxiliary No. 4 of the American Red Cross, another by the Fotterall Square Association, and one given by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Lea-a total of six ambulances; through the efforts of Mr. Norman L. Barr and Mr. William C. Haddock, Jr., and their friends, a delivery truck was supplied. Mr. David B. Martin, Jr., presented a completely equipped officers' car, which, unfortunately, did not get across the sea but gave excellent service during the period of train- ing. The American Red Cross, Washington, D. C., gave a carload of dressings; the local Red Cross and many Auxiliaries, including the Navy League, also aided. The Emergency Aid assisted generously. Spe- 30 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT cial mention should be made of the members of the Women's Auxiliary of the Jefferson Hospital, who gave many hours of earnest productive effort, supplied mate- rials and devoted the summer of 1917 to the preparation of dressings and the packing of supplies that greatly enlarged the surgical equipment. This work was carried on under the auspices of Mrs. Alba B. Johnson, Mrs. Joseph W. Wear and Mrs. Bessie Dobson Altemus. They secured the services of Miss Katharine C. Stroh- maier, a nurse experienced in the preparation of surgical material, and with her worked valiantly with most grati- fying results. Unfortunately, the names of other enthu- siastic workers are not available, but we wish to acknowl- edge our sincere appreciation of their assistance. The contributions, including cash of $79,992.39, a special fund given nurses $8,001.54, and supplies valued at $34,318.58, make a total value of $122,312.51. SERVICE IN THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES On June 21, 1918, 6 officers and 192 enlisted men under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John S. Lambie, M.C., U. S. A., embarked on the S.S. "Nopatin," New York, and 29 officers under the com- mand of Major Coplin, boarded the S.S. "President Grant." The latter, on account of an accident to the refrigeration plant, was compelled to return, sailing finally on June 30, 1918. Passengers on the S.S. "Nopatin" landed at Brest July 5th, left July 10th and THE JEFFERSON UNIT 31 arrived at Nantes, France, July 11th; on July 17th they were joined by the remaining officers. The Nursing Corps had sailed from New York on May 18th and upon arrival in France the nurses were assigned to duty in Base Hospitals at Nantes, or to stations nearer the line of combat. LOCATION At Nantes, a quaint and beautiful city on the Loire, designated as one of the American Hospital Centers, was also stationed Base Hospital No. 34 which, at the time "38" arrived, was receiving patients. Base 38 was located in the Grand Blottereau, which was later to re- ceive three other hospital organizations. The Grand Blottereau is a park surrounding what had been a small gem of a chateau with its exquisite grounds, partly wooded, containing tall trees, veritable monarchs, small shrubs and hedges and all intervening types of woodland growth. Along one side extended a beautiful walled road of rural France, no longer in good condition. On another side ran a small tributary of the Loire, and just beyond flowed the slowly moving majestic river. One boundary was formed by the botanical and agricultural gardens of Nantes; off from a corner lay the town of Doulon, really a part of the historic old city. THE HOSPITAL IN FRANCE Physically, the plant included 21 wards, also diet- kitchens, personnel barracks and mess-hall, officers' bar- 32 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT racks and mess-hall, nurses' barracks and mess-hall, ablution sheds and barracks, receiving wards, quarter- master supply buildings, mess supply building, operating pavilion, and laboratory, a total of about 50 buildings, all of temporary construction. They were supplied with electricity and running water, and an emergency sewerage system was installed, which became inadequate on account of the unexpected numbers of patients and the unanticipated floods which inundated that region of France and impeded drainage. The original barracks were constructed of composition board, felt-tar-paper roof, and concrete floors laid directly on the ground; the window space was adequate and, unlike many other hos- pitals, all sash were glazed. The material composing the walls was an asbestos and cement preparation about one- eighth inch in thickness, received in large sheets, for all the world like cardboard, and scarcely as resistant to force, though more so to rain and fire. This composition substi- tute for wood was brittle and readily perforated. Base- balls frequently penetrated the walls, and on one occasion a football found its way through into Headquarters Office. The artificial board, resembling large slates, was applied over a wood frame and securely nailed in posi- tion. It was supposed to be fireproof. Roofs were made of rather inferior lumber and covered with felt-tar-paper held in position by wood strips that sometimes warped and became detached, thereby opening joints, loosening the tar paper and permitting leaks. Notwithstanding THE JEFFERSON UNIT 33 obvious defects, the general result was satisfactory, and constituted considerable improvement over much of the temporary construction seen elsewhere in the A. E. F. For temporary service the plumbing was acceptable. When heat became available it was supplied by stoves of all possible grades: some were of French, others English origin, conserved fuel and yielded little heat; units supplied with American stoves were more fortu- nate, especially where those large, cast-iron types, once used in country schools, were available. They were probably fuel-wasters, but gave results, even though, under forced firing, lurid flames belched from pipes pro- jecting but a short space above the roofs. To French natives this looked like intolerable extravagance, but Americans demand results even at higher cost. In many places heat was badly needed long before it became avail- able; this, and many other delays, however, were una- voidable-part of the inevitable when a nation, unpre- pared and largely inexperienced, is precipitously forced into a conflict of such unprecedented magnitude. The overflow, at one time amounting to approximately 2000 patients and convalescents, administered by the or- ganization, was sheltered in tents erected on a contiguous section of the park. The extraordinary rains of 1918 in France rendered the soil so soft that the temporary roads soon became a veritable mud-plant through which offi- cers, nurses, convalescents and enlisted men waded for weeks; part of this plain was under water for many days 34 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT but the hospital, more fortunate than one of its neigh- bors, was not reached by the flood. The climate of France in the winter of 1918-1919 was a revelation; one could but wonder who first had applied the term "sunny" to France; it was still more difficult to determine why; Captain Tripp said that it was either raining or "getting ready" to rain all the time. The buildings which "38" was to occupy were only partly completed when the organization arrived; officers and enlisted men proceeded to assist in the construction, the latter doing admirable work in many ways; in this detail, as elsewhere, the men showed to advantage their enthusiasm, industry and splendid capabilities. When officers and men reached their destination and settled down for service, not only were the buildings in- complete but the equipment, purchased, packed and for- warded before leaving the United States, had not ar- rived; nobody seemed able to locate it. Officers were dispatched to several ports, Bordeaux, LaRochelle, St. Nazaire, Brest, and wherever it was thought the posses- sions of "38" might have landed. Eventually some of the equipment was located, but much that was sadly needed never arrived. Ambulances, motor truck and motorcycles with side cars, went elsewhere; the beautiful officers' car, given to the organization by D. B. Martin, never got beyond Newport News, and it was badly needed. Transportation was always inadequate and rarely available when most needed. Until August the THE JEFFERSON UNIT 35 tenth, about one month after the arrival of "38," no Supply or Quartermaster's Depot was provided in Nantes, and not until a month later was any provision in active function. In the meantime patients were pouring in, food was difficult to obtain, clothing for re-outfitting men not available or the quantity insufficient, and no laundry nor any means for washing hospital linen and soiled apparel had been provided. A hand laundry was organized by employing French women and using galvanized garbage cans as wash-tubs and boilers, indeed for practically all laundry and many other purposes requiring water-tight vessels. These were some of the difficulties. Tele- graphic requisitions in the Central Supply Depot were promptly filled, some original equipment came along, often in small deliveries, and, although it seemed very slowly, things shaped up and the roughest part of the voyage smoothed down to fairly easy sailing. These were strenuous times; officers and men were working on and in incompleted buildings, preparing quarters, fitting up kitchens and mess-rooms, organizing laundry service, unpacking and checking supplies, devel- oping a drug store and dispensary, erecting beds, outfit- ting wards, operating rooms and dressing rooms, arrang- ing for care of the dead, installing telephones, erecting and testing out sterilizing apparatus, putting up delous- ing plant, organizing receiving ward and providing places and methods for handling clothing and personal 36 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT belongings of incoming patients and industriously labor- ing over hundreds of unrecalled minor details. JMiss Melville and her little band of seven, doing all the nurs- ing humanly possible, were also working in operating rooms, preparing dressings, unpacking supplies, assist- ing in everything, working like bees every day from early morning to far into the night; there were many, many days of such stress. Through it all everybody must be fed and housed, often badly and inadequately. But each day marked progress and out of the chaos and disorder came success and everybody was glad, even though the saddest of our labors, caring for the sick and wounded, was only beginning. As early as July 22nd, 132 sick and injured from the Soissons front were received and cared for, although the buildings were not finished until several weeks later. By September over 1000 patients had been admitted. It was originally contemplated that for each Base Hospital provision for 500 patients would be adequate. Before leaving the States the personnel had been increased to that of a thousand bed Base; shortly after arrival in France it became obvious that, at any time, the organiza- tion might be required to shelter 2000 incapacitated sol- diers ; early in November, 1918, the daily census reached 2412 patients. It is believed, however, that every possi- ble attention was given and that the enormous expansion did not weaken the efficiency of the organization, not- withstanding the fact that, at one time, only 10 officers Colonel W. M. L. COPLIN, M.C. U. S. Army Director and Chief of Laboratory Division Base Hospital No. 38 Major J. NORMAN HENRY, M.C. U. S. Army Chief of Medical Division Base Hospital No. 38 Major CHARLES F. NASSAU, M.C. U. S. Army Chief of Surgical Division Base Hospital No. 38 Lieutenant-Colonel JOHN B. LOWMAN, M.C. U. S. Army Major JOHN R. FORST, M.C. • U. S. A rmy Major MICHAEL A. BURNS, M.C. U. S. Army Major J. HOWARD GASKILL, D.C, U. S. Army Major MARK D. HOYT. M.C. U. S. Army Major JOHN F. PARK. M.C. U. S. Army Captain HARRY W. BAILY, M.C. U. S. Army Captain J. ALLAN BERTOLET. M.C U. S. Army Captain FRANCIS F. BORZELL. M.C. U. S. Army Captain LOUIS D. ENGLERTH. M.C. U. S. Army Captain CHARLES E. HAYS,. M.C. U. S. Army Captain FRANK H. HUSTEAD, M.C U. S. Army Captain MAURICE C. JAMES, M.C. U. S. Army Captain SAMUEL P. MAUNEY, M.C. L . S. Army Died in France Captain HENRY K. MOHLER, M.C. U. S. Army Captain HUBLEY R. OWEN, M.C. U. S. Army Captain GUY H. SWAN, M.C. U. S. Army Captain RALPH M. TYSON, M.C. L . 5. Army Captain ERNEST G. WILLIAMSON, M.C. U. S. Army Lieutenant HAROLD S. DAVIDSON. M.C. U. S. Army Lieutenant WINTER R. FRANTZ. M.C U. S. Army Lieutenant CLIFFORD B. LULL. M.C. U. S. Army Lieutenant james c. McConaughey, m.c. U. S. Army Lieutenant WILLIAM L. MENG, M.C. U. S. Army Lieutenant JULIAN E. MEYER, M.C. U. S. Army Lieutenant J. DONALD STONE, D.C. U. S. Army JOHN H. CHAPMAN. D.D. Chaplain THE JEFFERSON UNIT 37 remained at the Base; 3 of these were largely occupied in administrative capacities. Because of pressure at other Hospitals and the urgent demand for nurses, practically all of those belonging to the Unit had been transferred to active emergency duties at or nearer the front and to needy centers at Nantes and elsewhere in France; therefore, shortly after "38" was placed in operation, Miss Clara Melville, Chief Nurse, had only 7 nurses to assist in operating rooms and to care for approximately 1000 patients included among which were many seriously wounded and sick soldiers; later the number reached more than 2000. Nevertheless it must be universally recognized that the depletion of nurses was one thing from which the organization suf- fered intensely; Miss Melville and her faithful little group of nurses left at the Base did heroic service and the loyal and unflagging devotion of officers and enlisted men did much to ameliorate conditions, but in a great Hospital containing many seriously ill and wounded, no one fills the place of a properly trained nurse. Our absent nurses were performing more important duties with operating teams at the front, in Hospitals on the field and along the line of communications, and on Hos- pital Trains, so that whatever the original organization may have suffered, the benefits to the service in the A. E. F. were no doubt greater; consequently the loss to "38" was borne though less patiently than would have been decorous. The enormous stress under which Miss Mel- 38 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT ville and those with her were obliged to work, and the splendid results achieved, are more fully detailed in the special chapter on the subject which the reader is advised to consult. RECREATIONS Situated near a large city in a group of hospitals forming a so-called hospital center, it was fortunately possible to arrange social occasions that greatly relieved the monotony of routine. Base Hospital No. 11 enter- tained the organization most handsomely at dinner one evening with a dance following, and there were more or less frequent dances at the Chateau. The Red Cross erected a large building with a stage and here were pro- vided entertainments of various sorts, minstrel shows, amateur plays, movies and other diverting functions. Bands occasionally visited the Hospital and played in the open when possible, at other times in the receiving ward, and thither the convalescent soldiers flocked on crutches and canes, in wheel chairs or on foot. On one occasion a noted opera singer, a French prima donna, came to the Hospital and sang to the patients who were unable to get about. Other entertainers also visited the Hospital. The Red Cross did its best to keep up the morale of the wounded and sick soldiers, and in so doing often automatically extended a helping hand to the medical officers and personnel as well; for these efforts a lasting gratitude and appreciation must abide. It also helped THE JEFFERSON UNIT 39 the nurses, added to their rather bare barracks such im- portant articles as comfortable chairs, a few window curtains and decorations, and in other ways rendered aid for which this somewhat tardy but none the less sincere expression of thanks is given. Details of the athletic attainments of "38" are given in a special chapter. Here also should be recorded the untiring labor and generous help so cheerfully given at all times by Mrs. Gibson; she helped everybody; bought materials for curtains for nurses' quarters, beautified their surround- ings, did everything to relieve monotony, add comfort and render recreation possible. What she accomplished was beyond words, but a still more precious memory is the way she did things; there was a graciousness in her benefactions that abides like a blessing and further hal- lows the cherished memory of this charming woman who, when the time came for rejoicing that the work was about over, and the thought of home brought smiles and tears, was called to her Reward and left us grief-stricken and crushed by the tragic sorrow. DETACHED DUTY Shortly after arriving in France, and in common with all other organizations, which included highly trained specialists, "38" suffered severe losses from detachment of important officers to more active-it was believed more important-duties nearer the front and elsewhere in the devastated and war-swept country. Indeed, some 40 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT highly efficient men had been detached before Base Hos- pital No. 38 left the United States. Originally Captain J. Torrence Hugh was chosen for the Orthopedic Division of Base Hospital No. 38. The Surgeon-General's Office requested his release as an Orthopedist of established repute was needed to direct the proper care of enlisted men in this country. Reluc- tantly the release was granted, his work was well done, and his promotions continuous to and including the rank of Colonel. Captain E. J. G. Beardsley, an officer of the Medical Division, had been a member of the Medical Reserve Corps since 1909, was transferred to a larger field. The Surgeon-General's Office recognized in him a man of unusual attainments, a capable teacher and an experi- enced clinician. He was detailed to the Army Medical School, later to a training camp, became Chief of Med- ical Service, Base Hospital No. 89, Camp Sheridan, and joined the A. E. F. in France. His promotions passed through the grades of Captain and Maj or to Lieutenant- Colonel. Captain George E. Price preceded the Unit and was on duty as Consulting Neurologist in Paris; later he was succeeded by Major M. A. Burns, who was also detached for permanent duty in the Capital City. Major Thomas C. Stellwagen had also sailed in ad- vance of "38," and was on observation duty at Queen's Hospital, Sidcup, England; later transferred to Evac- THE JEFFERSON UNIT 41 nation Hospital No. 1, to Field Hospital No. 27, acting as Surgeon for non-transportable cases, to Evacuation Hospital No. 5, with Field Hospital No. 112, and for 3 months served with Mobile Hospital No. 4. After the Armistice he resumed duty at Base Hospital No. 38 as Chief of the Department of Oral and Plastic Surgery. Major Charles F. Nassau left the Base Hospital early in July, 1918, for observation duty in Evacuation Hos- pital No. 1 at Toul, to the Red Cross Hospital in Paris, where he was joined by other members of the operating team consisting of Captain Mark D. Hoyt, Lieutenant Louis D. Englerth, Miss Amanda Boyer, R. N., and Privates Edward G. Ruth and Herbert W. Duke. From Paris Major Nassau went to Evreux, American Red Cross Hospital No. 109; in September to Evacua- tion Hospital No. 7, Souilly; to Mobile Hospital No. 1, Esnes, returning to Souilly, and after the Armistice resumed his position as Chief Surgeon with "38." Major W. M. L. Coplin, Director, and Chief of the Laboratory Division, was detailed to Headquarters, Laboratory Service, A. E. F., Dijon, later becoming Laboratory Officer, Hospital Center, Beaune; in De- cember, 1918, he was transferred to the Third Army, becoming Director of Laboratories for that organiza- tion, accompanying the Army of Occupation and having charge of 27 Laboratories in the occupied area, with headquarters at Coblentz, Germany. Major J. Norman Henry, Chief of the Medical Divi- 42 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT sion, was detailed to the Army Sanitary School at Lan- gres, August 19, 1918, to Headquarters at Toul, to the 89th Division where there were unusual opportunities for studying the problems of a division in action. After his return early in October, he became Commanding Officer of Base Hospital No. 38. Captains Frank H. Hustead and Charles E. Hays joined Major Stellwagen in the assignments detailed above and served in the Argonne and St. Mihiel drives. Lieutenant-Colonel John S. Lambie, detailed by the Medical Department as Executive Officer of Base Hos- pital No. 38, left the organization on September 2, 1918, becoming Commanding Officer of the Hospital Center at Puy de Dome and later Inspector of Hospitals in the A. E. F. Major John B. Lowman was left in command, but shortly thereafter, on account of illness, was relieved by Major J. Norman Henry, who became Commanding Officer and continued in this service until November 15, 1918, when Major Lowman, promoted to Lieutenant- Colonel, returned and resumed command. Major John R. Forst passed through the St. Mihiel and Argonne offensives with Mobile Hospital No. 2, serving as Ophthalmologist with this organization on the Meuse, returning to the Base in October. He was in command of Base Hospital No. 38 when the patients were turned over to Evacuation Hospital No. 31, re- turned with the Unit and was mustered out with the boys at Camp Dix, N. J., May 8, 1919. THE JEFFERSON UNIT 43 Captain Leonard B. Tripp, Q.M.C., U. S. A., came to the organization as Quartermaster and Supply Officer early in September, 1917. He was a rugged, skillful and efficient New Englander, one time a "non- com" of the regular army who knew the game and lived the part. When the organization was just settling down to work at Nantes, Captain Tripp was detached and made Quartermaster to the Hospital Center, a more responsible position, which he accepted and filled with highest credit. Before leaving the United States, Captain Robert B. Pratt, an old Interne and former Chief Resident Physi- cian in the Jefferson Hospital, had been made Adju- tant ; he served in Philadelphia and crossed the ocean on the "Nopatin" with the men. Captain Pratt was and is always efficient and to him in a large degree was due the perfected organization that developed in action and made "38" conspicuous on the field at Nantes. When another Hospital (No. 216) was opened along side old "38" the efficient Adjutant became Commanding Officer and gave to the new organization the same high grade administrative skill that he had manifested in the old; Captain Pratt was promoted to Major and later to Lieutenant- Colonel. OUR HEROIC DEAD Upon every great adventure the fates bestow some tragedy; the experience of Base Hospital No. 38 was no 44 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT exception. While in line of duty the call to higher reward was answered by six members of the Unit. In each case death was due to the stress of activities upon which the worker was engaged: the nurses in travel to detailed stations or on duty, a physician going from ward to sick-bed under war conditions, where the com- forts of a modern Hospital or of a home were not avail- able; civilian personnel and enlisted men dying from disease-all falling in line of duty. In each instance it is reasonable to believe that, had the unfortunate one avoided the rigors of war and the hardships of service, life might have been spared. They are heroes and heroines who fell outside the glamour of battle, beyond the martial call of fife and drum, but none the less they gave their lives for the land they loved. ADELINE PEPPER GIB SON, benefactress of Base Hospital No. 38, while on active duty con- tracted pneumonia and died at Nantes, France, January 10, 1919. Through the many trying days of effort Mrs. Gibson gave unsparingly of all those things worthwhile. There was no opportunity to do good that was too laborious, no time of need when her interest was not aroused and her helping hand was not extended, no weariness of body that arrested her enduring endeavor, no situation she did not apprehend, and seeing act. To officers and men, to nurses and patients, often she brought cheer THE JEFFERSON UNIT 45 and sunshine and dispelled despair and gloom. Her life with us was one continuous period of smiling, patient helpfulness, and her passing weighed upon us as the one overwhelming and unforgettable sor- row of our great adventure. A stranger to all the wearying sadness of hospital life under the shadow of grim war, the things she did and the way she did them won the hearts of all. There was a notable sincerity in her life best known to those near enough to see the warp and woof of the cloth of gold woven in the loom of duty before which she daily and hourly cast life's flying shuttle. A world peopled by such souls would be sunshine and cheer, without pain or sorrow-a paradise. This history of Base Hospital No. 38 is published as a small but-it is hoped-a'fitting memorial to our lamented bene- factress. CAPTAIN SAMUEL M. MAUNEY came to the organization a stranger, detailed by the Surgeon-General's office when the personnel was increased to the new basis of a thousand-bed hos- pital. He endeared himself to all the men with whom he worked and was faithful, devoted, serious- minded and capable. During the influenza epi- demic he continued at work in the wards when he should have been in bed, and it is the feeling of those about him that his devotion to duty made certain the 46 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT tragedy of his death, which resulted from pneu- monia on November 1, 1918, at a time when every organization in the A. E. F. was serving to the maximum of its resources. Captain Owen, at that time in charge of the surgical division, writes as follows: "I bunked with Captain Mauney on our way over, and then, as well as afterward, during my entire association with him on the surgical service, grew to know him well and appreciate his manly qualities. I remember well the morning he became ill. He sat next to me at breakfast. During the meal he had a chill. I advised him to report off sick at once . He said that he had a number of seriously wounded boys to dress, and that he would report off as soon as he completed these dressings. While dressing patients he had another chill. It was found that his temperature was 104° F. He left his ward never to return to it, and died a few days later. There was no life given in France with greater self- sacrifice than that of Captain Mauney. Colonel Kirkpatrick, of the Hospital Center, recommended Captain Mauney to G. H. Q. for citation. Whether the family of Captain Mauney received this recog- nition I do not know, but no belated army medal or decoration was necessary to those who were asso- ciated with him, to keep fresh in their memories his untiring devotion to the wounded, and his untimely and unselfish death." THE JEFFERSON UNIT 47 MERYL GRACE PHILLIPS died May 18, 1918, of pneumonia, the day her companions sailed for France. She was a graduate of the Williams- port Hospital, an accomplished nurse, a woman of unusual attainments, possessed a delightful person- ality, and was highly esteemed by all who knew her. NELLIE JANE WARD died on July 5, 1918, of pneumonia contracted while on duty at Chaumont, France. Because of her attainments and superior qualifications Miss Ward had been assigned to the important work at Chaumont. She was a graduate of the Massachusetts General Hos- pital, long known for the high grade of women pre- pared in its halls, a credit to her training and an honor to her profession. KENNETH B. CARLTON, of Washington, D. C., a member of the enlisted personnel, while home on leave, was stricken with pneumonia and died in the Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D. C., January 13, 1918. KENNETH J. ELLIS, of Philadelphia, an original member of the Unit, contracted pneumonia while training and died in the Pennsylvania Hos- pital, Philadelphia, March 7, 1918. Both Carlton and Ellis were men of the nobler 48 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT type, esteemed by all who knew them and popular among their fellows. Their memory will ever be with us. MEDICAL DIRECTOR, COMMANDING OFFICERS AND OTHER EXECUTIVES During the entire period of organization as a Red Cross Hospital, Major Coplin was Medical Director; this service extended from its inception in May, 1917, to Mobilization October 15, 1917. As stated elsewhere, Major Coplin, after reaching France, was detached for active service elsewhere and left "38" in August, 1918. John S. Lambie, Major, M. C., U. S. A., was detailed by the Surgeon-General as Commanding Officer, serv- ing during mobilization and until detached, September 2, 1918. John B. Lowman, Major, M. C., U. S. A., succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Lambie, serving from September 2, 1918, until October 1, 1918, and again as Lieutenant- Colonel from November 15, 1918, to February 8, 1919. John Norman Henry, Major, M. C., U. S. A., previ- ously Chief of the Medical Division, commanded from October 1st to November 15, 1918. John R. Forst, Major, M. C., U. S. A., succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Lowman, serving from February 8, 1919, to demobilization of the organization at Camp Dix, N. J., May 8, 1919. Major Forst brought "38" back to the United States and received his discharge with re- THE JEFFERSON UNIT 49 maining officers and men who completed their service with the organization. Frank H. Hustead, Captain, M. C., U. S. A., the first Adjutant, after mobilization was succeeded by Captain Robert B. Pratt, who went over with the men and con- tinued in office until promoted and made Commanding Officer of Base Hospital No. 216. John A. Bertolet, Captain, M. C., U. S. A., was Registrar and Detachment Commander throughout the entire period of organization, mobilization and service of "38." He succeeded Major Pratt as Adjutant, and later, because of other more important and pressing pro- fessional duties, was relieved by Second Lieutenant Ignatius B. Thomas. PROMOTIONS As noted elsewhere a number of officers were fortu- nate in receiving promotion, but no special record of the fact need be made here. The writer was among the favored, and has no cause for complaint. He discussed the matter with most of those whose rank was advanced and feels strongly that those not so honored deserved recognition as much as, and in some instances probably more than those who received it. My belief is that the men promoted are unanimous in the conviction that every officer of "38" not so favored, deserved recognition that he did not receive. Such is the fortune of war, part of the game, and here is the place to say that, in many 50 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT instances, failure to receive advance in rank is frequently the result of inaction on the part of some one else and not a lack of merit possessed by the officer affected. Rarely, if ever, is it the pure maliciousness of some petty mind; occasionally it is failure to recognize merit or to reward the deserving and faithful; commonly it results from accident and is unintentional. For example, it would never do to recommend at one time the promotion of all officers in an organization; that would surely fail, so a few, here and there, are chosen; a little later another list of names is forwarded and when sufficient time has elapsed the process is repeated. "Headquarters" at one time is overrun by recommendations and "tightens up," at another period things are propitious and "H. Q." "loosens up"; on the former occasions chances are slim and on the latter good; by chance some of the best men may have been in the first list, and the less deserving but more fortunate in the second group; for these and less important or less obvious reasons, promotion of itself may be no proof of merit and beyond doubt, failure to receive advancement may be the luck of not only good men but of the very best-such is the fortune of war. SUMMARY OF WORK DONE Aside from the nearly nine thousand patients who passed through operating rooms, wards and convalescent camp, the officers, nurses and men of Base Hospital No. 38 administered to the sick and injured at the Base in THE JEFFERSON UNIT 51 Nantes, also at St. Nazaire, Dijon, Beaune, Langres, Saumur, Paris, Dancourt, Evreux, Esnes, Souilly, LaTouche, Euverzin, Louey, Chaumont, Toul, in the Argonne and St. Mihiel drives, and after the Armistice, with the Third Army at Prum, Trier, Mayen, Neuenahr, Ehrenbreitstein, Coblentz and elsewhere-a continuous line of faithful workers extending from the parent insti- tution in Philadelphia across paths of communication, to bases in Europe, to the battlefields of stricken France and Belgium, and beyond to the remotest outposts of the Army of Occupation along the Rhine, and in the bridge- head area to the most advanced relief station in Germany. It was a glorious service, later transformed into a cherished and imperishable memory; a duty well done that left with the doers that sense of having striven for the best, of having achieved something worthwhile, that will ever be recalled with deep satisfaction unpolluted by egotism and untainted by vanity. Few but that may recall the passing of some possible opportunity to do more or to have done something better; such recollec- tions, however, awaken no regret; amidst the flood of things to be done, the best, as then seen, was given gladly and fully; this is true of the humblest effort and of that magnanimity of soul that laid its all on the altar before which burned the inextinguishable flames of duty and of patriotism. Let us believe that in this record of achievement all share, all become co-heirs, and that each 52 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT may have his portion of pleasant memory that will ever be dear. Officers, nurses, civilian personnel and enlisted men may now wear uniforms of identical material-that cloth of gold, and each may know his decoration of that Order of Merit conferred by a King who wears no earthly crown. Duty's call answered. What could be better? Then there is something, let us hope, that is very precious, that has come back with us, something that may abide and make all better for the venture. We have seen life from a new viewpoint, from many different angles, have known death, grim and relentless, and learned much from heroic souls that are still living or have passed life's conflict. Out of all the revolting mess of man's barbaric combat something ennobling should have been rescued so that those who shared ought to be, indeed must be, better citizens, more hostile to wrong and more valiant for right; loving country better and seeing still more clearly the uselessness of war, the futility of strife, the immeasurable, imponderable littleness of man who arises not above petty ambitions, grasping selfishness, monetary acquisitiveness and ignoble vanity, and through the years, we should be committed to that broader brotherhood of man, that some day may see wrongs of nations brought to the arbitrament of reason and justice, and never again to the inhuman atrocity of war, the most ferocious and futile of human follies. This volume is dedicated to a noble woman who, if she THE JEFFERSON UNIT 53 could speak to us now, would plead the cause of Peace on Earth and Good Will Among Nations. Let each of "38" in his little sphere, bring that message home to his own life, to the lives about him, and be a worker in the weed-strewn field of civic and national politics and diplo- macy where grain of a better sort should bend to the sickle today for the granary of history. HARDING'S SPEECH AT CLOSE OF ARMS CONFERENCE * * * The one sure way to re- cover from the sorrow and ruin and staggering obligations of a world war is to end the strife in preparation for more of it, and turn human energies to the constructiveness of peace.-Presi- dent Harding. V KENNETH J. ELLIS He has answered "call to quarters," To hero's rest with bravest men, Just as brave and just as noble, Tho' not praised by tongue or pen. He has left these earthly barracks, And the fight of life is o'er; All his struggles here are ended, We shall see his face no more. Worthy comrade, always jolly, Cheerful, friendly, loved by all, He is sleeping where good soldiers Rest to wait the rising call. "Taps" has sounded, he has heard it, May his rest be long and sweet, "Reveille," we know, will find him Where we all expect to meet. 55 56 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Yes, we'll miss his friendly handshake, And his pleasant sunlit smile, But we know, tho' taken from us, He has made his life worth while. So farewell, brave absent comrade, On your way to other parts, Take with you this earnest message, From the depths of all our hearts. We would make our lives as worthy, Just as noble, just as true, As the one you gave in service, To the old Red, White and Blue. -John A. Usher. VI THE DIVISIONS THE ORE TIC ALLY, and toa degree, practically, a Base Hospital embraced three services - the Medical, the Surgical, and the Laboratory; these were called "Divisions." To these properly should be added the nursing organization. But the general divi- sional designation failed to make obvious most important specialties, frequently functioning almost independently although supposed to be subordinate integrals of one of the three chief services indicated. Such highly important activities as the X-ray work which, although subordinate to one division, gave to all, so also the Neurologic, Ophthalmologic, Orthopedic, Genito-urinary, Laryngo- logic, Dental and other specialties, gave richly to every demand; only briefly can they be mentioned, the devo- tion of the respective officers, their co-operative activities and the good they accomplished will never be adequately recorded. In the midst of periods of great stress, as when hospital trains came in, or during the influenza epi- demic, special detail was forgotten and universal service rendered wholeheartedly; at the base and up at the front, Ophthalmologists, Laryngologists, Dentists and 57 58 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT other highly trained specialists administered anesthetics; whatever may have been a professional assignment, the first and most pressing obligation-that noblesse oblige of all workers-was to do what best contributed to the welfare of the stricken soldier. VII MEDICAL DIVISION THE history of the Medical Division of Base Hos- pital No. 38 is indissolubly linked with that of the entire organization. The Staff consisted of one major, as Chief, and nine junior officers; a distribution of the officers to the various services-medical, surgical or special-was or seemed to be, necessary for the pur- poses of organization; it was not long, however, before it became obvious that such arbitrary arrangements broke down before new conditions encountered in France, and a surgeon or an internist had to be chame- leonic in his adaptability to the changing state, as the hospital trains bearing medical or surgical patients poured in their precious burdens from the Front. Under Major Henry this smoothly running division soon established its efficiency, and shortly after arriving at Nantes settled down to the steady tread of profes- sional endeavor. The work done embraced, most if not all, the activities of a large civil hospital; it included the usual run of medical cases coming into hospital wards, and, in addition, the newer problems incident to modern war, such as gassing, and the host of complications and 59 60 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT sequels, some of which are rare or quite unknown in peace times. Only occasionally, in a civil hospital, does a surgeon find that he needs the counsel of his medical colleagues; the wounded coming to a base hospital are not only surgical patients with trying problems, but often-one is tempted to say constantly-require the expert diagnostic and therapeutic skill of the highly trained medical officer. They have been exposed to the rigors of climate, to gassing, to long hauls under trying conditions, to hunger and to thirst or at least to improper food and to unsafe water; they have hidden in shell- holes and drunk the stinking water that accumulated at the bottom; they have crept into inundated trenches and cellars, inhaled the dust of arid, wind-swept, up- turned fields or wallowed in the mud, and rested in the slush, so they are ripe for every ill to which flesh is heir, from vermin to pneumonia and dysentery. Conse- quently although there were wards entirely medical, none remained exclusively surgical. Officers of the med- ical service visited every ward, were called in at all hours, and aside from rounds made twice daily in their own wards, they often made rounds in wards commonly des- ignated as surgical or special. The first professional work was about two weeks after arrival in France, when a number of more or less con- valescent patients were sent over from Base Hospital No. 34, situated about two miles distant. The majority of these cases were surgical, a few only were medical. MEDICAL DIVISION 61 At the end of a month 900 or more patients had been admitted to the hospital; for the most part these cases were not very acute. At this time but a few nurses, possibly 12, were available; the enlisted men, ward masters and their helpers, were doing a large part of the nursing. Each medical officer was assigned to one, two or three wards as occasion arose; the Chief of the service made rounds daily, or twice daily, and saw those patients who were seriously ill, as well as patients in the surgical wards who were border-line cases, or had medical feat- ures or complications that required medical attention. There was established also, as a part of the Medical Service, a ward for the treatment of nervous cases under the care of Captain, later Major M. A. Burns, and there were seen and studied the various cases of functional and organic diseases of the nervous system incident to mod- ern warfare. Later this ward became a part of the gen- eral hospital center at Nantes, that is to say, it was man- aged by medical officers contributed from more than one hospital there stationed, and drew its special cases in the same manner from any of the base hospitals constituting the Center. Here all the psychoneuroses and other men- tal diseases were studied and treated. There were not many patients with organic cardiac disease; very few were admitted with symptoms of broken compensation. "Effort syndromes" included a most unsatisfactory group to treat from the point of 62 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT view of returning them as Class "A" for combat duty, and they were usually retained for S. O. S. In general, the respiratory infections nowise differed from the classical types observed in civil practice. There are a few exceptions to this statement; hemolytic strep- tococcal infections were often insidious, of undefined symptoms and signs, and almost constantly hopelessly fatal. Bronchopneumonia showed, in fatal cases, a par- ticular tendency to coalescent massive types simulating lobar. Any pneumonia superimposed upon lesions due to gassing, was extremely fatal, the secondary infection probably being the determining factor. In acute pulmo- nary affections complications were not unusual; empy- ema was of ordinary incidence. Pneumonia in some form caused 21 deaths, about 85 per cent, of the deaths in medical cases, 26 per cent, of all deaths from all causes, occurring in this hospital. It was impossible to obtain complete typing of organisms in all cases, in the large number in which it was done, however, the clinical results conformed to the accepted statements of their relative virulence. The case mortality was about 23 per cent. Influenza did less harm than in many centers else- where in France and in America; 630 patients were ad- mitted with this diagnosis; it was not a large number considering the epidemic. Pulmonary complications, tracheobronchitis or pneumonia, approached 90 per cent, to 95 per cent, of all cases, bronchitis being so common MEDICAL DIVISION 63 as to constitute an almost constant feature. A mild epidemic involving about 40 per cent, of the command, occurred in September and October, 1918. The recur- rence of the epidemic noted in the States was not con- spicuous in this hospital. Relapses and probably true second attacks were observed. The bacteriology of these cases disclosed no single predominating organism; pneu- mococci, streptococci and staphylococci, Bacillus of Pfeiffer, Micrococcus catarrhalis, colon bacilli and even gas organisms were encountered; the infections were quite constantly polymicrobic. Patients who had been gassed constituted a most tragic group. Those having only conjunctivitis result- ing from contact didwell and usually recovered promptly without local after effects. Gas inhalation cases were treacherous, uncertain, manifested prolonged symptoms and signs, and often were fatal even after several weeks; they comprised 10 per cent, of all deaths in the hospital and usually came to autopsy with a pathology widely divergent from what had been expected from physical examination during life. The postmortem findings in these cases included catarrhal, ulcerative, hemorrhagic, suppurative or even gangrenous laryngo-tracheobron- chitis, fibrinous bronchitis, peribronchial infiltration and pneumonia; pneumonia of several types, pulmonary suppuration, gangrene, atelectasis, emphysema and edema were observed in fatal cases. It is to be recorded that no other deaths were preceded by more distressing 64 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT symptoms than those observed in gassed soldiers; some- times for as long as two weeks they were slowly asphyx- iated by hypersecretion and exudation and finally liter- ally drowned by a flooded respiratory tract. Often death was tortuously delayed. Gas contact, causing skin burns, was frequent and aggravated the seriousness of inhalation. Two inhalation cases developed typical attacks of bronchial asthma including the presence of eosinophilia. They denied ever having had asthmatic attacks previously. Kidney disease was not common; less than six cases of acute or sub-acute nephritis were admitted; they varied in no way from this condition as observed in civil practice. Chronic nephritis was not encountered. Mumps was an annoyingly common disease, orchitis frequent. One case of what appeared to be submaxillary mumps occurred without parotid involvement; fatalities and unusual complications did not occur. Diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, Vincent's angina and erysipelas, were infrequent. In these cases isolation was always attempted. Tents helped to solve the problem and in a tent extension of the hospital there were at times 450 patients; not all of these were suffering from contagious maladies, and fortunately the hospital was singularly free from epidemic outbreaks; it was indeed a matter of frequent comment how little pneumonia, influenza and other contagious diseases spread within the institution. No special credit is assumed for this good fortune; it MEDICAL DIVISION 65 seems likely that most cases of influenza and pneumonia had passed the very acute stage before reaching us, far in the rear as we were. Be that as it may, however, the fact remains that the death rate in the medical service was not large and the uncontrollable spread of epidemics so disheartening elsewhere in some areas in France and at home, fortunately was not manifested here. No deaths from tuberculosis came to autopsy, al- though old lesions were frequently found. Active tuberculosis was infrequent but cases were often mis- diagnosed as such, the confusion arising from residual influenzal changes and alterations of pulmonary struc- ture due to gas inhalation. The X-ray was of extreme value in the diagnosis of chest conditions, often clearing up confusing phenomena. Gastroenteric symptoms were very common, fre- quently of short duration, and usually without serious consequences; one case was proven to be a specific dys- entery. Most of the patients attributed intestinal out- breaks to food, water and living conditions; fatigue and exhaustion no doubt played a large part. An uncon- trollable fly nuisance probably caused many of the mild cases developing within the hospital. Screening was not available except for the kitchen, and not for that build- ing until August, 1918. Beginning with the overflow from "34"-mostly con- valescents-soon trains began delivering to "38" directly so that day by day the number of patients increased, 66 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT often slowly, the number evacuated almost constantly falling below the number admitted; occasionally large accessions greatly exceeded discharges, at which times the population rose rapidly. The maximum of 2412 patients on the daily census was reached in November, 1918. At this time the work was made somewhat lighter by the establishment of another hospital in the Center, but as the Staff of this new hospital was drawn from others in the center, including "38," the relief was more apparent than real. Practically all drinking water in France being con- taminated with organic matter, including colon bacilli, it was necessary to use chlorinated water for drinking- purposes, which, even when properly prepared, is not palatable and when prepared by the inexperienced and unskilled frequently becomes a most uninviting bev- erage. No provision had been made to combat the fly pest and before a week all felt very sympathetic toward the Egyptians under a like visitation. At first none of the wards, latrines, kitchens, dining-rooms or operating rooms were screened, and wire screening was to be had only at a prohibitive cost. No doubt much of the prev- alent intestinal affections was due to the hyperactivity of the Gallic fly. At any rate the number of these cases lessened coincidently with the disappearance of the fly in the colder weather of the autumn. Swamps, open drains and neglected pools afforded superior facilities MEDICAL DIVISION 67 for mosquito breeding, and these pests also came to harass and endanger patients, officers, nurses and the command in general; consequently an active anti-mos- quito campaign was constantly maintained throughout the summer. An officer of the Medical Division was designated to serve as a member of the Disability Board of the Hos- pital. Major Henry was the first to act in this capacity and after he was ordered to the advanced sector was succeeded by Captain Mohler. The Disability Board met at least three times weekly, and for some of the time, daily, to pass on questions that pertained to a patient's fitness to resume active service, to be assigned to duty in the rear, heavy or light, according to his condition, or to be returned to the United States as no longer of use to the A. E. F. The work of the Disability Board was often trying, time consuming, and the results not always satisfactory. Nevertheless, conscientious effort was al- ways directed to the administration of justice as the workers saw it, with the ever-present leaning toward the individual rather than toward the State. Major Henry was ordered to the Army Sanitary School at Langres, August 19, 1918, subsequently to Toul, and thence to Headquarters of 89th Division "for the purpose of studying the problems of a Division in action." On his return on October 1st he became Com- manding Officer; Captain Henry K. Mohler, who had been Chief of the Medical Service during Major 68 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Henry's absence, remained so until the latter part of November, when Lt.-Col. Lowman returned and be- came Commanding Officer, Major Henry again resum- ing direction of the Medical Division. After the Armistice, the work became merely a ques- tion of clearing up the cases that remained over. A very few hospital trains came in; two of these were the result of a mistake. Gradually the hospital developed into a convalescent camp in function, and in January the or- ganization was relieved, Evacuation Hospital No. 31 assuming charge. The professional work of "38" came to an end; how- ever, "reports" were still in order and through several weeks junior officers and many "non-coms" and others spent wearying hours in putting on paper what had been accomplished. To most of us it all lies behind like an almost forgotten dream which perchance these sketchy reports may help us to recall. VIII SURGICAL DIVISION WHETHER fallen from Edenic bowers, gor- geous with primeval foliage and flower and perfumed by the rose and the jasmine, or risen from the repulsive slime of protozoal wallows, man, in his course, has been wounded by the sharp stones and broken thorns of many paths, scratched by briar and bramble, bones broken and joints dislocated by beasts of prey and by perilous falls, flesh bruised and torn by wild animals and into his veins venomed fangs have injected revolting death. Naturally primeval man must have acquired crude skill in treating wounds, but through aeons his methods were often quite as barbarous as the vulnerating forces that caused his injuries. His mind dominated by the supernatural, superstition supplanting reason, myth and distorted tradition his guides, he ate the flesh and wore the skins of lions and tigers, hoped to induce fear by painted and distorted features, sought strength, endur- ance and bravery by taking the powdered teeth of nature's fiercest beasts and hunted the herbs upon which he believed venomous serpents fed, thinking that from 69 70 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT such a source he might obtain some protecting or cura- tive antidote. Herein was born his surgery and even within authentic history he treated serpent bites by the red-hot iron and stopped bleeding by plunging the living stump of a freshly amputated limb into boiling pitch. From this desolate quagmire of ignorance, cruelty and superstition, sprang surgery, at first a revolting, cruel, inefficient, almost worthless proceeding which, quite within the memory of men still living, has become the leafed, blossomed and fruited giant in the fertile forest of medical science and healing art. From barber surgeon and bonesetter to the modern accomplished practitioner of surgery, has been a long and perilous journey with its variegated story of disaster and death to success and victory written in trial, tribulation, heroism and glory. Peace had its victories, but war has long been the surgeon's own; from first-aid dressing station on the shell-swept field or in foul and muddy trench, through clearing station, mobile unit, field hospital, back by way of stations for the care of nontransportables, upon hos- pital trains and ships, in base hospitals, civilian hospitals and in the later period of post-war reconstruction, sur- gery became a veritable ministering angel. Never before in all the crimson history of combative strife was so much demanded or so much achieved. Surgery well may wear her laurels; they have been nobly won and richly merited. Even before "38" was fully prepared to receive SURGICAL DIVISION 71 patients some of the officers were proceeding to or had reached the front. They traveled on trains all but light- less, over roads that by night were often without effect- ive protecting signal systems, through perilous tunnels and over bridges that were sometimes unsafe. Often long journeys were necessary, rest infrequent, brief and inadequate; food scanty, picked largely by chance, rarely attractive, and sometimes unwholesome or even dangerous. Stations were without lights, forbidding and foreboding, and once beautiful towns of radiant France were often deserted, desolate, cheerless and for- lorn. Even Paris, that queen of transcendent art, once gay and joyous, seemed like a huge deserted village; nights hideous; here and there a miniature purplish- blue light; often one could not see the face of a com- panion; windows darkened, frequently boarded. Busi- ness suspended at dark, few conveyances, often none available; silence of the tomb. "Abri" (shelters from aeroplane bomb) indicated here and there and, for many weeks, one could follow the speeding time by the sound of exploding shells from "busy Bertha," the long dis- tance cannon that practically always hit the huge target, about 20 to 25 miles square, formed by the City of Paris. Monuments, statuary, arches and columns, part of the beauty and grandeur of the world's first city, protected by huge piles of sand bags around which men and women scampered by day or stealthily crept through the still night like ants and bugs. Moonlight helped greatly, but 72 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT made more weird the sepulchered city. War's withering touch on field, flower and fane; women, weary and haggard, in the habiliments of mourning working at stations, repairing road-beds, lugging baggage, freight and mails; here and there an armless or otherwise muti- lated "poilu" and old men-one often felt that this was a land of old men-trying to do the work of youth. Small towns were worse than large, and the latter worse than Paris. Some Victor Hugo may come to paint a word picture of the devastated regions and of the battle- fields and the zone of combat as the great master did of Waterloo, none other need try. By day, as trains entered the advanced sector and often before, the discerning traveler could observe anti- aircraft stations, occasionally camouflaged but usually in the open, and could recognize the fierce little cannon and the alert, active, faithful band that stood ever on guard. One fancied there might be some special hazard in the detail but probably there was little danger. The good accomplished was largely protective in that flight was driven high and thereby accuracy of bombing made most uncertain. About war-stricken and deserted Nancy, especially near the railroad station, bombs had wrecked many structures, but the depot and the road-bed had escaped direct hit. Where bombs fell often the destruc- tion was complete; great trees would be uprooted, buildings blown to fragments and secondary projectiles, composed of pieces of brick, stone, steel or other solid SURGICAL DIVISION 73 body, spread disaster and death in every direction. Five men standing in an open square in Paris were all found dead after an aeroplane bomb had fallen and exploded nearly one block distant; not one showed a wound; all had been killed by the concussion alone. These air-raids came mostly at night; as is well known, hospitals clearly marked did not escape; as a matter of fact, and to the eternal shame of the barbarian, they were frequently purposely attacked. Often far back of the battle lines, nights were peaceful and still, but air-raids might come at any hour; the nearing hum of motors, the whir, and in the darkness the unseen, often brought to man that apprehensive fear one sees manifested in animals when sensing danger they cannot comprehend; something uncanny, weird, unspeakably depressing, bringing an overpowering apprehensiveness, crept over every sentient thing; with man even the ani- mals shared the feeling; possibly it was fear but never quaking cowardice. Then out of the heavens fell devas- tating death and disaster; the song of the motors passed and returned, and all must be lived over again. The night raid was the constantly recurring climax of the "big show," as the combat zone was frequently termed. Into this land of unknown terrors went officers, nurses and enlisted men of the hospital corps. Fortu- nately all from "38" lived through those memorable scenes, some returning to the base, others, especially nurses, going on with the victorious invaders and serving 74 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT with the American Forces in Germany-the A. F. G. Details from "38" served in many capacities; some, like Major Stellwagen later joined by Captains Hays and Hustead, and Major Forst, were with mobile units; Majors Nassau, Lowman and Hoyt, and Lieutenants Englerth and Williamson were first on observation de- tails and later formed operating teams; Major Musser also served on one of the details. Captains Mohler and Tyson were on shock duty. Some of the nurses and en- listed men also participated in this advanced sector work. The detail of heads of services, noted in the gen- eral history of the organization, dealt a severe blow to the surgical division, Majors Nassau, Stellwagen, Hoyt, Lowman, Musser and Forst, Captains Hustead and Hays, and Lieutenants Tyson, Englerth, Williamson and Bailey got away; Majors Nassau, Stellwagen and Hoyt were on details throughout the entire period of military activity, returning long after the Armistice, the others came back at varying periods; Major Lowman was ill for several weeks and later became Commanding Officer. Captain Owen, at first on a local detail at "34," returned to take charge of the Surgical Division over which he presided during the absence of others which included practically all of the period of military activity during which "38" was busiest. Those who worked with him, helped bear the real burden of the Base, were Major Musser, Captains James, Mauney and Frantz, and Lieutenants Williamson, McConaughey, Davidson SURGICAL DIVISION 75 and Lull. Captain Hustead had charge of wards before he received orders to the front. The untimely death of Captain Mauney further crippled the Surgical Division. At Nantes, in the Base itself, through part of July and all of August, September, October and much of No- vember, the pressure steadily increased until surgical wards were crowded and operating rooms busily occu- pied often throughout the day and until late in the night; frequently the arrival of a hospital train, the tragedy of secondary hemorrhage, and many other emergencies of one kind or another called tired officers, nurses and men from the peace and comfort of well-earned sleep. On many occasions officers, nurses and men were dog-tired, even with the shifting of details and such arrangement of calls as seemed possible to distribute work and equalize effort as best could be done. Three tables in use simul- taneously made a busy operating room. Fifteen of the 21 wards, manned by the enlisted personnel, were as- signed to surgical cases; as each of the wards, except those devoted to fractures, had 56 beds, it will be seen that considerably over 700 active surgical cases, exclu- sive of fractures, were often under observation at one time. Fracture wards, with beds surrounded by Balkan frames, looking like weird looms or machines of some kind, were busy places; when one recalls that many patients with gunshot fractures of bones of thigh or leg had fallen in charges, laid for hours in the open, in shell holes, in trenches, rough dugouts, and at various stations 76 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT along the line, the marvelous endurance and patient suf- fering must ever be mentioned with a sense of apprecia- tion and of pride in our heroic soldiers. The first operations were before the surgical equip- ment arrived; instruments were gathered from kits in officers' belts, and sterilized in wash basins; the latter with dressings, etc., had been boiled in washboilers or galvanized cans over oil stoves or open fires; the crude incompleted area in which the operation was done was destined later to become a sterilizing room. Improvising in emergencies, and attaining satisfactory results in the face of towering obstacles must be traits of Jefferson men; they all seemed to possess them. When a train arrived, transportation to the hospital was rushed with utmost speed consistent with the safety and comfort of the incoming soldiers. Here the training of enlisted personnel showed best; tenderness, patience, sympathy, shared with expedition and efficiency; in rain or shine, during the day or night-no matter, ambu- lances must proceed with care, and rapidity must ever yield to cautiousness and to consideration of the suffer- ers. The wounded were given the promptest treatment possible, every effort being made to care for the most seriously injured first. Diagnosis tags must be in- spected, bandages and dressings first hastily examined, and then, as time became available, removed, wounds cleansed and redressed. Much of this was done in the wards; some patients went at once to the operating SURGICAL DIVISION 77 rooms. The constant shortage of nurses-how we missed our absent ones-threw much of the ward work on men of the corps; no officer recalls a single instance where any enlisted man neglected a duty or evaded an oppor- tunity to do all within his power. Sometimes patients overflowed into an adjoining base; at one time "38" occupied ten wards not previously assigned, but await- ing the arrival of another organization; when a rush came in, often in anticipation of such an emergency, obvious convalescents and those who could be safely handled as such were transferred to tents and in this way beds were released for newcomers. This sense of ever- impending emergency kept officers and men in an endur- ing state of preparedness, always ready. In addition to the care of patients properly assigned to their respective specialties, Majors Forst and Burns and Captain Hays, while with the organization, often shared laborious days and even nights on general ward duty. Special mention should be made of the invaluable assistance of Captain, later Major Gaskill and Lieuten- ant Stone, busy men of the Dental Corps who, in addi- tion to the work properly belonging to their department served valiantly in the operating rooms. Anesthesia was often dangerous and always required unusual care; here men of the Dental Corps served nobly. Operating rooms were always occupied, in prepara- tion, or ready; when trains arrived the tables were likely to be busy and even between such rushes, during the 78 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT period of military activity, operations were practically always in progress or preparations were being made. Much that goes on in the operating room of a civilian hospital came also to the surgeon's table; even the old surgical standby, appendicitis. Marvil and Cunning- ham of the motor-cycle squad ran into, but failed seri- ously to damage, large motor trucks, although the men acquired positions on the sick and wounded list. Many motor-cycle aviators are passing off places where the roads of France struck them, as genuine 16-inch shell injuries; some also acquired shell-shock in this manner; of course none of "38" belong with either of these groups. Surgical experiences will never be forgotten; even details will abide. The bravery, endurance, patience in suffering, constantly manifested by the wounded, im- pressed everyone. When every movement meant agony, when lips were pale and bloodless, hands cold and trem- bling, men came to the trial of operation or dressing as only the brave can come; many of these heroes earned decorations for bravery that, in the combat zone, would have been bestowed with acclaim. Nothing was more sadly harrowing than to see some of these fine fellows broken on the rack of the high explosive, with frag- mented bones and gaping wounds, always infected and often gangrenous, also gasping for breath and dying that death of hell's own sireing due to gassing; throats afire, raw and bleeding, skin falling off from great areas, SURGICAL DIVISION 79 noses swollen almost or quite shut, tongues tender as a nerve and the water of lung edema bubbling its harass- ing rattle even though the soldier was not yet in the blessed unconsciousness of lethe that the good God usually sends before the slowly advancing sickle strikes its final blow. How any human being short of the fero- cious barbarian can condone or justify "gas warfare" seems a mystery; to die of wounds is bad enough, to die as the result of war-gas is immeasurably worse, but the summation of hellish torture, born of a devil's fiendish mania, is wound and gas; all the fertile resources of tor- turing demons, evolved through the ages of unspeakable cruelty, fall impotent and mild before the dragon of this agonic death. Possibly death is only transition, an incident, and though we shrink from the thought of the coffin and the shroud, it may be far more merciful than to live; Dr. Keen has told us how calm is the usual approach and many have noted how often last thoughts are more of others than of self. But living-that is different; on through the days of pain and worse nights, even when science has done its all, tries men's soul. Heroes who lived and fought on to victory were not uncommon. Nurses were invaluable and so deplorably few; into this breech officers and enlisted men brought untold help; individuals, conspicuous for supreme achievement, might be mentioned but they would not wish it; everybody did his bit; the doctor and the nurse, of course, but special 80 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT mention must be macle of the work done by the enlisted men; probably they had not looked forward to such duties, and the more conspicuous becomes that omnipo- tent will to dare and to do-to achieve; quite unused to such harrowing work, unfamiliar with its trying de- mands, one can but wonder how nobly they met emer- gencies, how quickly they grasped situations, how splendidly they served their comrades. The truly American youth-our men were all of that-is versatile and resourceful beyond all others. Men who marched through Brest announcing the arrival of the "gang," yelled "can the Kaiser" from trains, "get you Heine" on No-man's land, and who wound up the watch on the Rhine, failed nowhere, least of all in duty to their wounded comrades or to the organization with which they served. A report, largely intended for general circulation, cannot go into technical and scientific detail. Surgery of all kinds was demanded; appendix and gall-bladder claimed their share, 17 of the former to one of the latter; even mastoid operations were found necessary; many wounds were opened for drainage or closed to hasten healing; fractured bones that did not unite required operative assistance; torn and severed nerves demanded suture; a few amputations but such occasionally neces- sary mutilations were conspicuous by their infrequency. Stalking foreign bodies occupied hours and hours and developed patience that would have brought new honors SURGICAL DIVISION 81 to Job; these concealed sources of irritation and infec- tion that delayed or frustrated repair, comprised almost every conceivable article from buttons to bullets, and also included fragments of shells, pieces of clothing, leather from belts and foot-gear, splinters from hand- grenades, slivers of stone hurled by exploding shell or bomb, bone fragments, and many articles of undeter- mined nature and unknown origin. As to size and location, a foreign body might be no bigger than a period but in the eye it could cause blindness and if infected, as practically all were, it could lead to suppura- tion and death; pieces of metal weighing a pound or more were sometimes buried in flesh; until disclosed by the X-ray many foreign bodies were quite unsuspected and the roentgenologic search not infrequently consti- tuted an X-ray survey that extended from head to feet. Infection everywhere; gas gangrene, streptococci, pus in the chest, suppurating jointsand fractured bones reek- ing with bacteria, but not a single case of lockjaw was admitted to or developed in the hospital center through which thousands of patients passed; obviously this was due to tetanus prophylaxis-the primary immunizing use of anti-tetanic serum. What a glorious record. In the surgical division there were only 34 deaths; nearly 1200 operations were performed, many of serious mag- nitude, often on war-wrecked, exhausted and fevered sufferers, nevertheless, the results achieved surpassed every reasonable anticipation. 82 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT After the Armistice some reconstruction surgery was done, operations diminished in number and severity and finally the surgical service with others passed over to the succeeding organization. Men and women from "38" had done their duty, had given their best, the gods could do no more. Those who passed over the Great Divide shall never be forgotten, and those who returned will never forget. Memory, immortal, enshrines the pleasant and the revolting, the amusing and the tragic, trembling fear if such there was and the ever-present unconquer- able and uncrushed heroism, the demoniac and the godlike, man in all his moods and aspects. In the midst of such scenes undying friendships were born and those who came away will ever feel the touch of hands though continents lie between. IX LABORATORY DIVISION THE plan of a Hospital Center, such as Nantes, contemplated a central laboratory in charge of a Laboratory Officer and, in addition, each Base Hospital was supposed to have its own clinical labora- tory ; on this basis there would be one central laboratory and as many subsidiary laboratories as there were hos- pitals. When "38" reached Nantes the laboratory of No. 34 was in operation; the buildings for our organiza- tion were under construction and not completed for some weeks, but soon after our arrival the laboratory detail became active. Major Coplin during his brief stay directed the organization and installation of equip- ment the details of which were executed by Lieutenant Julian E. Meyer and Lieutenant Marshall W. Sinclair, and the laboratory personnel including Sergeants Eu- gene Bellem and George Allen Smith, and Privates Joseph Jones, 3rd, Frank Todd and Frank Frei. Some- thing was done in July but not until August was the necessary equipment received and the work actively begun. The functions of a base hospital laboratory such as 83 84 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT that of "38" are not unlike those of a civilian hospital in time of peace, different mostly in the magnitude of cer- tain phases of the work; this particularly applies to wound bacteriology which, during the world's war at- tained a prominence never before reached; the almost universality of infection of all open wounds, the fre- quency of gas gangrene and the ubiquity of gas organ- isms and other wound bacteria gave the study of wound flora an importance of the first order. Impending ery- sipelas or other streptococcic infection and gas gangrene could be detected and established by laboratory exami- nation and usually, with certainty, by no other means. Theoretically all wounds required investigation but the magnitude of such an order would have overwhelmed any laboratory in Christendom; most wounds were studied and important ones, notably those regarded by the attending officer as suspicious, received special con- sideration. The indubitable diagnosis of malaria fell to the laboratory and, in other cases, blood examinations often told how a patient was doing, what his chances were and whether or not he might be expected to with- stand an operation. The attending officer might suspect an infection and the laboratory allay his fears or support his conviction. The kind of pneumonia, the particular organism causing it, and the strain or type could be determined by the laboratory; when it is recalled that a hospital in a single week had under treatment more than 800 patients believed to have pneumonia, the magnitude LABORATORY DIVISION 85 of laboratory activity may, in some degree, be realized. Then other epidemiologic questions-diphtheria, ty- phoid, the dysenteries, cerebrospinal fever-created ad- ditional demands; in many of these conditions prompt diagnosis and early treatment were possible only when the laboratory had been able to complete a satisfactory examination and submit a report. Serology also claimed considerable attention. Laboratories were the routine purveyors of all thera- peutic sera, antitoxins and vaccines, made many of them, carried stocks of such agents, often administered them, and always were called upon to fill requisitions. This of itself was an important and large undertaking. As all water for drinking purposes was infected and as chlorinization was necessary, this required constant laboratory control. Division laboratories tested out waters, passed on their potability, and supervised meas- ures to make the bad and unsatisfactory safe for use. At times the sterilization of dressings, instruments and ligatures, indeed all operating room technic, came in for a share in the time and resources of the laboratory worker. The examination of the dead that the living might be better administered to, was one of the many duties. By delayed primary, or by secondary suture, sur- geons often desired to close many open wounds, both recent and old, thereby lessening suffering and hastening recovery; but before such procedures could be applied, 86 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT the wound must first be shown to be sterile, or relatively so, and this usually required frequent and, many times, tedious or at least technically trying bacteriologic study. Reports, reports, then more reports, must be pre- pared, all of which required time. The scientific features, the practical and other results of much of this work during, and notably after the war, formed the texts of many papers that, from time to time, have been read before medical and other scientific organ- izations and later appeared in medical publications. Those phases of the work would be out of place here. The one thing that every detail seemed to make con- stantly and obtrusively evident was the frightful inhu- manity of war; the atrocious barbarism of it all; fatal infections, the frightful injuries, mutilations, many a face forever disfigured, the wrecks that came to the morgues, sightless staring eyes, ruptured eardrums, gassed larynges and water-logged lungs, the human body devastated, crushed and destroyed like a summer garden in Flanders, the broken clay, the ruin from which the flower had been despoiled or whence the soul had fled-these, like veritable demons, laughed at the painted veneer figure called civilization, and mocked the hypocrisy that sometimes masquerades as following the meek and lowly, the just and forgiving, the humane and divine Nazarene. X NURSING DIVISION "There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels or cloths, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin, which crawled about the floors and walls of the dreadful den of dirt, pestilence and death to which they were consigned." "Where were they (the wounded) to go? Not an available bed. They were laid on the floor one after another, till the beds were emptied of those dying of cholera and every other disease. Many died immediately after being brought in-their moans would pierce the heart-and the look of agony on those poor dying faces will never leave my heart." "It is now pouring rain, the skies are black as ink, the wind is howling over the staggering tents, the trenches are turned into dykes; in the tents the water is sometimes a foot deep; our men have not either warm or waterproof clothing; they are out for twelve hours at a time in the trenches; they are plunged into the inevitable miseries of a winter campaign-and not a soul to care for their comfort, or even for their lives. These are hard truths, but the people of England must hear them. They must know that the wretched beggar who wanders about the streets, leads the life of a prince compared with the British soldiers who are fighting out here for their country." 87 88 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT "The commonest accessories of a hospital are wanting; there is not the least attention paid to decency or clean linen; the stench is appalling; the fetid air can hardly struggle out to taint the atmos- phere, save through the chinks in the walls and roofs; and for all I can observe, these men die without the least effort being made to save them. There they lie, just as they were let gently down on the ground by the poor fellows, their comrades, who brought them on their backs from the camp with the greatest tenderness, but who are not allowed to remain with them. The sick appear to be tended by the sick, and the dying by the dying." "The snow was three feet deep on a level, and the cold so intense that many soldiers were frozen to their tents." "The wounded from the battle-plain, In dreary hospitals of pain, The cheerless corridors, The cold and stony floors.'' THE foregoing are no dreams of tragic dramat- ists, born not of the fertile minds of Poe, of Rider Haggard or of Maupassant, but the grave and sober pen of history, as best it can, is telling the people at home, and incidentally civilization, something of the horrors of war; men and women sweltering in the despair of so-called hospitals, are trying to tell the sad story of the care of the sick and wounded in a war which, next to that just closed, was the most cruel and barbarous in all the black and crimson record of the ages; theirs is the tale of war's inhumanity before the gentler hand of ministering woman came NURSING DIVISION 89 "like a poultice to heal the blows" of combat. History with pen of verity is recording what care the stricken soldier received before woman brought to the scene her overflowing heart, her flagon of mercy, her tender and skilled hand and the untiring effort to smooth the paths over which passed the war-wrecked victim of strife from the "glories" of war to a forgotten grave far from the care of those whose love death leaves desolate. It is true that man moves on, that the combative male is now probably less cruel and possibly more kind but those who saw his best efforts in the world war must know that without woman the corridors of agony in hos- pitals once called palaces of pain would have mirrored much of man's official indifference and stupidity with all their horrid outcome that damned to eternal infamy the records of the Crimea. Hell that it is, the unspeakable depths of hopeless despair is reached when the sick and wounded of war are left to the care of skilless untrained men; woman and she alone, could rift the darkness, bring the lamp of mercy, the anodyne of confidence and the tenderness of hope within the whitewashed walls where the dead and the dying lay. "Singing pillow for you, smoothed; smart and ache and anguish soothed, By the readiness of feminine invention; Singing fever's thirst allayed, and the bed you've tumbled made With a cheerful and considerate attention." Through the years that are to come let woman ordain 90 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT that when man goes forth to battle with the tragedies of existence, whether in peace or war, mid civil or industrial disaster, whether flood, wreck, earthquake, fire or other calamity, or killing battle, calls him to danger and it may be to death, she, tender and skilled must do her share; all the ages have shown that such is her wish; let it be her command; there is none other who can do this labor of love and mercy. With the gruesome story of the Crimea still ringing in our ears, while not yet forgotten the suffering of our civil war and with the awful tragedy of fly-borne typhoid and dysentery and their holocaust of suffering and death during the Spanish-American war, the Amer- ican people had not provided adequate nursing facilities even for a small flare-up and much less for a conflagra- tion such as swept the world during the fateful years of 1914 to 1918. In civil life, even to this day, the number of trained or only partially trained nurses is totally un- equal to the urgent demands of peace time; how much less efficiently could be met a hospital expansion which by December 1, 1919, reached 399,510 beds of which 287,290 were overseas, and practically all were over and above any previously occupied, in other words were new beds and the necessary result of war-time exigencies. [Ayers.] Minds with vision saw, foretold, and early began a movement to meet, at least in some small way, this threatening and shocking situation. The army authori- NURSING DIVISION 91 ties had been provided with no adequate means, no "offi- cial" avenue properly financed through which might be brought to action anything like the number of trained women that all realized must be provided; it is doubt- ful whether, if the most accurate estimate of need could have been approached, the number would have been available. Even had some prophetic mind foretold the number, the nursing resources of the country could not have filled the requisition. Had every graduate nurse volunteered the deficiency would have remained deplor- able, hospitals and training schools would have been stripped of much needed skill, departments of institu- tions would have been deprived of experienced super- vision, training of pupils interrupted and made difficult or impossible, the civilian sick left unattended and the army shortage no more than shifted to civil life where existing demands were equally urgent and, during the influenza epidemic, the entire country felt, as never before, the totally inadequate supply of qualified nurses. Again, all active nurses could not serve; some were unfitted for or physically unequal to the hardships of war; others were widows with loved ones entirely de- pendent upon them, many had mothers who must be supported, and had responsibilities that could not be set aside. A very considerable number were, to varying degrees, unfitted for the trying, multitudinous and varied responsibilities of military service. The Army Nursing Corps, efficient as it was, could be 92 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT but a small factor, scarcely adequate to the restricted demands of peace time and of course wholly and hope- lessly too small for the enormous bed expansion now im- pending. The American Red Cross again turned its helpful activities to the situation. Miss Margaret Delano-quiet, resourceful, efficient organizer that she was, took charge of a movement that did all humanly possible to meet the inevitable. In the early months fol- lowing the declaration of war every effort was made to enroll a large number of trained women who thereby became Red Cross nurses, subject to call and ready for service. When the organization of "38" began there had already been provided in Philadelphia, nursing staffs of three Base Hospitals (Numbers 10, 20, and 34) and several Navy Bases and smaller units, consequently the supply at one time available, was depleted. Miss Clara Melville, Directress of Nurses in the Jefferson Hospital, volunteered to obtain the requisite number of trained nurses-one hundred; after great effort and many diffi- culties the number was enrolled and the Director was able to report a completed personnel. For many reasons some withdrew, illness befell others, so that from time to time many changes were made; even on the day of sailing, as already stated, one of this heroic band closed life's conflict and her living sisters sailed away with this sad reminder held close to their hearts. The names of the nurses who finally shared in the ad- NURSING DIVISION 93 venture are given with the personnel, in Appendix "A." The Nursing Corps was mustered into service March 2, 1918, and on March 4th proceeded to Lakewood, N. J. The nurses remained in Lakewood two weeks and then proceeded to New York for final equipment. It required four weeks for completing preparations. On May 18, 1918, they boarded the "Saturnia," bound for somewhere, perhaps France. After nearly .two weeks' voyage, with all the thrills of a submarine scare, and, at times low steam due to bad coal, they disembarked at Liverpool; this was June 1, 1918. In Liverpool the nurses were met by a representative of the King, given a few words of welcome, and immediately placed on board a train for Southampton. After traveling all day through a beautiful section of England with its artistic stone walls, pretty green hills and picturesque mustard fields, the journey ended in the quaint old City of Southampton; there they rested until the following evening when the journey was resumed, crossing the treacherous English Channel and arriving at LeHarve, France, 5 a. m. ; they did not disembark until the morn- ing was at its height. The stay in LeHarve wTas two days; from this port the group proceeded to Paris where, after three hours the nurses again entrained on the last bit of their journey to Nantes, the location of the Base Hospital. They reached their destination about 4 a. m. June 6, 1918, some three weeks after leaving New York. At Nantes the group was broken up and, as the 94 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Chauteau-Thierry drive was being planned, as many nurses as could be spared from the Center were sent nearer the front; the Corps was divided into smaller groups and detailed to advanced stations where more urgent needs existed or it was known that trained nurs- ing skill would soon be necessary. By the time the other personnel of "38" arrived and the hospital began its activities, only seven nurses remained. When active duty began Miss Melville and this small group of seven of the original command were left to organize and operate a hospital which started on a basis of 500 beds and later reached a daily census exceeding 2400. Thirty-eight was the first barrack hospital of the developing center, the first in the open field to receive patients and, as usual under such conditions, started out with many handicaps none of which, however, was more disconcerting, discouraging and crippling than the nu- merically inadequate supply of nurses. What was lacking in number, however, was compensated for, at least so far as was humanly possible, by the energy, effi- ciency and devotion of the overworked but loyal little band; they did wonders. Finally, a Chicago Base Hos- pital, No. 11, came in to occupy an adjacent group of buildings and to constitute another unit in the Center; they shared their nurses and helped out greatly, although at no time during the period of military activity, nor indeed for some time afterward, did any hospital in the Center approach a proper quota of nurses. Men helped NURSING DIVISION 95 out and did splendid work but the loss of our nurses was the one hampering fact constantly and obtrusively evi- dent, appallingly so during the busy days following the arrival of trains almost direct from the front, bringing many acutely wounded and badly gassed sufferers. Nursing in military hospitals, far from any ready source of supply, in temporary buildings, surrounded by mud, crowded, often cold and dark, with 40 to 100 patients under one nurse, is as different from home nurs- ing as pole from pole. In addition to the insurmountable difficulties inherent to the situation rest hours were often, for days, impossible; the meals become movable feasts, were never alluring, usually adequate, often badly prepared, commonly reached cold and eaten hur- riedly. Even yet one smiles when nurses at home com- plain of long hours, unsatisfactory food, unattractive quarters, bad laundry service and poor beds. Nurses in the A. E. F. had all of these and as a general rule had them altogether, for the most part, all the time. Over- work was the constant rule; baths and changes were snatched here and there and it is one of the wonders that encompassed man, how these overworked women kept so clean, so well, so fit, and stood the strain. I have seen tired, almost exhausted nurses sleeping on the floor, in the corridors of heatless trains with cautious men step- ping over them and striving not to disturb their perilous, uncertain and often short repose that fancy might term rest. They nursed every form of illness, encountered 96 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT danger in all its varied manifestations, knew as none other the horrors of war, saw and sometimes shared in romance and met death with calm confidence. I find in the Journal of the American Medical Association that 284 nurses "fell on the field of honor." During epi- demics, especially in the influenza outbreak, nurses, fear- lessly and without a complaint or hesitation worked on undaunted when many strong men faltered. I recall a nurse who had been attending two soldiers having cere- brospinal fever; one died, the other was ill for weeks, suffered severe complications, one of which was a sup- purating eyeball, but finally recovered. The tired nurse was relieved at 4 p. m., went to the Nurses' Barracks, complained of headache and laid down for a brief rest; at 6 p. m. another nurse, passing the room, heard the sick girl apparently struggling and, on entering the room, found her in convulsions; the unfortunate nurse devel- oped hemorrhagic eruption, lapsed into unconsciousness and died in less than 12 hours after the initial symptom of headache. The clinical diagnosis of cerebrospinal fever was verified by bacteriologic examination; obvi- ously she had contracted the singularly crippling and frequently fatal malady from her patient; she saved his life but gave her own! This personal observation was, no doubt, a not very infrequent incident. Both nurses of "38" who fell while in the service died of transmitted infection. Such was the usual history but it must also be recalled that hos- NURSING DIVISION 97 pitals were shelled and that heroic women shared the dangers of the advanced sector and of the zone of com- bat, suffered wounds, mutilation and death, and that Edith Cavell knew the glory of martyrdom. At the Base work never dropped to anything like the normal of peace time. The hours were long, the duties trying, the gravity of many cases discouraging, the whole experience was nerve-racking-and still these in- defatigable women kept "carrying on." Mrs. Gibson stood by them, "foursquare, a tower of strength;" she always brought encouragement and her death weighed upon them-their loss was greatest and they felt it most keenly. Some weeks after the Armistice the stress lightened up a bit; influenza for a time added to their labors but finally that too passed into history and life became less strenuous. Miss Melville and those who remained with her are to be highly commended for their achievement under many difficulties; they spent many long hours of trying toil, commonly from early until late and often far into the night; if, by chance the labors of a day lessened the preparations for tomorrow called them. Operations, emergencies, the arrival of hospital trains, the departure of convalescents and of those patients who might travel, the bringing of cheer to the despondent and the tying up of loose threads meant an endless stream of opportunity on which conscience must continuously cast its crumbs of aid and comfort. They made the best of conditions 98 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT that were often beyond improvement and they bettered anything that could be helped. The absent ones were at various posts of duty; some were with operating teams at the front; with mobile units following the Army over fields still crimson and desolate, living like nomads, tenting in devastated towns, knowing hunger and filth, wretchedness and de- spair by a contact better than by name, living where death's cold visage leered at them from stretcher, oper- ating table, shock ward and bed. They heard the screech of shell, the hum of bombing planes, the explo- sion of projectiles and saw and felt the soul-racking horror of it all. Trying times these. Thrills, horrors that forever and a day will haunt memory's chambers when other things have fled. Some of these workers crossed the trenches, past shell- torn fields and razed villages of France and Belgium, leaving behind the pale anxious, grief-stricken often hungry faces of sadness and sorrow that had known the supreme agony of war for four long years, and entered beautiful, untouched Germany, a hive of industry, the fields verdant, even in December, the people still eating the lotus and not dreaming that the wolves of hunger and cold, panic, monetary collapse and want were even then growling outside the homes that later were to know how bitter defeat may be. Here I saw our nurses, tired but cheerful, serving at Prum, Trier, Mayen, Neuenahr, Coblentz and elsewhere through a winter when pneu- NURSING DIVISION 99 monia-that captain of the men of death, stilled forever many a heroic heart not yet peacefully rythmed after the palpitating joy of triumph. They saw spring bloom forth, the glories of the Mosel and Rhine and, often with smiling eyes aswim with tears saw joyous boys in khaki entrain for port and home. They too were dreaming of the homeland. To them it seemed that the slogan "Get the boys home, toot sweet" was forgetting somebody, somebody just as anxious to get back. Finally, however, some came back as casuals, or with other organizations, a few returned to Nantes, rejoined the little band of home-stayers and, in charge of Captain Hustead on March 10, 1919, boarded ship and said farewell to the country of their adventure. The unsentimental Atlantic was not in a kindly mood, its ruffled surging bosom of- fered no encradling kindness, so the 28 voyagers on March 19, 1919, found still another reason why the Statue of Liberty could become the grandest sight of all time and of all ages, and how life's dreams and its joys could all be encompassed by four letters-H O M E. * * * The torches of understand- ing have been lighted, and they ought to glow and encircle the globe.-Presi- dent Harding. Armed peace has proved itself inev- itable war.-Dr. A. J. McDonald in Toronto Globe. CLARA MELVILLE, R.N. Chief Nurse Base Hospital No. 38 ANNA W. PARSONS, R.N. Operating-Room Nurse MYRA BADORF, R.N. MABEL R. BATTEN, R.N. ANNA M. BROWN. R.N. KATHRYN J. COYNE, R.N. ANNA M. DAY. R.N. FLORA DEXTER. R.N. IRENE HAAG. R.N. MARTHA L. HENDERSON, R.N. FLORENCE JONES, R.N. EMILY A. JUMMEL, R.N. MARGARET A. KANE, R.N. ADELE M. LEWIS. R.N. sarah a. McConnell, r.n. EDA K. OHLAND; R.N. MARY A. OWENS; R.N. MERYL G. PHILLIPS, R.N. Died in Service. ANNA L. ROGERS, R.N. ELEANOR I). SCHENCK, R.N. RAY L. SCOTT, R.N. MARGARET L. SHOE BOTTOM, RJ ELLA M. SHOEMAKER. R.N. MARY E. STAFFORD, R.N. ESTHER F. TIPTON, R.N. GERTRUDE VAN PELT, R.N. MARY VAN PELT, R.N. GERTRUDE M. WILSON, R.N. CAROLINE GILTINAN Civilian Personnel ANNA D. MEGARY Civilian Personnel XI THE SOLDIER'S EYE OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SERVICE SURELY in the 4,800,000 men inducted as soldiers, sailors and marines nothing to which medical or physical attention could be given was more impor- tant than that delicate, complicated and highly efficient organ-the human eye. Of the approximately 10,000,- 000 eyes nearly 9,000,000 were in the Army, and some 4,000,000 of these in the A. E. F., saw "Old Glory" proudly waving in the breeze under friendly alien skies and triumphantly victorious in occupied domain of once proud Germany. Of the 2,084,000 pairs of eyes that reached France, 1,390,000 saw active service in the front line, saw the "glories" of war, did look-out duty on transports, watched for periscopes on the restless bosom of the Atlantic, where failure to see meant death and disaster; they and others gazed out over "no man's land" where snipers sought every moving thing, took ob- servations from captive balloons and, from perilous heights in speeding planes, peered down on the desola- tion and wreckage of devastated field and ruined town wherein, like vermin crept hostile destroying foes; those 101 102 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT eyes also directed charges, led rescuers, and always served. In war some may sleep but always there must be the ever-seeing eye that divines and directs, that guards and guides where a thousand dangers are assail- ing from heaven and earth, from land and sea, under noon-day's glare or silver moon, and when impenetrable gloom wraps all in its cloak of sodden night. A sightless army is unthinkable! So important an instrument of defense and offense, a weapon so necessary, such a delicate and vulnerable organ must be the objective of many dangers, incidental, accidental, intentional and sometimes fiendishly con- trived. In years that were, enemies darkened these win- dows of the soul by using red-hot iron; they drove in spikes, perchance, merely picked them out. No more of such gentle tenderness; man has advanced; civilization grown lusty and wise, now uses the high explosive and poison gas, thrusts in fragments of exploding shell and boring bullet, ruptures the ball by mere force of concus- sion, blinds with flying sand or other secondary projec- tile, or slowly burns the cornea to opacity, crimsons the ball to scarlet, tortures through hours, days or weeks of suffering and finally pulls down the darkening curtain by means of what we now euphoniously call "chemical warfare," "poison gas" but for which the creators of lan- guage have as yet given us no word that, from the humanitarian standpoint, may be designated as even remotely accurate or mildly descriptive. THE SOLDIER'S EYE 103 Soldiers having trustworthy eyes must be chosen; discriminations must be made as to doubtful eyes; handicapped would-be heroes must be restrained, and trembling, cowardly malingerers must not be allowed to escape conscription. When made a defender of his flag, the nation's duty, obviously, is to afford the soldier every care and attention, that the highest skill affords. Conse- quently every hospital, especially one performing the important function of a Base, must have a highly trained and experienced ophthalmologist in its professional per- sonnel. In this regard the Director found himself par- ticularly fortunate in securing such an officer in Captain John R. Forst, a man of large and mature experience, for many years a teacher and connected with several im- portant eye clinics in such prominent hospitals as the Pennsylvania and the University; the selection proved most fortunate. The history of the Eye Department of "38" must, in a large measure follow this one man; whatever he was able to do was greatly aided by the support given him by the organization of which he was a part. He always held and insists that I say that the support gave him recognition and a position without which he might have been left a casual on the uncertain sea of the United States Army and the A. E. F. Captain Forst came to "38" in May, 1917. In the army that meant very much so, when, in September, 1917, the ophthalmologist was ordered to Camp Green- 104 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT leaf, we did not know what was happening to him except that he was finally "going to war," and there was a fear that, like some others, he might be lost. Arriving at Camp Greenleaf orders were awaiting sending him to Camp Upton, N. Y. To Captain Forst "38" seemed to fade further in the distance, the attachment appeared to become less strong, and to the parent organization came the sense of impending separation, permanent detach- ment, which, fortunately, was escaped. Six months were spent at Upton with "38" almost out of mind. In October the Base Hospital was mobilized, but no orders for the officer to return came through; however, finally, on February 28,1918, he was sent back to the parent organization. His record at Upton was the examination of 3300 men, specially referred for the condition of their eyes, out of a draft of 55,000 from New York City, and the rejection of about 35 per cent, of these 3300 for visual defect. The standard U. S. Army regulations, at that time in force, were not adhered to or the percentage of rejections would have been greater. Later the revised standard of the army was much more liberal than the "38" eye department had ever dared to put into effect. On March 1, 1918, Captain Forst reported to the Armory at Broad Street and Susquehanna Avenue, be- gan getting acquainted with us and also participated in the current amusement of "preparing" on every rumor. By June 21, 1918, he had become inured to rumors and THE SOLDIER'S EYE 105 had spent considerable time principally in working in the Philadelphia hospitals and in efforts to avoid the trying battles of Stenton Field and Chadd's Ford; as usual he was very successful in escaping the pleasant services mentioned. The journey across gave no material for work and not until about July 25th was there any ophthalmologic activity. The first active duty came with the arrival of a group of convalescents sent over from "34." However, in a few days, came the first real "from the front" crowd of wounded soldiers who ever thereafter poured upon us in a fairly steady stream. The initial group of wounded who came to "38" in- cluded many gassed men and as their eyes were the most obvious of their troubles they were first sent to the Eye Ward, No. 18. That ward was soon filled and the over- flow was assigned to No. 17 and No. 19, and anywhere along the line where a very sick American soldier could find a bed and help. Soon it was found that in many cases, the eyes were the least of their injuries, and that the severe body burns were more important. They then became "surgical" patients and the eyes assumed a posi- tion of secondary importance. Later came the real eye conditions and while they were in many instances severe, there was, proportionately, very little serious eye work to be done. Things went along until September 10th when Cap- tain Forst was ordered to report to Mobile Hospital No. 106 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT 2, attached to the First Army Corps, and immediately in the advanced sector, where the "great show" was on. Here the work was much more serious when it came in, but the number of cases, compared with the general work in the hospital, so small that it seemed a waste of special training to maintain a detached ophthalmologist separated from his organization. Mobile Hospital No. 2 operated throughout the St. Mihiel and Argonne of- fensives. While the work in this hospital was largely general, the eye activities not great, it was nevertheless, a very important station because it was placed as close to the front as was safe for important operations on the wounded. This class of hospital took only what were called "non-transportable" cases; these included those wounded soldiers who must be given the earliest and most complete attention possible; it was a very necessary and valuable service. In common with the other teams sent out from "38" to this kind of hospital, the detailed officer felt he was serving to the fullest extent, and this was the purpose for which "38" was organized; in this way the American people were striving to secure for their wounded the best that could be given. It was much more distressing than the work at the Base, but the sat- isfaction of knowing that one was giving the best that could be given, was working in and nearest to the field of strife, was helping those who offered their bodies to the hail of iron and steel, served to maintain morale, encourage, and ease the horror of it all. THE SOLDIER'S EYE 107 On October 28, 1918, Captain Forst, promoted to Major, was ordered back to "38later he became Com- manding Officer, remained with the organization during the remaining months and, while still in command, was demobilized with the boys at Camp Dix, May 8,1919. I once believed in armed prepared- nesS; I advocated it. But I have come now to believe there is a better prepar- edness in a public mind and a world opinion made ready to grant justice precisely as it exacts it.-President Harding. "Germany believed in preparedness." XII NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SERVICE MENTAL CASES "Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain And with some sweet oblivious antidote, Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart?" (Macbeth.) TAKEN from the primrose paths of piping peace, from school and shop, from humming hives of industry and the mart of busy trade, men came to the severance of ties that bound heart and soul, to fare- wells that many felt or feared might be prolonged into the Beyond, to the trials of camp and of training, to perilous voyage on crowded troopship over storm-swept seas laden with mines and beset by vicious, treacherous submarines that, in the silent night, at morn's awaken- ing, or in twilight's fading hour, with torpedo, cruelly stabbed like the lurking assassin and sent men unshriven to watery graves; beyond all this they disembarked in a strange land, a land of war's sorrow, hastily "rested," retrained, were brought into so-called "quiet sectors" of the battle line and finally were thrown into the cataclysm 109 110 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT of combat, to see war in all its ferocious grimness, to live under the scream of shrieking shell, amid the deafening roar of exploding bomb, and the rattle of machine gun and of rifle fire, to know the agony of flaming death, of suffocating gas that gripped the breath with its vitrolic, throttling strangle, to be transported on lurching stretcher, careening ambulance and jolting train, to live with death all about-is it any wonder that reason some- times tottered and fell; that "shell-shock" claimed its thousands and that the strong and valiant often came in staggering like drunken men, oblivious to all about them, memory dethroned, and chaos ranting through the chambers of once orderly minds? Midst such "glory" of war reason crumpled like a burning balloon, and bodies, sometimes wound-free and physically whole, wandered back to commands, to towns and cities and into the S. O. S., like unpiloted, rudderless hulks on some surging desolate sea of ob- livion. It was all unbelievable but nevertheless trag- ically true; Sherman did but jest and Dante's dreams were of a midsummer night compared with the winters of a world's strife and discontent. If under the stress of business reverses, domestic infe- licity, and such mild mannered petty things of quiet times "nervous breakdowns" visit men, what should be expected when the breath of Mars sears civilization, when war picks up the state, shakes it like a terrier does a rat, and throws the doddering confused thing into the NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SERVICE 111 "wastage". Our war apologists tell us that a "few thou- sand" minds suffered from various types of "psychic disturbance," that some, possibly all, were abnormal, defective from birth, and all that; and furthermore, what is the good of bringing up such trifling matters when this "war to end war" was so valiantly won, such glories, wonderful achievement, why recall such condi- tions as shell-shock, mental wrecks, intellectual oblivion? Why? It was known that needs for highly trained neurolo- gists, alienists, psychiatrists were urgent. It was no time to choose the inexperienced; the wisest in civilian practice knew all too little of the mental disturbances accompanying this most ferocious of all wars. Sailing before "38" Captain Price, one of the original members of the staff of "38," had been on duty in France for months and obviously was not to return to the organiza- tion. Another officer of mature knowledge must be selected; fortunately Captain M. A. Burns was seeking an opportunity to serve in the cause and all recall how heartily he was welcomed and how all felt that good luck had brought him to us. With the other officers Captain Burns went over on the U. S. Transport "Grant," did duty en voyage and, on arrival at Nantes, began work at once. At first he had general ward duty; soon, how- ever, the ward for nervous patients was completed and he assumed charge. In the A. E. F. the distinguished gentlemen having jurisdiction over these puzzling, often 112 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT serious cases, and ruling on the sanity of all soldiers re- quiring investigation, were currently known as "nut- pickers"; the enlisted man liked the appellation, the dignified officer saw the grim humor, smiled as best his duties permitted and let it pass; it carried no implied disrespect and even at G. H. Q. the chief consulting neurologist was often so designated by his colleagues. So our experienced officer saw his little group of paitents increase from day to day until the department assumed important proportions; at this time it ceased to be restricted to patients from "38" but became the neu- rologic center for all hospitals located at Nantes, receiv- ing and administering to patients coming from base hospitals Nos. 11, 34, 38 and 216, and from our own and contiguous convalescent camps. An occasional case developed in the Center, many came from elsewhere and the separated ward constituted one of the busiest and most interesting. Fortunately most patients were cured or greatly improved; with others, not doing so well all were returned to the U. S. or detained until later and transferred to our successors. Just as things were in good shape and running smoothly, Captain Burns was ordered to Paris, becom- ing consultant in neuropsychiatry for that inportant Center; he left "38" December 1, 1918, was promoted to Major and served in Paris until relieved in April, 1919, when he returned to the States. It was an impor- tant detail well done at both stations and many recov- NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SERVICE 113 ered soldiers may thank "38" for the care received and for their return sound in mind and body when, at one time, prognoses would have been uncertain, at best, gloomy. In Paris the work was important, interesting and pro- ductive. Hundreds of soldiers entered the Capital City A. W. O. L.; some were merely on a "lark," others were deserters, a considerable number were mentally irre- sponsible and, that justice be meted out to all, the clean, conscientious discrimination of a wise neurologic diag- nostician was absolutely essential. Major Burns' training in Jefferson and in the wards of the Philadel- phia General Hospital, and his preliminary military experience in Nantes, had eminently fitted him for the rather trying duties of his new post. In Paris he was also consultant to American Red Cross Hospital No. 1 at Neuilly and other American hospitals and relief sta- tions in the City and its environs. One sees in the daily press that now, after four years, more than 10,000 "mental cases" are known among ex- soldiers still living; the number who have committed suicide will never be determined; many of these poor devils (they went proudly forth as "our heroic sol- diers"!) will never return to normal; their minds will ever be sweet bells out of tune, and when statesmen talk of war, when diplomats make war possible or inevitable, when the councillors of nations plot, when politicians scheme, when blatant militarism struts on its tinselled 114 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT stage, when governments or rulers drive their herds into the conflict, when journalism prates of heroism and martial glory, none will see and all may forget these soul-wounded victims from whose intellectual windows there shines no light. They sit alone in darkness; though others weep with them, alas, they know it not. They are part of the "wastage" that accompanies the "glory" of war. XIII ROENTGENOLOGICAL SERVICE X-RAY WHEN Roentgen, a little over a quarter of a century ago, discovered the remarkable and, even to this day, mysterious form of energy that penetrates flesh almost as readily as light rays tra- verse our atmosphere, and when medical men saw at once that a new method useful in diagnosis was available, none, or at most but a few of those with widest vision, grasped the immeasurable value of the new resource in its application to surgery and later to medical diagnosis. Invaluable in civilian practice and the one means with- out which much of war-time surgery would be impos- sible, roentgenology became of prime importance to every base hospital operating in the field of Mars. For months Captain Borzell, an experienced, efficient and enthusiastic roentgenologist, had devoted tireless hours to the acquisition of, and to assembling, a complete modern X-ray outfit. It was believed that every detail had been covered, and the organization sailed confident of its preparedness. The most modern devices, the latest appliances and accessories, all apparatus tested 115 116 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT out, and no effort spared to assure a satisfactory result. When the numerous boxes reached Nantes any tyro could see that our fondest expectations had "gone aglee." The manufacturer had failed beyond any con- ception and with infinite detail to realize what trans- atlantic shipment and war-time methods of handling could do to massive but delicate appliances when im- properly packed. Heavy pieces had broken from insecure anchorages and rolled about in huge cases, wrecking contents and strewing disaster in extent and completeness beyond the descriptive power of man. If the reader can visualize the inevitable result of a kitchen range detached from its moorings and rolling about in a huge china closet containing glass shelves, delicate blown wine glasses, cut-glass punch bowls and mirror back, he may gain a fair idea of sequence and conse- quence, of cause, effect and result of bad packing and rough handling of an X-ray outfit. Virile language, ex- pletive and invective fell impotent; the mess seemed utterly hopeless. To the enduring credit of Captain Borzell, the officers working with him, and the capable assistance of enlisted men possessing technical skill and training, out of all this chaos was born order and what appeared hopelessly beyond human endeavor was at- tained, utter failure was transformed into success; what looked like an inevitable routing defeat was made a splendid victory. It meant days and nights of labor, often discouragement, but in the end an able and indus- ROENTGENOLOGICAL SERVICE 117 trious organization re-assembled everything that could be used, improvised, reconstructed or pieced-out and with what looked like little more than a "shoe-string" produced the requisites to attainable efficiency. To those of us who saw the work done, saw beginning and end, the result was marvelous, almost a miracle. In attaining this high efficiency Captain Borzell was fortunate in having the enthusiastic support of Sergeant R. R. Fahringer and Privates Thomas L. Foster, Wil- liam C. Miller and Walter P. Lanagan; Foster was the "Noncom" in charge, and also looked after the records and did the "paper work" of which, as usual in the Army there was no end; Miller and Lanagan manned the dark room and all gave team co-operation. Other departments, at least some of them, were very busy much of the time; some were greatly overworked part of the time, but the labors of the X-ray Depart- ment never ended. Most patients coming in on trains had received no X-ray study; any man with a wound, it need not be obvious, sometimes it had been overlooked, this was especially possible if the man had been found gassed, must be regarded as probably having a foreign body somewhere in his tissues. If a bullet, shell frag- ment or other body practically impermeable to X-ray, there was no difficulty; if, on the other hand, it was a fragment of clothing, a piece of leather belt or leather from foot-gear, it might be quite as unobtructive to the ray as surrounding structures, and require many exami- 118 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT nations and even then could escape most careful search. Aside from this endless seeking after foreign bodies many other equally important duties fell to the roent- genologist. Broken bones, worst of all those compound, complicated, multiple fractures due to machine-gun and other bullets, fragments of explosive shells and other vulnerating bodies were always demanding study. Fragments of broken bones were occasionally carried or thrust some distance from the point of origin; pieces of fractured ribs buried in a lung, a spicule of bone free in some cavity and demonstrable at different places on successive examinations, were some of the confusing problems. Hemorrhage and suppuration in the chest, free air in the thorax, tuberculous areas in the lungs, patches of pneumonia, recent or unresolved, possible gastric ulcer, were among the conditions sometimes largely medical, that required study; a fragment of steel or other metal in an eye, skull fractures and sources of pressure on the brain, brain injuries, displaced organs, for example a kidney, joints, injured or inflamed or both, detached cartilages, sprains, flat feet, the occasional malingerer, and all sorts of matters not solvable by other means, often came to this review, this court of last resort. At times even gas-gangrene was detected during an X-ray examination. An account of the work of the X-ray Department would not be complete without some mention of the ROENTGENOLOGICAL SERVICE 119 "machine-gun squad"-the name given to the portable bedside outfit and its accompanying personnel. The necessities of war with its numberless fractures virtually all comminuted and compound, called for the develop- ment of some means by which X-ray examinations could be made at the bedside. This very valuable auxiliary outfit soon was put to other uses, such as fluoroscopic examination of chest cases too ill to be moved. Base 38 perhaps has the distinction of being the first to make fluoroscopic observations without disturbing the patient, by the simple process of raising the bed on stilts and placing the tube beneath the bed. It was a busy service, a responsible assignment that gave generously in time and labor, in experience and skill to the welfare of our charges. The giving was un- ostentatious, usually the recipient did not know what had been bestowed, so that here, as in other parts of the laboratory division, the unobtrusive worker "did his bit" without a herald, often unseen and usually unknown to the man whose limb or life was thereby saved, whose suffering was lessened, or whose future crippling was rendered less sure. Beneficiaries usually knew their medical officer or surgeon and his ward assistant; the roentgenologist and the laboratory investigator to him were strangers in realms he knew not of. These depart- ments were sometimes blamed if the attending officer did not obtain desired information; acclaim rarely came to them, no matter what their deserts. I went into the British army believ- ing that if you want peace you must prepare for war. I believe now that if you prepare for war you will get war. Gen. F. B. Maurice. XIV A SHOCK TEAM AT THE FRONT THE World War was a colossal contest between highly trained, specialized experts brought to- gether, unified, co-ordinated and directed by master minds of men who knew the particular qualifica- tions, resources and adaptabilities of each group and who moved the component units on the crimson field of combat like, not only kings, queens and knights, but like bishops, rooks and pawns of chess. To varying degrees and with vastly dissimilar values each unit was essential to the play, each had its own particular move, all co- ordinated into a system, a game where the prizes were kingdoms, domain, glory; the result, destruction, suf- fering, mutilation, death. One of the tragedies of injury, attending indescribable magnitude in battle, is that inadequately comprehended but surgical well-known captain of the men of death, called shock. Like a burning sirocco it sweeps every field of Mars; it was the one sickle that garnered the golden grain of heroic lives; it was death grim and vic- torious stalking combat groups, screeching with glee on bullet and shell-swept fields, springing with a thousand 121 122 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT darts from exploding projectiles, grinning in trenches and front lines of communication and, vulture-like, fol- lowing ambulances and trains of wounded far back into hospitals in the S. O. S. Often, indeed among the wounded almost constantly, it was the touch of the silent angel who whispered "come." Shock was no new foe; no doubt it traveled with the armies of David, was known to Greek and Roman, stalked Lexington and Bunker Hill, followed Napoleon's legions and swung its sword at Appomattox and Gettysburg. It had baffled surgeons from Larrey to Senn and a study of its nature and treatment was now undertaken on a scale of thoroughness and with a magnitude of detail never before attempted. On field, in operating rooms, in hos- pitals and in laboratories, the problem was attacked with every resource known to experienced and alert clinicians and to trained men of pure science. Every country en- gaging in the conflict had some center where those going to succor the wounded could be specifically and individ- ually trained in the recognition and treatment of shock. The American institution where such knowledge was centered and promulgated was at Dijon, the laboratory center of the A. E. F. Shortly after the arrival of "38" Captain Mohler and Lieutenant Tyson were detailed to Dijon for the purpose of securing the last word on the subject. Here the problem was presented by lecture, illustrated by experiment on animals and every detail fully brought out by trained and experienced observers SHOCK TEAM 123 and teachers of international repute; incoming medical officers from many services gathered at Dijon for one or two weeks of intensive training and left equipped with the fullest attainable knowledge applicable wherever shock might imperil the lives of American troops. The Jefferson "Shock Team" detailed for front line duty was in charge of Lieutenant R. M. Tyson who had with him Nurse Mary C. Glover and as orderly. Private John G. Dunkerley. The little selected group, proceed- ing under orders from G. H. Q., left Nantes September 9, 1918, traveling by way of Tours, reached Chaumont. In what should have been less than a 24-hour run, the Atterbury Special was a bit over one day late. This also meant that rations were exhausted; foraging en route was extremely difficult and mostly impossible. As usual in France rain attended arrival; for the night they were fortunate in securing adequate and comfortable quarters in Base Hospital No. 15. On September 12th the shock team received orders to proceed to Mobile Hospital No. 3, then supposed to be located at Souilly. Starting out according to schedule arranged for them, they reached Neuf Chateau where, because of lack of train service, they were forced to re- main over night. Lieutenant Tyson spent the night in the attic of an old French Hospital, and despite a few discomforts was very much rested in the morning. On arrival at Neuf Chateau, word was received that the American Drive was on. There were many glowing 124 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT accounts brought in that night, attesting the valor of the troops and forcefulness of the Drive. No doubt some of the stories were greatly exaggerated, but in the main the truth was told and the thing that we were looking for, American activity on a large scale, was verified. On Friday, September 13th, the shock team started out again on its journey. This portion of the trip was rather round about and slow, requiring six hours to travel a distance of 25 miles. Reaching Bar le Duc the outfit was quartered for the night. The memory that stands out prominently as a part of that interesting night was the constant rumbling from a stream of motor trucks going by quarters and headed for the front with supplies for the army. The following day the organiza- tion was sent further to the front over a narrow gauge road that finally brought up at Souilly. Upon arrival Lieutenant Tyson learned that Mobile Hospital No. 3 to which he had orders was not at Souilly, and no one had any information as to just where it could be found. The team was held temporarily at Evacuation Hospital No. 6 at Souilly until information could be gained concerning the location of Mobile Hos- pital No. 3. At this time it was learned that the St. Mihiel drive had been a tremendous success and the cas- ualties few. Here at Souilly the first war injuries com- ing directly from the Front were observed and first impressions made. Another fact that struck one often "over there" was the frequency with which one met SHOCK TEAM 125 friends and acquaintances; one rarely sought familiar faces but they turned up almost everywhere. While at Evacuation Hospital No. 6, there were numerous aeroplane alarms in the early evening. Lights were immediately extinguished and instructions issued concerning the care of the sick and the personal safety of everyone. Here also was located a German Prison Camp. Naturally it was rather interesting to those who had not come in contact with them before, but later pris- oners became so numerous that they ceased to attract attention even when in large numbers. The Germans were a stocky, husky looking group of men, well clothed and apparently well fed; Austrians seemed to be slightly smaller in stature, their faces were haggard and clothes disheveled; one did not gather that they were enthu- siastic about the war. On September 24th the shock team received orders to join American Red Cross Hospital No. 110 located at Villers Daucourt. This hospital was functioning as an Evacuation Hospital Unit. Upon our arrival things were very much in a turmoil. Several hospital organi- zations had recently come in and there was considerable controversy as to which one was to assume charge. It was finally decided that the American Red Cross Hos- pital had priority. The Commanding Officer of this organization was Dr. J. J. Moorehead of New York City. Dr. Moorehead was a very diplomatic officer and during the team's stay with this outfit, he handled the 126 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT situation very skilfully. The Commanding Officer as- signed our shock team to a ward consisting of 42 beds; everything was topsy-turvy. After much strenuous work the ward was placed in shape, and was ready for business by the evening of September 28th. It was indeed fortunate that the preparations were so early completed, for at 11 o'clock that night the Argonne of- fensive was started. This drive extended from Verdun to Rheims about 90 kilometers. Villers Daucourt is located about 5 kilometers south of San Menehould. The hospital was situated sufficiently close to the line to act as a Field Hospital during the first weeks of the drive. After a terrific artillery barrage the infantry advanced in the morning. Patients were brought to the hospital during the night and by 7 o'clock next morning the rush was on. During the first days of service as a shock team at this hospital, many interesting, sad and discouraging things occurred. It was not long before it was realized that the much heralded "gum-saline" solu- tion for intravenous injections vras not giving the ex- pected results. Of the many patients upon vrhom it wras used, only one appeared to receive any benefit. Attempts were made to use normal saline solution but the relief afforded was temporary only. It was not long before it became obvious that, in the severe cases of shock, only whole blood vras of any per- manent value. It was rather difficult to secure donors for transfusion. A number of the personnel connected SHOCK TEAM 127 with the hospital volunteered to give blood, but owing to the strenuous work each was called upon to perform, it was deemed unwise to subject them to the added dan- ger of blood loss. However, in a number of instances, they were accepted as donors, and it was through this means, no doubt, that several lives were saved. Before long, a hospital for gassed patients was established a short distance from our outfit. A canvass was made of the patients who were slightly gassed and volunteers called for; six men were found always ready to serve as donors. Among the seriously injured in the shock ward many interesting things developed. One man, an Italian, asked for a cigarette; the seriousness of his injury was realized but, as he appeared most anxious to smoke, a cigarette was allowed. He lay there, smoked the cigar- ette, laid the stump carefully on the table, rolled on his back and died without a word. One recalls others, some boys in their teens, who spoke of home, of Mother, of loved ones, but never a word of regret that they were in the "big show" or that they were wounded in the cause. A few asked that messages be transmitted to their fam- ilies. Some were stoics, others hysterical; the general impression was that these men were brave, that they were of the stuff of which heroes are made. Witnessing such distressing scenes-and they were frequent in this ward-and seeing all efforts often prove unavailing, made the work very discouraging. To lose 17 patients 128 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT in one clay from one ward was quite a severe blow to the confidence of those in charge of the work. As soon as patients were able to be moved, they were transferred to a Base Hospital in the rear. The stream of patients was more or less constant, though there were intervals when there was very little to do. The last and heaviest rush occurred after November 1st. Great credit should be given the nurses who were con- nected with the hospital, especially those who worked in the shock ward. They were tireless and unceasing in their ministrations. The enlisted men were pressed into all kinds of duties, and answered nobly every call. November 11th was an eventful day to everyone, but especially to those who were witnessing the horrors of war at close range. Among personnel and patients throughout the hospital there was much rejoicing. The country around was scoured for food by the Red Cross representatives, and a special dinner was served to everybody. It is possible that chicken-coops were robbed for all patients were served with fresh chicken. The period of waiting for orders to station at Nantes was very irksome. Finally on November 22nd they ar- rived, all were glad, and an uneventful journey brought the team back to the parent organization. The experience gained was of great value from the medical standpoint; it was intensely interesting at all times, it afforded an opportunity to see a great deal more of the tremendous medical problems that confront SHOCK TEAM 129 armies, and it brought the observers closer to the horrors of Avar, the torn bodies, the wrecked nerves, the blinded, the helpless and the hopeless, fresh from the cruelty, the barbarism, the dreadful inhumanity of it all. Inhuman, unchristian, God knows un-Christlike; soulless demons fighting like beasts, each striving for the other's destruc- tion; wounding, killing, mutilating-savage, with tom- ahawk, a merciful creature compared with the combat- ants of modern war. Where is the glory, Why must the brave suffer? Why, all this twenty centuries after the glory and the tragedy of Calvary, Why? Men have failed; can God's best product, woman, mother, also fail? Disarmament is the only means of preserving the world from bankruptcy and civilization from ruin.-Gen. Bliss. If we do not destroy war, war will destroy us.-Lord Bryce. XV DENTAL SERVICE THE history of dentistry in the United States is one long incident of achievement; the American dentist has attained a professional distinction that has made him pre-eminent in other countries and has given to the profession an established position, unique in national and international recognition. So much is this the case that one finds abroad the sign "American Dentist," sometimes honestly deserved but far more frequently used to obtain unmerited popu- larity by the simple sinuous expedient of laudatory lying and unabashed charlatanism. Possibly there is a sound historical basis for the belief, or it may be no more than tradition, that during the American Revolution there came to this country, with the intrepid Lafayette, or with DeGrasse's squadron, two Frenchmen to whom the young republic was indebted for the real inception, the founding of the important practice comprising, at first probably little more than a crude art, but later acquiring sound scientific principles; the art grew apace; from medicine, metallurgy, chemistry, physics, bacteriology, pathology, surgery, and other phases of the ever- 131 132 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT widening domains of knowledge, science was added at first slowly, but through recent years with unprece- dented speed, until lay and professional men in all coun- tries gave to the American dental profession a clearly defined and universally admitted supremacy. Such was, and still remains, its distinguished repute in which all may feel a just and proper pride. Having won its spurs in civil life it remained for the World War to prove that, as no civilian could enjoy life and the unimpeded pursuit of happiness without his dentist, no soldier could prop- erly and successfully fight a nation's battles without the skilled attention given only by the practitioners of this honorable and worthy calling. In selecting members of the Dental Corps for "38" no other incident is recalled that so fully establishes the words of the oracle that "our friends make or break us." When engaged in enrolling the professional personnel my old teacher and warm friend, Prof. Brubaker, called to say that if the dental service was still open he would like to suggest the name of J. Howard Gaskill, D.D.S. This is late, but it is, nevertheless opportune to thank a colleague for bringing to my attention a man so emi- nently fitted to take charge of the important service. Dr. Gaskill was and is an able, experienced, conscientious and energetic practitioner who not only served nobly with "38" but when the A. E. F. University, at Beaune, was put in service he was called to an important teaching post, did excellent work and won highly merited recog- DENTAL SERVICE 133 nition and promotion. Through Captain, later Major Gaskill, Lieutenant J. Donald Stone, D.D.S., also an accomplished and well-known dental practitioner, came to the organization. Both men held commissions in the Dental Corps, U. S. Army, and in no other service was the selection of officers more gratifying or the results attained more highly commendable. In addition to the specific duties of his professional position Lieutenant Stone, for a time, officiated over and successfully per- formed the trying functions of Mess Officer to the Officers' Mess. One acquainted with the soldier's selections, his habits, duties and customs might fancy that the office of Dentist in Ordinary to His Supreme Majesty the Doughboy, could easily be more or less of a sinecure; but it was not. Many men were inducted into military activity with mouths in a condition that one dare not describe. Well- meaning friends and domestic foes gave them tooth brushes of all kinds, frequently of the worst, and the establishments making nothing but "the only sure-safe- sound-scientific shampoo for teeth" put on day and night shifts to work the Army and Welfare society trade. All of which was very well, but, strange as it may seem, the world still contains men, often heroic warriors, actual or potential, who are tooth-brush-shy; again, in the ad- vanced training sector toilets were neglected; when wading in the mud of combat zones, doing semisubma- rine duty in flooded trenches, sleeping on and in mud 134 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT that so froze to clothing that often the only way to "get up in the morning" was to drag out of a coat and let the sun-if such there was-thaw the garment loose from the ground, and when exchanging shot, shell, and hand grenade discussions with "Heine," dental toilets were usually underdone, rare, or even raw. Furthermore, wounds about the face, frequently involving walls of the buccal cavity, were most abundant and a man with a few teeth extracted by a steel projectile exodontor, or with more or less of a jaw absent or in fragments, is not en- thusiastic about tooth brushes and commonly is not interested in circulars and official orders giving erudite directions concerning the use of dental floss. A man who has been gassed, whose tongue is swollen and throat seems aflame, is in no condition to try out sample creams. Men, creeping like vermin, in and out of great foul shell holes, hiding from field flares while cutting barbed wire entanglements or seeking shelter from T. N. T. explo- sions, do not bother much about how their hair is combed and are not unduly agitated if some tartar is deposited. The cost of tooth brushes and accompanying outfits lost or thrown away in the advanced sector and combat zone, may, in part at least, account for the unprecedented mil- itary expenditures of the country; the evidence accu- mulated in hospitals, securely established the fact that such facilities were often overlooked or abandoned. Whatever the cause or causes, no doubt there were many-unwounded men came back from combat details DENTAL SERVICE 135 with unspeakably foul mouths, frequently deeply and extensively infected, gums inflamed and often necrotic, and occasionally fever and other systemic phenomena could be traced directly to mouth conditions. At times the condition was called "trench mouth" or something of the kind, just as war brought out such terms as "trench fever," "trench foot" and the like; all were manifesta- tions of human tissues revolting under the inhuman lash of barbaric abuse and atrocity directed against them. Where gas had denuded lips and buccal mucosa, wounds had involved the mouth and particularly in cases where projectiles had comminuted the jaw, torn out teeth and lacerated the soft parts, infection ran wild and indescribable destruction further extended damage al- ready done. In addition, it is to be recalled, often days passed before the men reached sources of relief and not infrequently soldiers with badly infected or even wounded mouths fought on and, only after days got caught and ordered to the rear. The resulting disease and consequent suffering w'ere intense; intelligent treat- ment required skill, patience, time and, on the part of both dentist and patient, endurance that tried men's souls quite as much as facing fire. The work, and it was all of that, was done under many trying conditions; of course, some patients could walk to the dental chair but others must be treated in bed when the results of gassing and the presence of wounds permitted the dentist no option as to the position of the patient, often where light 136 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT was unsatisfactory and not infrequently mouths had to be cleaned up and disinfected when the patient was only semiconscious or even delirious. More than mere mouth sanitation was necessary. Men of the Dental Corps of "38" gave anesthetics with skill and for hours, often without relief, labored in operating rooms; for minor operations at the bedside, they induced preliminary or more advanced anesthesia; this blessed unconsciousness made possible difficult dressings and redressings that, otherwise, would have caused agony or have been accomplished with difficulty if at all. Dental splints and other devices for treating bone in- jury about the mouth required hours and days of more careful work. Of course, all ordinary dental work came in for any available spare time. So the men of the dental service were always busy; during the periods of military activities there was no let up and afterward much remained to be put in shape. It is difficult to con- template that period in the history of war when such a valuable service was not available; one cannot visualize the painful conditions that must have resulted and noth- ing more gratifying is recalled than the splendid service given by the dental officers of "38" which was also for- tunate in having among the enlisted personnel William Haslam and William Wyckoff who had worked in dental laboratories and who, with characteristic enthusiasm, de- voted themselves wholeheartedly to the task of helping comrades brought to our hospital. DENTAL SERVICE 137 It was only one of the services, but a highly important one-one that did its work well and fully merits special mention for the skill manifested, the industry portrayed and the efficiency attained. Justice is better served in confer- ences of peace than in conflicts at arms. President Harding. XVI OUR PADRE THE Chaplain, let us say Our Chaplain, was the real treasure of the organization. His theologic wings o'erspread the Gentile and the Hebrew, the Protestant and the Catholic, and some who were none of any of these; his pinions were not gloomy, the sun shone through them. His "division" was one of the real "services," his activities varied, frequently trying, his industry unending and his enthusiasm unwaning. Hon- ored, respected and loved by officers and men. Often up before the day, services sometimes before 6 a. m., repeated later, and then again in the afternoon or eve- ning, occasionally both. Ward visits, bedside comforter when pain was torture and again when the grim mes- senger stood by; he took last messages, was a secretary to sorrow-a recording angel to distress. He carried fruit, flowers and fortune, smiles and sunny words into wards that were often sombre. He cheered the living, consoled the dying and buried the dead; many will ever recall the straight, almost military little man who did many things alone and also helped others do everything even to censoring mail. That the reader need not roam 139 140 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT through the personnel let the Chaplain's name be en- tered here-John H. Chapman, D.D., Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia-Our Padre. XVII THOUGHTS FROM THE CHAPLAIN'S PEN John H. Chapman IT is embarassing for one who preaches to place his report among those who practice, for the "preacher" seldom sees results, while the surgeon often knows definitely before his patient is removed from the operat- ing table. If there are certain advantages possessed by the physician and surgeon in knowing the conclusion of the matter, the Chaplain may at least comfort himself with the thought that he is not concerned with the results -if his procedure for today is correct, Some One else will care for tomorrow. Well, "today" in France was never stupid or dull for one moment. Our Allies may have found a measure of monotony from longer service but we were fresher and when the fracture and gas wards and the muddy roads to the cemetery seemed too often repeated, the enthusi- astic idealism of the men, their apparent willingness to stand and do anything, came as a reviving breath from our younger and happier land. Then the lighter side was constantly recurring possibly just because it was so 141 142 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT incongruous. The walks to nearby villages, dinners with newly made French friends, the discovery of a good cook where the omelette was particularly appetizing and the wine of moderate price and still more moderate quality. The exchange of information on these new "finds" and then the rapid deterioration of the "find" under the strain of popularity. Under such conditions men made good friendships that endured, learned one another's strength and weak- ness, admired the one and forgave the other, found life interesting and everything worth while. It was exhila- rating to venture, to abandon many present satisfactions for the sake of a distant good, to hold true to our tradi- tions amidst the novel and often enticing attractions of a foreign land. One recognized that the men of our unit were above the average in intelligence and character and naturally made a creditable showing, but it also may be said of our patients that the great majority were mindful of the fact that they represented the country and gave as good an account of themselves in our back area as they had already done at the front. It is to be hoped that a more conventional life has not erased from the minds of com- rades how greatly they were and are admired for their conscientious work and cheerful fellowship; if we were ever peevish and dealt in trenchant English it was all owing to the state of the liver, and our hearts now warm at the memory of our few slight discomforts and many FROM THE CHAPLAIN'S PEN 143 pleasures shared together. Those of our family who died under the pressure of service we shall ever recall as high examples of faithfulness and feel a strengthening of hearts as we salute their memory. To recover something of the atmosphere of the time, the Chaplain may be permitted to quote from a letter which he sent to his home parish on October 27,1918: This is Sunday afternoon-visiting day at the hospital -and French families for miles around are walking through our "streets," looking in windows and doors, inspecting everything, but chiefly inspecting the Ameri- can soldiers, who are not averse to the inspection. In spite of the fact that the girls are generally chaperoned by their entire families, new acquaintances are being made among our boys and friendships of some standing are being bettered. This afternoon we expect a regimental band to play for the patients and the French visitors will have the benefit of the concert. In the distance someone is using a piano, others are singing, the convalescent patients are walking about or being wheeled in chairs and there is laughter and talking. The sun is out at times and the men are revelling in its warmth. You would certainly think this a holiday if you walked along our streets, and maybe you would if you went into some of the wards; but if you would retain the impression you must not enter others, and it would be well to keep away from all when the wounds 144 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT are being dressed. The rheumatism, grippe, and pneu- monia wards might not distress you, though the patients look very sorry for themselves. Maybe you would like to know what I have been doing today. Well I arose about five o'clock and after dressing in the dark, arranged the officers' mess hall for the early Communion. We had two altar lights, and the men like them because they are a promise of light that is to come out of our present darkness when the King brings peace again to the world. There were not many at so early a service because the men love to sleep when they have an opportunity and because the place of our meeting is so often moved; but they were earnest and deeply appreciative of the opportunity. At 9.30 there was the more popular morning service, here we had about two hundred men and they sang the hymns in a way that would have shaken the roof of St. Paul's. They are good listeners too and one feels the great responsibility and the great privilege of speaking to them. This evening at seven o'clock we have the third service and at this there will probably be about three hundred men and the singing will be with a greater will because the men select the hymns. After the morning service I visited a few of the wards to distribute fruit that I bought yesterday with some of your money; chiefly grapes, with a few peaches and apples. In one ward of about 54 beds I was able to give every man a small bunch of grapes; you should have FROM THE CHAPLAIN'S PEN 145 seen their smiles, forgetting for a moment amputations, severe fractures, deep holes and long gashes with ugly irrigation tubes protruding. They have to cry out at times, especially when wounds are being dressed, but they are wonderfully gritty. The peaches and apples went to men who found it difficult in their wasted condi- tion to eat army fare. One man held his apple close to his face with half-shut eyes, enjoying the perfume; I left him still smelling it. In another ward I visited there were three men to whom I could only give flowers. One is holding on to this world by a very slender thread, after having passed through terrible experiences; he was five days in a shell hole unattended, with both legs mangled, and his condi- tion when he reached our hospital was such that you would not read the account should I write it. He is a Russian Jew surrounded by people whose ideas are dif- ferent from his own; he would like to have seen a Rabbi but consented to let me act as his Rabbi, and seemed comforted when I gave him the old Hebrew blessing. The two others have fractured jaws, one having had most of the lower jaw shot away and must be fed through his nose. When I first saw him he was in great agony and gripping the frame of his bed to hold himself to- gether. I offered my hand instead and he grasped it eagerly, while I told him of my gratitude and your grat- itude for all the anguish he was bearing for us. Of course he could not speak to me but his big brown eyes 146 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT looked into mine as I told him of the Christ who had suf- fered so for him; and he seemed to understand better through his own pain. As I was leaving he reached the other hand from under the cover and stroked and petted mine between his. The responsive pressure of his hand was as grateful to me as mine could have been to him. When I recall some of these poor mangled, disfigured men, some of the ache is taken away that came with the golden stars on our parish flag. They might have been disfigured, instead they are transfigured. The parish has made the supreme gift with its very best and we claim the privilege of making, with those who loved them closest, a thanksgiving to God for their lives-served faithfully-crowned glori- ously. At the Holy Communion we shall ever remember them as part of that "Company of Heaven" with whom we sing, and whose sacrifice has saved our idealism. They lived because they were willing to die. XVIII THE ENLISTED PERSONNEL REAL MEN A N officer looks good, whether it be from within / % out or the other way; he may look good to outsiders, or they may look good to him; the looking may be objective or subjective; but the brain and the brawn, the sinews and effectiveness of a military unit are not necessarily in the "Sam-Brown-belted," but are determined by the "fours-right-double-quick-march" doers-the Enlisted Personnel. That body fixes what the harvest shall be; it brings home the bacon and deliv- ers the goods, much of which it also maintains and uses. The men of "38" were hand-picked from a large number of applicants, were real American boys with everything that the designation implies. They made good; within their field of endeavor nobody in the A. E. F., or any- where else, did more. Their real deserts could be set forth by considering each man and what he did and by no other method; but space forbids, and time, notably after years, with memory flagging and uncertain, pre- cludes such exhaustive review. The enlisted personnel include three groups: the first 147 148 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT embraces the original 153; the second, the addition of 47 men when the Base Hospital's primarily contemplated size was increased from 500 to 1000 beds; third, the re- placements and casuals who from time to time joined or were transferred to the organization. Of the last men- tioned group the writer knows nothing and must, there- fore, pass them by with the general statement that they came to the organization from many sources, were usually most desirable, are reputed to have done their work well, and to have been acceptable mixers; they have departed with a bounteous share of goodwill and a sincere benediction. In the selection of the second group the original officers had no share, and concerning these men the historian is not adequately informed. Many blended well with those already inducted, did good work, merited and won cordial recognition and, very properly, became parts of the parent organization. They shared the rigors of Armory life, fought through the Stenton Field and Chadd's Ford campaigns, rollicked over on the "Nopatin," swam the rapids of Brest, traveled via Chevaux-hommes transportation to Nantes and else- where, and participated in the aquatic activities of the semimarine siege on the Grand Blottereau. They share in the distinction won during the amphibious existence in camp and barracks, and fully merit mention in the gen- eral citation hereby conferred. But really, when the superlative is applied, it must be to those who came first, endured all, stayed through, and EDMOND G. CROWTHER "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill." WESLEY D. DOWDY "Not quantity but quality." Charles w. McGinnis "Heavens, how he drilled us, but it did no harm." HAROLD A. ADAMS "Jerri) had a little lamb." HENRY S. BARNES "Of a mathematical brain was he pos- sessor." JOHN W. BARNES "To thirst, is human; To quench, is divine." HARRY B. BARTLEY "Smiling but ever independent." FRANK C. BAXTER "There is a certain something in your looks, A certain scholarlike and studious something." EUGENE R. BELLEM Was well informed on several themes." LESLIE S. BETTS "Quite talented he and of a rosy hue." GEORGE C. BORZELL "This is the life." PAUL S. BOWEN "He leads a strange existence." HARRY H. BUCH 'Tliy face is a book where men may read strange matters." ROBERT J. BURTON "So quiet and mild that few of us know him." CHARLES A. CAREY, Jr. "His only books were woman's looks." THEODORE M. CASEY "This was the noblest Roman of them all." JAMES REED CLARK "He always seemed busier than he really was." PAUL L. CLARK "Fickle fortune used him for a toy." SAMUEL K. CLEVER "Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look." ARTHUR F. COE "Bun." GEORGE L. CONLY "H e asked for bread and you gave us a stone." ROBERT DADDARIO "He trimmed us everyone." A. NEVILLE DeCAMP "Why did he ever hold himself aloof?" HARRY DIETSCH, Jr. "I'm sure it may be justly said." RUSSELL H. DOCKER "This honest fellozc is sincere and plain." JOHN C. DUNKERLEY "A recent edition of Ichabod Crane." FRANK H. EAVES "A ever heard he an adventure Bui he himself had met a greater." GEORGE J. EDELMAN "Awake, arise and stir thyself." GEORGE A. EFFINGER ".I whit less hardy than he seemed to be." ALBERT J. ENGLE "Terribly arched and aquiline his nose.' FRANK R. EWING "We can't say much against him." REITZEL R. FAHR INGER "May you make as good a job of life As you made with us as short-stop." MARSHALL M. FORD "His head was always filled with business." THOMAS L. FOSTER "I'll take a nip, but no publicity." FRANK J. FREI "He always seemed to find life pleasant" GEORGE W. FREEMAN "For thou art not what thou seem'st, bin better." HARRY M. FREEMAN "I never knew so young a body With such an aged head." HARRY B. FULLER "Now isn't that manly?" HUGH A. GALLAGHER "A friend to all and one worth having" LEWIS GOLDEN "Oh, I think a lot of the nurses." HAROLD E. GOODLEY "Would that he were fatter." ARTHUR W. GOULDEN "For it's always fair weather, eh, Artie?" PAUL GREEN "Paul of the SOth Century." GEORGE GREISINGER "He told of girls?" EDWARD F. GROSSWEILER "Always obliging and without offense And fancied for his gay impertinence." MATTHEW GUHL "Advanced beyond his years" VINCENT F. HAMILTON "Big hearted, generous and kind to a fault." WILLIAM T. HARGIS "I am quite the wisest chap in the world." ENLISTED PERSONNEL 149 bobbed up smiling under the line, all winners, when the end of the race came on the gravel track of Camp Dix. They were the men who won and carried the colors, the original building stones of old "38." They claim no superiority born of the ego, desire no encomium for service well done, but will ever be just a bit proud of having come in early and avoided the rush. At the Wharton Street nudatorium they passed sus- picion, suspension, inspection and examination; they looked like Greek athletes and thought like Roman sena- tors, believed that the organization would be mobilized on next Wednesday at 3 p.m. and sail on Saturday before 6 a. m. They understood that to be the Director's prom- ise-may be it was, but possibly he also shared their illu- sions as well as their enthusiasm, no one thought he wished to deceive and it required many months to shake off latrinogrammic credulity of both officers and men. Many of both advanced royalties to the "Bell System"; some helped pay dividends of telegraphic companies and each traveled several thousand miles and climbed stairs to the fourth floor until he became an Alpine expert; these were their forced marches-all to learn WHEN. After mobilization they occasionally inquired about the date of departure, even manifested a desire to know spe- cifically, lived on rumors of impending sailing, and finally evolved into first-class builders of current expe- ditionary fiction. They worked for the unit when it was a-borning and lived through the renaissance; they drilled 150 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT like demons; assembled and packed supplies, marked boxes and baggage, then unmarked everything, re-sten- cilled and moved the stored cases every few days with the interest and alacrity of a bootlegger concealing his mer- chandise, and never batted an eye. In the Armory they drilled a bit, "rumored" considerably, tended fires, mounted guard, cleaned everything but DeCamp's face, and occasionally slept through the night in the "heated" chambers of the second story when the wind blew Mar- vil, Eaves, Martin, McDevitt and many others out into the cold and forbidding night whence they returned in the early hours of the morning just before everybody joined in straffing the organization "Gabriel"-"I'm going to murder the bugler," Joe Gallagher, please lead the singing. Some may have done nothing in civil life, but they never got up so early to do it. They may have known Arcadian menus, but none such as they learned to par- take from the improvised tables at messtime. They arose with the sun, even expressed opinions, derogatory and otherwise, concerning him, did turns at various hospitals, and believed that St. Joseph's was named after one of the several "Josephs" in the organization; some broke test-tubes and other expendable supplies in laboratories and hospital wards, donned priestly garments and learned operating room rituals; Goulden, Kocher, Mar- vil, DeCamp, Worthington, Eaves and others drove am- bulances and Q. M. C. trucks with speed and grace that ENLISTED PERSONNEL 151 would have put DePalma to pushing a wheeled stretcher in some hospital corridor, or a baby buggy on the board- walk; Freeman and Moyer polished up the difference between monoaceticacidester of salicylic acid and as- pirin. Keenan acquired the proper nurse approach that later became distinguished and invaluable when the mail came in and also when the male went out at Nantes. They "assisted" at weddings, put Captain McGowen over in a military function the like of which was never before and never again shall be seen. At the memorable wedding breakfast Adonis McDevitt drew a covey of charming coleens and Jack's jazz terpsichorean spins made the Horn and Hardart sisters hit the ceiling. (Citation.) Something nice and kindly must be said of Thomas who came to us from the world outside; he knew regu- lations and Mason's Encyclopedia of clo-s and don'ts better than the professor of mathematics knows his mul- tiplication table; he always seemed square, played the game on top of the board, was respected by all, and a bit feared by the bulging fronts. And then, of course, McFinnis (there goes another typographical error, these printers are so careless) who was loved like a hangnail and as popular as a saxophone player in a rest joint; you remember Mick, he was the Colonel's top-scream, sure! Casey, always at and never after the bat, good old Casey, a drill shark, fangless and popular, a noble Roman who, unlike Mr. Brutus, stuck 152 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT no Arkansas tooth-pick into any Caesar big or little. As already stated, the men of "38" were typical American boys, all of that, certainly, however, among them that mysterious plane called the general average, was well above the ordinary; it might not be wise to say they were unusual, distinguished or superior, although many, each in some particular way, might merit such designation. Like other discerning youth of this land of ours, they were wise to many things concerning which they made no obtrusive vulgar display. They caught secrets half disclosed and half hidden as in the face of the Mona Lisa; they knew the wheels that spin person- alities. They saw and were wise when crafty, blustering, bullying and obsequious boot-licking pleased some vain, petty mind, and was rewarded by sergeantcy, as well as when men of real worth such as Gartland, Jimmie Clark, Crowther, Plass, Dowdy, McDevitt, Kazenstein, Keenan, Schenkle, Bald and many others really won and wore chevrons; then they better than anybody else, knew those gems in the organization who deserved more than was given, and never complained. Officers may have been fooled or may have fooled themselves but these men of "38" were not deceived, or at most for a time only. They not only knew themselves but they also knew the officers as well. They knew the bluffer and self-boosters, if such there were, and those, if any, who used the staff car for private junkets and kept Carlyle Wright and Martin attending opera and dinners ENLISTED PERSONNEL 153 when they might just as well have been sleeping peace- fully. They knew when government gas was pulling parties, when a C. O. of a Center or of anything else tied up a bun, gave a petticoat party, or was holding up pro- motions until he or any possible favorite crept over a rank or so. If anybody thought he put things over on them he dreamed. Often they were still as night, but, my, how birdies warble and how wise an owl may be! They were brave, fearless lads, cheery with courage which, Barrie tells us, "is a rib of Himself that God sends down to His children." Drilling was their long suit and pack inspection their joy; some like "Son" could dance; a rare group were nightingalers; African golf was not entirely unknown to a few choice spirits and, at one time, there was a rumor that, on the second floor of the Regiment Barn, around an upturned barrel, men, seated on crude boxes, shuffled, cut, distributed and manipulated, pictured and spotted pasteboards at the same time conversing with regard to subjects requiring the use of terms that sounded like antitoxin and other aunties, or dealing with the jargon of science, for example, xraise, and such social functions as "calls;" all bluffing was not restricted to these occasions, and not a few enhanced financial pros- perity or further depressed exasperating monetary stringency by such means. While the C. O. was lecturing everybody on the evil of forming cliques, was hog-tying the roughneck H. Q., 154 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT "I" rooters clique, and while some were forgetting that Mark Antony and Cassius and the noble Brutus, also Mulvaney, D'Artagnan and others were in cliques, that such groups are inevitable in all organizations, and may even form "farm blocs" in the U. S. upper "gabfest," "38" was evolving the Garage clique, the Post Exchange Clique, and the Q. M. Clique, the Kitchen Clique, and the Clique of Non-Cliquers, and others that dare not be mentioned. Almost exclusively they were perfectly harmless groups of congenial souls, without ulterior motives, joyous jays joining jubilant junkets, good fel- lows seeking friendly relaxation and wishing nobody harm. The exception, if any there was, to this generali- zation, was the Anticlique Clique that thought all others hostile and harmful, and was only half right or possibly wholly wrong. Some, like "Fatty" Eaves, belonged to them all and were equally welcome everywhere, liked by fun-loving and gloomers alike. There were times after mobilization when many felt that the game was not going exactly square and requests for transfers crept in here and there or actually haunted H. Q.; Plass, Milne and Haddock won out, and many were truly sorry to see those real good fellows leave, each of them, no doubt, feeling that something giving earlier opportunity or better chance for service was awaiting him; all of us and possibly they also wished they had not left. Then there were those who felt that discipline was too ENLISTED PERSONNEL 155 rigid or not tight enough or favoritism was being prac- ticed; all of which is possible and is part of the game. No doubt blind justice sometimes held scales that were tricky, it always does, and, mayhap, rumors and wit- nesses may have been misleading; humors of the phys- ical eye may be bile-stained which makes all things ap- pear yellow; the spiritual eye may also read colors wrong; motives are rarely clear and almost never so simple as they occasionally appear. Daddario got some rather nasty medicine which, as we now look back, he, per- chance, did not need and it might have been better ad- ministered to another party; the more that some have thought about it the greater has grown the feeling that, possibly, good, well-intentioned men may have been mis- led, and this is the place to tell him so-good luck to him. Meantime, Christmas came, the New Year was wel- comed, Lincoln and Washington had birthdays, the Easter festival passed, Memorial Day dragged by and still no sailing; then the exhilarating excursion to Sten- ton Field; roughing it, that's fine; but while even such diversion may wax, it must just as surely wane-it wasn't war; but the real thing came at last; Balaklava and the Light Brigade, the "Old Guard" and Pickett's charge shall pass and be forgotten, go glimmering with the things that were, when, in some vast Walhalla of the years beyond, heroes from a thousand sanguinary con- flicts discuss the thrills of that forced march and fero- cious assault at Chadd's Ford; it was Napoleon's 156 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Russian Campaign brought up to date and down to new conditions; winter and eternal snows of trackless steppes replaced by Philadelphia salubrity; the usual struggling wayside followers, the historic despair of the march, re- enacted in a new century; the new little corporal with serene dignity and folded arms brought in, not on a white charger, but a Daniel's grey. Then the bloody mutiny; the awful pillage and plunder of a medi- eval castle on the historic Brandywine; "caramba," " J'acuse," "tempores, mores, hades"; visions of a firing squad. Lull, MacConaughey, Bertolet; the day saved; all is well. Seems funny now, doesn't it, Kindly for- giving and forgetting memory! Then out of a threatening sky came the real shock; sure enough, "38" was going; nobody believed it; but, at last, the longed-for orders came; great mystery; whisperings; everybody said in a low voice and with a melodramatic pose, what might as well have been screamed from the housetops. That last night; the march up Broad Street to the train, hasty farewells, the dock, the lighter or whatever it was, the "Nopatin" and the "Grant"; most of that is told elsewhere. DeCamp left behind with his appendix in a jar and Kelly's tonsils mutinous against a forced march. How sorry we were to leave them, and even now, though both fortunately recovered, we share their disappointment bitter as it was; good fortune forwarded Kelly but Neville did not get well soon enough and got stranded at ROBERT L. HARRINGTON "A gentleman he seemed to be and was" WILLIAM H. HASLAM "Come trip the light fantastic toe." WILLIAM J. HEATHER "Nothing wrong with Jerry." ALFRED C. HERRICK "J descendant of Stephen Girard." DAVID G. HIBBS "Clean, straight but not sturdy." THOMAS F. HIGGINS "Oh, it's Tommy this and Tommy that." EDWARD G. HUTH "His face-a tablet of unutterable thoughts." JOSEPH L. JONES, 3rd "Of course we believed them." JOHN A. KIRKPATRICK 'Despising worlds with all their wealth, As empty idle care." HARVEY S. KEEPORTS "I can think of naught against you." WILLIAM G. KEES "As a tin roofer he zvas a great success." RICHARD E. KELLY "We nearly lost him. Careful! Kelly's on the gate." A. MITCHELL KOCHER "A large party; does all he undertakes." WALTER P. LANAGAN "He did the work, while others took the credit." EDWARD J. LAWSON "His speech is like a tangled chain, Nothing impaired but all disordered." JOHN K. LEISTER "Please go 'way and let me sleep." LINFORD D. LEVENGOOD "A kind and gentle heart he had, To comfort friends and foes." C. ROBERT MacCOY "Shakespeare tip to date." WILLIAM MacMINN "Some busy." JAMES H. McCOOK "Oh Lady, Lady." philip s. McDevitt, Jr. "Adonis. A hale fellow well met." lester m. McWilliams "Large limb'd-stout hearted." DAVID B. MARTIN. Jr. "He did his bit without complaining and did it well." WILLIAM C. MILLER "A busy miller." NORMAN F. MILNE "A good scout not to be imposed upon." HARRY A. MONTGOMERY "Whatever I do, it's right." J. LLOYD MYERS "Small but he stood his ground." EUGENE J. O'SULLIVAN "Live rubber." AUGUSTUS OSTERTAG "Come out of the lobby, Gus." CHARLES W. PLASS "He was bright enough to get transferred, but we missed him." EDWARD C. PORTLEY "We missed him when he left." EDWIN R. PRICKETT "One of the boys." CONRAD RECHSTEINER, Jr. "For it was worry, worry, worry." ROBERT S. RHOADS "He believed in doing his duty." DANIEL K. RODNEY "He kept his knowledge to himself." LLOYD M. ROBERTS "No matter what, he did it well." WALTER C. ROBERTS "Gentle and unassuming, he plodded on and won." WILLIAM J. ROGERS "An equable temper and an ample soul." HAROLD J. RUSE "He looked like a general when he came to enlist." WILLIAM H. SASSEVILLE "Masculine with feminine grace." HARRY A. SAUERWEIN "Some expeditionary fiction." EDWIN R. SCOTT "J high color but not from drink." HOWARD W. SIMON "You had your own way after all." ALBERT D. SMITH "He seemed to think he zeorked; zee knezv he thought." CROSBY L. SMITH "Some sailor! Man the pumps.'' GEORGE ALLEN SMITH "Another day, another dollar." JOSEPH H. SMITH. Jr. "Oh sleeper, from thy heavy slumber rise." MAURICE SNYDER "You stood for a lot of kidding; good scout." ENLISTED PERSONNEL 157 Camp Merritt; nevertheless he is well and will remain one of us. The voyagers, transportation without ecstatic trans- port, the birds of Brest, Pontanezen, the junk train, Nantes, and the real A. E. F. It's all here and it's all true! Again, beyond the sea, the organization detrained, reached the new field of endeavor, shook off sea legs and began to watch the French laborer, carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc., murder time and do less in a week than a political employee in Fairmount Park could, with best efforts, drag out in half the time. It could not be borne patiently; even Cole wanted to work. That settled it; everybody turned in and Aladdin's record in palace building fell into the "also ran" group. The men of "38" in a few weeks finished a barrack hospital in the Grand Blottereau that those working, when we came on the scene, could not possibly have completed in twenty centuries, at least not at their speed. The men did every- thing but dry the climate and drink chlorinated water; these two things were left undone, not because they could not do them, but just to show their masterful per- sonal control. Cole built and inhabited a marvelous magical mansion, which when the storms came and the wind blew and the rain fell, burst asunder disclosing a collection of expendables and nonexpendables that a quartermaster or supply officer could not have stored on a ten-acre lot. 158 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Kazenstein's Konservation Kitchen Krew did l'Aiglon service on an open fire with no other utensil than G. I. cans. Wards were put in order, opened, operated, and controlled with a speed and completeness that would have brought tears of envy to the cheeks of a Philadel- phia politician. Dave Martin became a Ward Master DeLuxe. Cunningham at first had nothing adventitious with which to make a racket but later drew a peace dis- turber in the form of a motor-cycle with which he broke all previous noise records including one formerly held by the Q. M. Department for high and abusive language. Frey and others-the Ajax-Atlas detail-juggled boxes; Postmaster-General Keenan took on unprece- dented activities. Hibbs and Leister rested some; the latter put on weight and everybody wondered how he did it; he also got appendicitis in Paris, and everybody wondered also how he did that. Fahringer and his sal- vage wizards unjunked the X-ray equipment. Baxter wrote on his diary and Fuller played the piano (when one came) and read exciting snappy literature, such as Mason's Handbook. Hugh Gallagher became a tireless and highly efficient ward master; Joe sang "Silver Threads Among the Gold"; Gartland showed the world how to run a Q. M. depot and finally slide into a Sam Brown; Artie Goulden also did good Q. M. and detach- ment duty; Frankenberger, the Marvils, Kocher, Worthington, et al. just put over a superior ambulance crew that gave fine service. H. Q. became snappy and ENLISTED PERSONNEL 159 paper-work of all kinds filled the circumambient. Thomas showed everybody including the C. O. The song of the typewriter filled the air; Dowdy, the little gold nugget, was one of the sharks. Such paper-work experts, Kayser and Allman decorative sharks, as Liv- ingston, wore out water and air-cooled Underwoods and used a million dollars' worth of carbon paper. Finnegan tied S. and W. reports in sheaves, baled and crated them; 2000 freighters in about 84 decades may get them all back to the U.S.; Rhode Island or Delaware, maybe both, will be taken to file the really important ones. Hertzler made Dakin's solution on an unprecedented scale and knew just how much chloride of lime and other ingredients would be required to standardize Lake Michigan. Krause got pneumonia, escaped the "crepe" by a hair, saw the Riviera and went back to the S. and W. fiction recorders. Levengood showed what a ward- master should be, and Leveson did something of every- thing. McDevitt jollied convalescents into K. P. and other police details while Engle, Crosby Smith and Zieg- ler gathered "nuts with the Willies." "Son and Stars" gave the Nantes' flappers the once over and the calico experts gave the great boulevards more than one memo- rable military inspection. So one could splatter pages with deeds and doings, personal and otherwise, through all the busy period and for sometime after that glorious night of the armistice. Then things grew a bit lighter; at first in spots and 160 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT afterward more generally stress lessened, recreation be- came possible and the seriousness of the adventure gave place to a newer period of less lugubrious affairs. Leaves came; some saw Nice and Monte Carlo-Cote d'Azur-and others visited the devastated areas and numerous excursions were taken. Athletics and amuse- ments revived; the mud grew more abundant and stickier; nurses left and a few men went into mourning. Hopes of homecoming awakened and a new epidemic of rumors swept through barrack and camp. An occasional prodigal returned to share in the rumors and to be wel- comed; fiction of all kinds saw a renaissance; finally relief came, No. 31 took charge and new worries about some possible homeward movement grew apace; an un- forgettable dinner; then orders "homeward," the rail trip to St. Nazaire and embarkation on the good or fairly good ship "Freedom"; anyway it was better than the "Nopatin." An unkindly Atlantic leaves no sorrow in the bosoms of merry homecomers who safely reached New York and Camp Dix. Discharge, May 8, 1919. Home with unreproaching consciences and unsullied hearts. Now we may more clearly look back over it all; recol- lections, reveries; they have their proper places. The good souls who left us are really closest to us. We shall always remember Ellis and Carlton; other men and the officers may age, grow grey, silent and introspective or bald, garrulous and boastful, wearing uniforms frayed ENLISTED PERSONNEL 161 and lean in the pantaloon, but those cheery boys shall have eternal youth for they alone drank of the fountain; we shall always recall them as erect, agile, debonair, brave youths-in new, perfect fitting apparel-whom we missed and wished had not been transferred. They will "emerge out of the white immensities always young" while the best that any of us may hope is that "Under the bludgeonings of Chance My head is bloody but unbowed." It was a war to end war. The world was "To reap the harvest of perpetual peace By this one bloody trial of sharp war." The contest was to make edgeless the sword of Mars; though civilization weep in streams of blood it was that white winged peace be enduringly enthroned. Has that wish been realized? May we cherish some fond dream that the weapons of war and the will to combat have in any great way regressed? Are we repeating the tragic forgetfulness of historic aeons, and slinking back into the sodden embrace of semibarbaric selfishness that makes possible other wars just as we know that people who dreamed of the forever sheathed sword after the Thirty Years' War and the Hundred Years' War saw again the horror, squalor and dehumanizing strife and cruelty recur? Have not the bitterest disappointments followed any illusory hope that may have been cher- ished? 162 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT "There are great armies still. Nations frown at each other across picketed boundaries. Chemical retorts are distilling gases deadlier than men have ever known. The ' Breath of Death ' is ready to fall from the sky, rise up from the earth and ride on the four winds in the next struggle. The earth has not been purged of the war spirit." Is George Bernard Shaw right when he says that "Our schools teach the morality of feudalism corrupted by commercialism and hold up the military conqueror, the robber baron, and the profiteer as models of the illus- trious and successful," and, if so, is that best? If true what shall be done about it? Are there forces at work that, if unopposed, must again deluge the world in sorrow? We stand aghast at the looting of Louvain and the destruction of Rheims but seem not unduly mournful over 15,000,000 casual- ties nor alertly anxious or even gravely solicitous about what has happened manhood, womanhood, and even the children of darkened nations; at least there appears to be crystallizing no powerful sentiment built on the fact that, henceforward, war would be "a useless disaster and a vain crime." Is it not time to vitalize peace move- ments, and to arm ourselves morally and as securely as may be against the abiding danger that error, mendacity, stupidity, secret diplomacy, jingo-press, militarists, ar- mament rings, the polyglot gangs of concessionaires and other influences may again sweep nations over the abyss? Is it a task of utter despair to seek a gleam of hope out of the gloom of battlefields? Are we to remem- ENLISTED PERSONNEL 163 ber the "Old Guard" at Waterloo and the heroism of Balaklava, Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, the Argonne, St. Mihiel and Verdun and forget the anguish, the wanton destruction of life, the rending of flesh and the trailing serpent of war's aftermath, the disfigured, the crippled, the blind and deaf, the minds in darkness, and the souls in despair? The nations in poverty and want, the stalk- ing demons of famine and plague? Men of "38," to you and to yours come the foregoing questions; ask them of your mothers and sisters, of those you love and who love you; put them to yourself; listen; comes there some ray of hope? If so "True hope is swift and flies with swallows' wings, Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings." Furthermore, with such good heart surely the world should be looking upward to and striving for better things. Men of "38" must be part, and let us hope a big part, in every upward movement, and in every conflict with wrong, no matter how entrenched; always heroic doughboys and courageous corps men leading in the great civic victories that must be achieved; valiant for the right, always with the sword of justice firm in the grip and the shield of integrity, secure and impenetrable. Let us "Yet remember this, God and our good cause fight on our side; The prayers of holy saints and wronged souls, Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces." 164 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Let it be so, that they who fell died not in vain and that they who live and follow may enjoy forever the priceless blessings of all ages, unchained from the slavery of a million wrongs, fetterless and free. "Do not stand aloof, despising, disbelieving, but come in and help-insist on coming in and helping. After all, we have shown great courage; and your part is to add a greater courage to it. There are glorious years ahead of you if you choose to make them glorious. God's in His heaven still. So forward, brave hearts." LORANCE R. SPENCER "Oh, Larry, I'll go 'round the game and keep score for you." JOHN H. SPRECHER "Page Fili." JOHN C. STEVENSON "We wish there had been more like you." CHRISTOPHER V. SUBERS "Sincerity, a virtue he possessed." LESLIE L. TAYLOR "A yood scout." ARTHUR H. TOUCHTON "You earned your chevrons, Touch." WESLEY E. UNGERBUEHLER "Give me my own way, I'll y rumble just the same." JOHN A. USHER "De foist requisite of a happy home is music." SAMUEL M. VanSANT, Jr. "A loyal thirty-eighter." CEDRIC WALKER "I can hear him 'roamin' now." ALBERT WALTON, Jr. "J sturdy body and ready wit." JEHU TUNIS WAY "Just Tuck. Look pleasant, please." WILLIAM F. WILHELM "To dare him was to see it done." RALPH F. WILLIAMS "I am careless what the world speaks of me." C. STANLEY WILLIS "Smooth-pea, his every word dripped honey." GEORGE E. WILSON "Responsibility is a serious thing." W. GUY WORTHINGTON "lie did not even understand himself; but he did his share." CARLYLE P. WRIGHT "He did what he did, when he did, and he did it well." RAYMOND T. WYCKOFF "Oh, the magic of your eyes." WILLIAM T. WYCKOFF "Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever." WILLIAM W. YOUNG "Neat, nifty, natty." XIX THE S. S. NOPATIN THE Detachment's trip to France on the "No- patin" was an adventure of some magnitude. The transport was a 300-foot coastwise steamer intended for service between New England ports; she had been idle for several years. Then the War came, with its demand for vessels of all sorts, and the Navy took over the microscopic "Manhattan" as it was then called, renamed it the "Nopatin," and proceeded to fit it up for service in the English Channel. The vessel was subjected to a general overhauling; partitions were re- moved and the lower portholes were covered with heavy planks. To make it seaworthy for the long voyage across the Atlantic great braces and timbers were set up on deck and within the hull. The converted "Nopatin" was ready for use in June, 1918-that famous month during which so many thousands of American soldiers were rushed to France. Every transport bound for Europe was crowded to capacity with troops and every foot of deck space was at a premium. So the War Department cast its eye down the list to find a nice portable little outfit of about two hundred men that 165 166 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT would just fit the limited space on board the "Nopatin." Thus it came to pass that, with some misgiving, the Detachment of Base Hospital No. 38 came aboard on June 21, 1918. The boat looked woefully small beside the huge bulk of the "President Grant" which was tied up opposite at the next pier. Most of the officers were aboard the "President Grant"; they spent much of their time during the next two days in calling across the nar- row strip of water and making all sorts of uncompli- mentary or unkind remarks about our shiplet. The Detachment had the last laugh, however, for when the convoy sailed the "President Grant" developed acute peritonitis or something and had to put back for repairs while the diminutive "Nopatin"-the seagoing Ford- went merrily on her way. Lieutenant-Colonel Lambie, Major Lowman, Cap- tain Pratt, Captain Bertolet, Captain Tripp and Lieu- tenant Lull, occupied staterooms on the top deck. The main Detachment was assigned to hammocks and the "noncoms," in pairs, went into the little staterooms. Packs were unslung and the organization prepared to make the best of things en 'voyage. Everything seemed quite comfortable. After all, the "Nopatin" was not a half bad sort of boat-at least not while securely tied up at the pier; compared to the larger transports with their thousands it was a luxurious craft when in quiet water and lashed to a land-mast, the dock. On the afternoon of June 22, 1918, memorable date, THE S. S. NOPATIN 167 the mighty craft steamed down the bay and anchored in the harbor to await other constituent members of the convoy. The assembling vessels were far enough down to get the heavy swells from the ocean and the initial casualties occurred that evening. Raeber captured first honors by falling out of the mess-line at supper (cita- tion). From then on familiar faces-many, many familiar faces, dear familiar faces, were missed; Raeber, Spfecher, Crosby Smith, Haslam, Hamilton, Clever, Casey, Parkinson-immortals first to succumb-became stricken heroes; many were sick but those named rose to incomparable heights. The "Nopatin" pitched fore and aft with energy and determination; she also rolled from side to side; the combination resulted in that ghastly, uncertain, diagonal lunge that shifted gastric moorings and brought the stomach very close up under the eaves with that charming sensation that one gets occasionally when the elevator man is in a hurry to go out to lunch. The "Nopatin" was rather wide for her length, and then too, the deck extended out over the hull line after the manner of most river steamers. When she came down into the trough between swells, this generous surface smacked the water flat, sending a shudder through the entire boat; it made the unhappy "thirty- eighter" feel as though a barrel stave had been applied with force and accuracy to the open country immediately below his breastbone. Throughout the day and also in the erstwhile silent night, the wooden reinforcements of 168 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT the vessel groaned and squeaked, the fore and aft stair- ways sang a strident hymn of hate; when at sea often winds screeched through the rigging and great waves banged and broke on the wooden sides. Much of this, mind you, even while we were still(?) anchored in New York harbor! Our subsequent sufferings on the open sea must be left to the reader's imagination. No mention need be made of that awful night in mid-ocean when the Colored Infantry in the next transport prayed for us as the frisky "Nopatin" did tail-spins and looped-the-loop -that night when the musical stairways played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and the mess tables and benches went crashing back and forth like flails! That was the terrible night when the sailors pumped out the ship and Captain Pratt pumped out Crosby. Let us forget it, by all means. The convoy, seven transports in all, put to sea on June 23, 1918. Most of the transports were big lum- bering vessels with sleek inquisitive guns mounted on platforms fore and aft. Our vessel, being a minor in size and senile in years, was not permitted to carry fire- arms, but relied for protection upon four depth bombs, floating smoke boxes, a smoke screen machine, low visi- bility, and Providence. The convoy was shepherded by a sturdy cruiser and five sleek destroyers; a number of little subchasers saw us safely on our way. The "No- patin," gay in her new camouflage colors, brought up the rear of the flock like a frolicsome spaniel, one that would S. S. "Nopatin" Our Transport to France Garage Le Grande Blottereau The Chauffeurs A Holiday Party S. S. '•Fkeedoii" Our Transport Home Base Hospital No. 38 Hospital Train Unloading at Doulon Station Nantes Base Hospital No. 38 The Lake and Rustic Bridge, Grand Blottereau Base Hospital No. 38 Officers' Car Base Hospital No. 38 Interior of Typical Ward Base Hospital No. 38 Entraining at Brest THE S. S. NOPATIN 169 have been pleasing to contemplate safely on land. The organization was fortunate in having the boat to the exclusion of all other voyagers; the men were allowed on deck most of the time. After entering the Gulf Stream the warmth of the water tempered the wind and the sea and sky both shone with a radiant blue; many good times were enjoyed on the sunny little aft deck of the "Nopatin." The Detachment did not loaf all the time, for there was much work to be done. The boat had to be kept spick and span; bunking spaces required scrubbing and "whitework" shone to the satisfaction of even the ferocious old "Exec." Besides that, Base 38 men stood watch as auxiliary submarine lookouts and supplied a deck guard posted to prevent any disheart- ened gastric gymnast from trying to end his military and naval career in the chilly Atlantic. For days the Detachment was compelled to remain at the life rafts during the danger times of dawn and twi- light. About 6 p. m. the husky boatswain suddenly appeared below decks blowing a blood-curdling whistle and shouting "Awrl hands on deck!" in a foreign voice; while the gong clanged out the signal for "abandon ship." Men then dropped the "spotted cubes" or their "Snappy Stories" and art needlework, and seized life belt, wallet, canteen, emergency ration and valuable personal effects, dashed wildly, 200 strong, up a com- panion ladder four feet wide, over benches, braces, ropes, stanchions and other hazards, to life-rafts where roll call 170 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT was taken to ascertain the total casualties. Then the cry "All present or accounted for!" or more often "All present but Cole!" The early morning "abandon ship" drill was less pleasant; the sea-going Gabriel woke the living, dead and dying, at 3 o'clock, in the pitch dark, and one never knew until he reached the deck whether it was a false alarm or the real thing. Men stood shiver- ing by stations until the stars were blotted out by the radiance of dawn and the coming of daylight again brought a sense of safety to the convoy. The bugler sounded "recall" and sleepy heroes trooped back to bunks for another hour of sweet repose. The dark moonless nights were full of thrilling mys- tery; the ships of the convoy plowed through the sea without a light showing; the phosphorescent foam out- lined the black bows of the distant transports. Far ahead, against the stars, could be seen the squat bulk of the guardian cruiser, her basket masts barely visible against the pale ribbon of the far distant horizon. Occa- sionally a signal light on the cruiser would wink a few hurried messages to the convoy, then the ships would alter courses simultaneously or perhaps move with aug- mented speed. Up in the "crow's nest" the figures of the lookout were hazily discernible; watchful eyes were scanning the sea through powerful glasses. Below decks only a few shaded greenish-blue bulbs placed at long intervals guided us about the ship; they cast a ghastly light on the laden and ever swaying canvas THE S. S. NOPATIN 171 hammocks and on the upturned faces of sleeping men. The "Nopatin" carried no adequate tankage of fresh water and had no condensers for its production; at fixed hours drinking water was doled out as more precious than gold. The water supplied for ablution had evi- dently seen service in the boilers; it was brick-red in color, had a pungent nasty smell, and was obviously unfit for steaming purposes. The little ship had no suitable refrigerators either, and the supply of fresh food began to age and go bad; fruits and vegetables went into decline; meat had to be thrown overboard in mid-ocean. The meals began to taper in quantity and quality until the ceremony of "lining up for mess" began to approach the status of a mere empty formality, like Guard mount or Muster. A hungry thirty-eighter with imagination voiced his protest by changing the name "Nopatin" over the ship's bulletin board, with his pen- knife, silently and unobserved; he transformed the "p" into "e." All were almost overcome with joy (and weakness) when the genius of the galley evolved a veri- table banquet on the Fourth of July. Of that ambrosial repast a vision of baked ham, corn bread, fruit salad and apple pie, still lingers in memory's musty chambers; lives were saved but it was a narrow escape. Men wandered about the ship and explored its mys- teries, enjoying a freedom that those who sailed on the great crowded transports never knew. Being naturally inquisitive the Uniteers knew every inch of the ship in a 172 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT day or two. Cole was particularly struck by the life of a sailor; he wore a sailor's uniform, crowded the sea- soldiers, and answered more of the ship's calls than our own; in a week he was giving the Executive Officer little pointers on navigation. Krause, while prospecting, fell into a coal bunker, narrowly escaped being used for fuel, and was fished out in a slightly damaged condition. The "immortals" began to appear on deck, a bit limp, looking greenish-grey and weak (denying that they had ever been seasick) to help us look for periscopes or land; at times either would have been welcome. And so the unit passed the time; reading, playing cards, singing, rumoring, smoking, policing and, half hopefully watching for a submarine to appear. On the morning of July 4th seven sleek destroyers came out from the east to meet us, making 12 destroyers in all that zigzagged back and forth in a hollow square to protect the ships of the convoy. Giving the "Nopatin" a final cleaning up, men rolled packs that day and made ready to disembark. But the foggy morning of Friday, July 5th, found us still at sea. About 10 a. m. the dis- tant hum of an aeroplane exhaust brought all hands to deck. The machine circled over the convoy several times and then put back to the east. All the men remained on deck to catch the first sight of land which we now knew to be not far distant. At last, far out on a gaunt bleak rock, a tall lighthouse loomed up in the fog off the port bow. Then, after an THE S. S. NOPATIN 173 interval, some west-bound vessels were passed, then more rocks, and finally the hazy outline of distant cliffs rose before us. None knew whether it was France or England until a little pilot boat appeared and we read on its sail the word "Brest." The cliffs came nearer and nearer, they seemed to float up to us, and became more definite in form, at last engulfing the convoy as it steamed up the exquisite land-locked harbor of this most western of the ports of France. A captive balloon guarded the entrance to the harbor; a stately, glistening dirigible passed over the convoy. Our guardian cruiser had disappeared without saying good-bye and now the fleet of destroyers left us, the thin, trim little fighters making a pretty picture against the cliffs of the harbor, each vessel brilliantly camou- flaged and at her stern "Old Glory" proudly snapped defiance in the breeze. Men cheered as the little hornets turned their noses westward into the swells of the broad Atlantic. The convoy proceeded up the estuary and did an "on the left into line" which brought us up facing the City of Brest. The reaction, after 13 days of tossing about on the ocean, was very pleasant. A band on the next transport played joyfully. Every sort of vessel was represented in that crowded harbor; little fishing craft with brown sails, barges, destroyers, a French sub- marine, a funny, clanking, old side-wheeler, launches, tugs and great colliers, with their strange rigging, look- ing like huge spiders; all were interested in our convoy. 174 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Army and Navy officials came aboard the "Nopatin" and then left in spotless launches whose polished brasses glittered in the sunlight. The men of "38" bade fare- well to their good friends the crew, and slinging packs, climbed down a precarious rope ladder to the deck of the lighter. The ropes were cast off and we said good- bye to the little "Nopatin" and turned our faces toward the shore and the next act of our great adventure. XX BREST WERE it possible to tie close to one's ecto- plasm, obtain for it wireless connection with the lamented Dante, possess the vocabulary of the tragic dramatist, acquire the inspiration of the testy Tamas, and write with vitrolic pen on asbestos papyrus, one might be able to record the glories of war born on the field at Brest, and perpetuate a knowledge of some of the infamous conditions that abounded in and around this port of disembarkation through which passed 791,000 members of the A. E. F., and much of the 7,452,000 tons of cargo that flowed into France dur- ing the war. Vain! Vain! All is vain! But the port was beautiful; the great arms of the land-locked harbor seemed to reach out to incoming con- voys, bid them welcome to the bosom of suffering France, and to sweep about the entering vessels as with a tender motherly embrace. The hum of planes, the graceful flight of those human birds, the majestic dirigibles outlined against the sky, and the captive observation balloons looking like great, rather grotesque, socketless eyes that seemed to peer into space, Argus- 175 176 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT like, added to the grandeur of the scenic reception. If the entrance was at night, or still better in the fading twilight hour, sparkling lighthouses added to the beauty of the entrancing view and once in the harbor blinking lights of white, red and blue shot out messages in an un- familiar language more alluring to the eye, probably better comprehended through vision than the output from the mitrailleuse French tongue when it smites the organ of hearing. Then the interesting flotilla resting on the peaceful surface in mid-harbor or tied up to the few available landing points; every describable type of craft entered into the infinite variety; great silent men- of-war, ponderous, impressive, bristling with armament, steadfast as a rock among graceful swells upon which lesser craft bobbed up and down like corks; huge coaling vessels with long arms and uplifted projecting hoists, looking not unlike some enormous dirty spider, but laden with diamonds more practically precious than a kohi- noor; a few French submarines; destroyers that rolled like puppies at play and shot about in and particularly outside the harbor, like frightened water beetles on the quiet bosom of a mountain pool; the "Leviathan," called by the boys the Hebrew Transport-Levi Nathan- with the Stars and Stripes snapping in the breeze, look- ing secure and proud even in her humility-loaded with restless khaki-clad men each avowedly going to slay the makers of the gigantic craft; tenders resplendent in cos- tume and polished brasses, bringing officers from shore, Base Hospital No. 38 Typical Street Base Hospital No. 38 Mess Hall Base Hospital No. 38 Private with Marching Equipment Base Hospital No. 38 Captain Tripp AND KAZENSTEIN Base Hospital No. 38 Personnel Tents after Relief from Duty St. Nazaire U. S. A. Transport St. Nazaire Farewell, France PONTANEZEN Napoleon's Old Quarters Major Forst Camp Upton S. S. "Nopatin" Life Raft Drill Patients from Hospital Train Doulon Station Base Hospital No. 38 Tent Expansion Erecting Tents BREST 177 transporting precious messages like carrier pigeons, and creeping about huge transports like gaily clad urchins playing hide and seek; great lighters, flat and often rail- less, moving slowly, usually under their own power, coyly siding up along transports from every vantage point of which hung curious boys drinking deep the beauty and wonder of it all, and straining like leashed followers of the chase for freedom from the cages in which they had braved the unfriendly sea infested by every form of marine danger known to a resourceful, cunning, conscienceless foe. Such, in brief, was part of the interesting detail encompassed by the harbor of Brest. Hanging, as on a hillside, was the quaint old City with its ruined castle, dungeon and all, its busy wharves, concealed fortifications, naval base, busy rail- road terminals often filled with tiny kennel-like cars which Americans wished to wear as watch-charms, and, sweeping off to the side and around the harbor, the picturesque hills of Brittany. Altogether an entrancing scene on which hungry eyes were feasted. But the newcomers were not tourists seeking restful picturesqueness surrounding placid harbors, and must ashore. There were the usual delays but on the whole one was promptly impressed by the speedy movement of events; a preliminary visit by some officers, a lower- ing of ladders, the descent of men whose legs were still manifesting traits of the inexperienced mariner, were not fully trustworthy, the crowding of transporting 178 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT lighters until it seemed they must sink, the ordinary baggage mix-up, and then slowly to a landing and "all ashore." Some difficulty in getting organizations to- gether, shouldering packs that seemed to weigh a ton, or piling them on great trucks, sturdy American ones that could not be overloaded, then the slow march to Ponta- nezen, up gradual inclines, usually splendidly paved, over the enclosing hills and then a slow descent along a rather bad road, at places sadly out of repair. In town, even to the outskirts, the populace lined up to greet and God-speed the arriving hordes; children sang "Hail, hail, the gang's all here" and did not mind the naughty word although probably few if any of them comprehended the language uttered; they had this and other songs down pat, frequently with perfectly clear enunciation; they did not learn words nor music from their devout mothers; one can easily surmise who were their teachers. The larger boys took real delight in conversing with sol- diers and Hugo's street gamins often spoke of them- selves as "professors," bent on teaching their language to Americans many of whom wanted only "veni ici," "allez," "toot sweet," "vin rouge" and other useful words and phrases. A kindly, wise Colonel sometimes ordered a "halt," an "at ease" on or near the top of the hill, where ranks could "break," men could de-pack for a moment's rest and glance backward toward and over the old town or for- ward upon rural Brittany with its quaint houses, fence- BREST 179 less fields and farms, and roadsides often mounded up and overgrown by ferns the long, rather crisp and some- times yellow or frayed fronds of which had been disor- dered and occasionally devastated by our predecessors. In the distance could be seen the fields where, under "pup tents," thousands of American soldiers had spent their first night on French soil. After a brief rest, on to unforgettable Pontanezen, with its rather impressive entrance, the old stone bar- racks, probably much the same though no doubt worse than when "The Little Corporal" last saw them. Of course they were interesting, with forbidding floors, usually of flag stone, not clean, old doors, little windows, thick stone walls, stuccoed exteriors, and huddled to- gether with neglected uneven, sandy or pebbly clay ground between; a few fragmentary stone walks, pools of water around which, at one side, were circular and rectangular tents, parts of which often extended into the muddy repulsive pools. The officer commanding an organization reported to the Pontanezen Adjutant, was given a flood of misinfor- mation by a snappy, roughneck, typical army sergeant, was assigned space, sometimes several groups to the same allotment, and began foraging for possible pros- pects of "chow" and something whereon to rest. The available cots were of iron, and the bed part formed by flat steel straps or bars about six inches apart, and as elastic and resilient as a concrete sidewalk. The Chap- 180 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT lain or Frank Eaves would have fallen through between the almost rigid supports; Majors Coplin and Nassau, and Crosby Smith viewed from beneath, no doubt would have resembled huge steaks securely grasped by the compressing bars of a gigantic broiler. However, the cots or beds had altitude and that was important for the dry ground, if such there chanced to be, was not clean and water came and after a time disappeared on the floors of the tents almost like a tide. Enlisted men fared less well; they usually were assigned outside the walls where, because of frequent rains, the ground was softer, the stench less permeating and the flies certainly no more numerous nor pestiferous. The fly plague was beyond words, sacred or profane; the accessible mess uninviting, occasionally positively repulsive and the average not good. The latrine and sewerage system, such as existed, was of the "overhead" variety, neglected, filthy, and necessarily unsanitary. The Adjutant informed inquir- ers that the C. O. was ill; that could be no surprise; later it was also gratifying. Concerning the Adjutant himself, at that time on duty, and who in some respects, appeared to be alive, one would like to use trenchant lan- guage but its most versatile exponent would soon recog- nize how puny his effort and how futile the attempt. The head of this important individual was of the "sorrel top" species, his temper of the "hair trigger" variety, his veracity appeared multiform, and his conceit, ignorance and discourtesy were colossal to an extent incomprehen- BREST 181 sible and unbelievable. Of course, he was an accident, no doubt a temporary affair, and there was none other just like him encountered in all France. An officer who approached him was fairly sure of an insult, if of lower rank it amounted to a certainty; sometimes the officer was accused of being drunk- that appeared to be a favorite starting point, which, if one recalls how, to a j aundiced man everything looks yellow, becomes readily comprehensible. Incoming officers often wished to learn something of their baggage and occasionally were indiscreet or brazen enough to inquire; such unpardonable presumption sent up sky rockets, exploded mines, and lighted flares; if, as was the case with the officers of "38," any one wished to visit the port to seek clothing rolls or trunks, or to get a traveler's check cashed, he was treated as though he contemplated sinking the navy, robbing the banks of Brest, betraying important military secrets that he could not possess, or of disrupting the two Republics; knowing the purpose for which he would visit Brest the leave-granting despot naturally assigned to all propo- nents similar motives and when, after many futile attempts, Captains Hustead and Owen obtained per- mission to hunt up baggage, it was felt by comrades that dire things must occur and H. Q. acted as though two desertions should be reported. Nevertheless they got our clothing and many things sadly needed, and, no doubt, salvaged stuff that, otherwise, would have been lost. 182 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Welfare organizations helped cheerfully and greatly; they furnished facilities for correspondence, exchanged money, supplied or replaced toilet articles such as shav- ing cream, tooth paste, etc., and did many things well. They could not do everything, that was obvious, though some seemed to expect at least that much of them; the workers were usually swamped by detail, supplies fre- quently exhausted, and the newcomers probably not always patient or reasonable. Nevertheless the Red Cross Hut was a God-send. Blankets were issued on "mem" and, in sufficient num- bers, they made the inquisitional beds inhabitable to both man and insect life. Fighting through clouds of flies was a preliminary to entering the mess and constituted a sort of "setting up" exercise during meals; any at- tempt to record the number of these pests would wreck the world's output of mechanical counting devices and to put it in figures would pie and scrap all the Mergen- thalers ever manufactured. Travelers through Brest must have fallen in thousands before such well-known fly-borne diseases as typhoid, dysentery and possibly cholera, had it not been for the envisaging wisdom of the Army Medical Corps that made imperative universal immunization; that saved the day and protected sol- diers from unspeakably filthy conditions that, neverthe- less should have been impossible. Then the attempts to get orders; surely they also served who only stood to wait; Bulletin Boards gave BREST 183 notice to everybody else, at least often it so appeared, and days dragged by like geologic periods. During this apparently endless stay men of "38" won baseball honors, beat all comers, left behind a precious glory and took with them a cherished memory the satisfying balm of which they were to need so badly during their early athletic contests with "34." All of that, however, is set forth in the article on Athletics. Finally, orders came through, packs and baggages were hurriedly assembled, some impatient waiting, and then on to the train and away to new fields. Brest can never fade-few memories of it can be pleasant; camaraderie, unity of amusement, annoyance and experience, tightened bonds and later good fellow- ship smiled at the pettiness of many an upleasant inci- dent. After all were not conditions unavoidable, just part of war's disgusting filthiness and perilous unsani- tary life, even far in the rear of actual combat lines? When, from a greater height and better perspective, born of the years, we look back over the days at Ponta- nezen, can't it be seen that the horrible facts are just part of war- really very insignificant when compared with the many worse conditions observed later and elsewhere? While war smears the soil of the footstool with its grimy, barbarous talons, conditions such as here found or even worse, and possibly irremediable as those observed in and about Pontanezen, will be repeated thousands of times. Such C. O.'s and Adjutants accompany all 184 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT armies; the patriot Washington and the traitor Arnold were both present in 1776; the bloody, destroying, des- olating Sherman, and the gentle, humane Grant and Lee, were participants in the sixties; beside the angelic sisterhoods and not far distant from the noble Nightin- gale, slunk the camp Pompadours and DuBarrys; martial splendor and squalor, neither beatify nor bru- talize save that the potential angel or demon be present as must ever be the case where humanity is gathered, be it peace or war, it matters not which; though war un- chains and mobilizes the latent Jekylls and Hydes, the noble and the true stand out like beacons against the Stygian background of the ignoble and false. So it is the same old story of ancient and medieval wars, of the crusades, of the Crimea, of our Civil War, of the Spanish-American War, of all war; the lurid flames vary in form and color; the pestilence may be plague, cholera, typhus, typhoid, dysentery, influenza, gas gan- grene, or what not; the barbaric cruelty may be born of tomahawk and scalping knife, bludgeon or bayonet, boil- ing pitch or flame-throwers, torpedoes, mines, aerial bomb, high explosive, or the crowning infamy of the inferno-chemical warfare-it's all in the game. Now that man has harnessed nature's forces, speeds messages through space, rides the air, travels under the sea and calls the universe his own, is it not possible to possess his very soul, encourage humane creative thought and strangle the demons that have grown great and inso- BREST 185 lent within him? Is this faculty that he calls reason so puny that baser things cast it aside and the brute snarls and snaps, poisons and energizes around firesides and in council chambers? Dare not the still small voices of conscience rise to thunder tones that shall awaken nations from the lethargy of myth and tradition that makes war glorious and calls warriors heroes? Can't its needless horrors be impressed upon mankind and its pet- tiness and futlity be made obvious? If, through the aeons man has failed, and apparently he has, then "Woman, where art thou?" Page woman. "Mankind is lethargic, easily pledged to routine, timid, sus- picious of innovation. ***** He }las Spent almost his whole existence as a savage hunter, and in that state of ignorance he illustrated on a magnificent scale all the inherent weak- nesses of the human mind." The more I study the worlds the more am I convinced of the inability of brute force to create anything durable. Napoleon Bonaparte. Base Hospital No. 38 "Murder Squad" Base Hospital No. 38 Receiving Ward Base Hospital No. 38 Personnel Leaving Brest for Nantes Base Hospital No. 38 Ambulance and Driver on Duty S. S. "Nopatin" "A Sailor's Life for Me" Base Hospital No. 38 "Off Duty" in France Chateau Le Grande Blottereau Grove between Base Hospitals No. 11 and 38 "Jeff," Our Mascot A Wayside Shrine, Doulon Arrival at Nantes XXI BREST TO NANTES FROM a warm fireside in Philadelphia to the chill and damp of Brest is a long journey with many changing scenes, kaleidoscopic, rather than tran- sitional. Cheerful embers crackling into myriads of sparks, a comfortable chair, pictures and other objects one knows so well, all combined to make that day of departure extremely remote, the memory vivid, and new scenes, strange ones indeed, become more striking. But, however distant home may have been, the journey from Brest to Nantes made an enduring and deep impression, marking as it did a first invasion of French soil; and, alas for many of us, the last. Thus the individual may look upon this part of the great adventure as fortunate or unfortunate according to the point of view, and the individual's desire to get nearer the Front and into the seething whirlpool of activities. It will be a long time before one forgets the hike from Pontanezen Barracks to the train. The day being typi- cally French, great grey clouds were banked against the horizon and a cold drifting rain soaked through shoes and slickers and permeated all equipment. On mounting 187 188 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT a hill the long column was visible far in the rear, slowly, surely advancing, following the undulation of the road like a huge dripping serpent; the long somewhat strag- gling rearguard was hazily distant and finally blended and disappeared in the mists of the valley a mile or more away. Curious little details are recalled to mind, mere trifles, which seemed forgotten long ago; Colonel Lam- bie's short coat; Dunkerley's right puttee dragging in the mud; the disconcerting manner in which the rain trickled down from cap to neck and then beneath cloth- ing, following the spine. The townspeople watched the passing with attentive glances and much comment among themselves. They paid absolutely no heed to the rain; raining here 300 days of the year was their idea of normal climate; dry weather that threatens growing crops may well arouse anxiety. If there was a downpour every day one is quite sure their spirits would not be dampened, so great is their ardour and love for the patrie, and so little do they note peculiar or objectionable climatic variability. The tricolor was much in evidence, hanging from many houses whose design seemed so quaint to unaccustomed eyes. Here and there the Stars and Stripes, and occasionally "Vive l'Amerique" greeted the passing column of friendly invaders. It had been a long wet hike to the train and some were a bit fagged. In this condition men tested the much discussed potency of a cake of chocolate of which pre- cious article many had three or more accessibly stored BREST TO NANTES 189 about their equipment. One cake often yielded an almost miraculous result; never had a cocktail produced better effect, not even when mixed by a master or an accomplished amateur, for example, Walter Bald. Up came spirits with a rush; the rain appeared to slacken; the dampness seemed less chill and men were able to inquire with some display of courage, "Where do we go from here?" Eight in each compartment of the train. This was the order. Six is the usual capacity for day travel; but "c'est la guerre," eight, including equipment and super- fluous moisture, were now stowed in space normally holding six; here also they must sleep. Some say there are advantages in being tall; this was not one of the occasions. Please note the long and short of the crowd in one compartment-McWilliams, Goodley, Eaves, Fred Marvil, Dunkerley, McCoy, Casey, and G. A. Smith. McCoy was picked on because it was obviously impossible for another long one to squeeze in. As it was, Bob McCoy crawled up onto a baggage shelf and, in some indescribable manner, there he stayed and actually slept. Of course he felt rather heavy in the morning. Throughout the long night the car jolted, knocked, swerved, rolled and bumped as only the French four- wheeler can. The pressure of war made all French roadbeds bad and those leading out of Brest were inde- scribably vicious. Then after a long delay the engineer apparently decided to return to Brest and there ensued 190 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT a long tedious backing. That engineer could not decide which way he wished to go-more starts, more stops- there were times when indications led those awake to believe he meant to try going both ways simultaneously! Towards midnight a cold wind arose. Outside there was nothing but dense blackness, the low-lying leaden clouds obscuring even the faintest glimmer of a star. Ah, a scene that a Russian novelist would have been delighted to describe. The small oil lantern on the roof shone with a fitful wavering glow on eight bedraggled forms, hud- dled in grotesque positions, striving for warmth and sleep. It will be recalled that McWilliams was stretched flat on his back in the aisle with someone's muddy boot dangling an inch or so above his nose, but that worried him not at all; he had the choice bed; he and McCoy- one on a shelf up near the roof, the other on the floor; one could not fall upward nor the other downward; the rest of the detail from time to time, boxed the compass of possible directional temporary displacement. From a strap fastened to the roof hung a huge loaf of bread placed there out of the grime; it swung to and fro with every lurch of the car, like a great time-keeping mechan- ism; one recalled Poe's Pit and Pendulum. The win- dows of the train, loose in their sashes, rattled continu- ously in the gusts which blew down from the hills or up from the sea or valley. It brought to mind an old attic in Moscow where, in the evening, Marie Ivan often came to listen through the icy silence to the chilling wind BREST TO NANTES 191 from the vast solitudes of the steppes, which rattled the windows in just the same way. And on a night such as this, just after Trenchard had lit the samovar, she had come rushing up those rickety stairs and, with much agitation, announced the growing rebellion of the people, and that they must soon hear "shots in the street at night." Such digression must be punished or par- doned-it is "forwarded in duplicate, through military channels, for such action as may be judged appropriate." The next morning, as if at the wave of a conjurer's wand, the clouds suddenly dissolved and the travelers were treated to a warmth of sun and blueness of sky, such as only France can bestow. It was doubly welcome after the night's wild despairful orgy. The countryside was dotted with quaint little windmills waving their awkward arms bravely in the light breeze, a charming sight against the green background of Lombardy pop- lars; and the different fields, neatly laid out in multi- colored squares and elongated rectangles, afforded a picture not unlike an enormous patch work quilt. With this before one's eyes it was difficult to believe that here was a country crushed by war; far more did the land- scape resemble the peace and color of a Maxfield Parrish print. But the lurching train and the indecisive or vacillating engineer were ever bringing it closer. Quim- per, birthplace of the immortal Laennec, was traversed unheeded and unknown. An express rushed past, drawn by two American locomotives carrying a huge 14-inch 192 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT naval gun and great piles of ammunition. At last the outfit pulled into a long shed and detrained with all equipment. Across the wall of the station was inscribed, in large letters, "Nantes." This meant little to us at the time, but later men were to learn much about the rather quaint old City. A short march brought the organization to Base Hos- pital No. 34 which was quartered in a seminary; the worn and hungry men were treated to a wonderful re- past-never did food taste better and here many found acquaintances and friends whom it was good to see. Many thanks to good neighbors for their splendid hospi- tality-but "38" must push on to its unfinished camp on the Loire. Often the line passed and noted with interest groups of young French girls whose sombre black garb could in no way suppress their spontaneous vivacity or gay spirit. Many a quick glance from spark- ling eyes lightened the burden of packs, many a merry smile cheered the marching column. Many fell for them, of course, nor could heart-hungry aliens be blamed for the fall; some recalled an isle in the South Seas and reminded one for all the world of Herman Melville's lovable little sprite Faya way. There is an old French poem called "The Bells of Nantes," a delightful bit of verse, but after hearing the bells one often thought that the poem did not describe their beauty; had he known them Poe would have writ- ten another verse in his undying poem. On Sunday their BREST TO NANTES 193 message eomes from every point of the warm sunlit countryside, and the air is filled with their varied tones. Some are large and deep throated, ancient ones of bronze no doubt, others peal forth a light musical tinkle -surely they must be made of silver. It is a perfect ensemble, some loud and near, some faint and distant. Alas for the mad rush of the United States. To many of us France will be remembered as the pleasant land of art, of music, of beauty, of tradition, of valor and ro- mance; but none must forget brave, torn, suffering France-that memory will always be tender. Disarmament is the only road to safety for the human race.-Lloyd George. From the standpoint of labor, it is more constructive to destroy a battleship than to build one.-Samuel Gompers. XXII ATHLETICS FEW will forget the landslide enthusiasm which characterized the athletic activities of Base 38. Shortly after induction into service at the old Second Regiment Armory, Jim Cassidy and Kirk and others came around every day with a baseball glove bulging out of an otherwise perfect-fitting uniform. Then, when men were through with those great old "details," "kitchen police," "n'everything," life wasn't worth much crossing the Armory floor if one couldn't duck half a dozen balls passing back and forth between members of what later proved to be the crack nine of the A. E. F. Little was it realized then that the practice in ducking baseballs would serve to good advantage a few months later in dodging foaming shells from "old Fritz" on the "Doulon Front." All remember when "Son" Willis and a few of his trusty henchmen cooked up a plot to persuade Lambie to encamp the outfit at Stenton Field; surely that is not forgotten, it marked the real beginning of the Baseball Team of "38." A good dia- mond, and plenty of room for all the practice necessary to whip into shape a team destined to put "38" on the 195 196 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT map, and all this without a "press representative." The first game was with the Penn Mutual Life Insur- ance Company and a score of 9 to 1 in favor of "38" inspired confidence in the players, and rooters had to concede that the team possessed possibilities. Then came the game with the Atlantic City Railroad Team which set the boys back a bit with a score of 10 to 4. They weren't thoroughly organized yet and some of the star players must have been in "C" class that day, besides, the weather wasn't so good; but glory came in defeat of the Kennett Square nine composed of a lot of ex-professional ringers who thought they had a cinch with a scratch army nine. This game brought out the first demonstration of the old "38" spirit, with Unger- buehler and McGaughey comprising the battery, every other man on the team chuck full of "pep" and the entire detachment yelling on the side lines. The game was won with a score of 4 to 2 but it was a hard fought battle. Then out of a clear sky came the first rumor of an early sailing and thoughts were turned for a time from baseball to submarines. What a welcome sight they would be after visualizing war from armories and from Stenton Field and Chadd's Ford. After innumerable delays the athletic warriors of "38" shoved off and little recked the A. E. F. that a potent force was joining and bringing famed knights of the diamond. After continued, prolonged, and innumerable delays ATHLETICS 197 the organization was billeted within the ancient walls of "Pontanezen Barracks"; men gradually began to shake off groggy sea legs, and thoughts turned once more, per- haps with a little homesickness, to the grand American sport; soon, one by one, balls and gloves appeared and •before nightfall a match game had been arranged with U. S. Base Hospital 33 of Brest. It was at Brest that Base 38's team first showed its real speed. Here, the phenomenal playing of Fahringer will always be remembered. Plis stops and throws at short were marvelous. Jim Cassidy played a game in left field that will never be forgotten by the outfit. Kocher and Miller covered the first base bag in a manner creditable to any real "Pro." Frank Jones, the famous "38" southpaw, made his initial debut at Brest and cov- ered himself with glory by defeating what were sup- posed to be the best in camp-the Third Motor Ma- chines-by a score of 11 to 3, and Base 33 by a score of 9 to 3. It was in this game that Risdale by his accurate throwing to first and his excellent hitting, showed his worth as a third baseman. Later, days after the organ- ization had left, when Col. Coplin and the rest of the officers arrived, they learned of "38," which was widely known and fully recalled by old residents because of its crack baseball team. After arriving at Nantes and finding the Hospital in an uncompleted condition, pitchers had ample oppor- tunity to develop their arms while wrestling lumber, con- 198 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Crete, plumbing supplies, furniture, and everything es- sential to create a complete Base Hospital. The first important discovery in the new location was the presence of another Base Hospital on the opposite side of town, which had managed to land in France some months ahead of "38." Their members had acquainted them- selves with the mademoiselles of the town, had seen the Cathedral, the Chateau, visited the "hole in the wall," the "House of Glass" and all other points of interest, and by the time the baseball season opened were ready to settle down to training. The arrival of "38" at the end of the season, in a strange town in France, naturally upset all training tables, and broke all practice rules; idle moments were rare and usually meant a trip to town, seeing the sights, rather than a scrub game on a rough lot, to effect training. Consequently when a chal- lenge came from "34" it caught "38" unprepared. But "38" men were never known to refuse a challenge, so the day was set; men, team and gallery started out full of enthusiasm but lacking in team work and came home defeated by a score of 5 to 2. Then the men settled down to practice for a return game; but the team lacked or- ganization and the strenuous duties at the Hospital prevented adequate practice, so again it returned de- feated, this time to the tune of 9 to 3. A little disheart- ened perhaps but not conquered. The winter set in, baseball enthusiasm waned somewhat and attention turned to football and basketball. ATHLETICS 199 Those who are familiar with the climate of France can readily understand why the popular sports of America have never invaded that country. If someone invented a kind of ground hockey or old-fashioned shinny that could be played under umbrellas or on water-an am- phibious sport of some kind, it might take, but as one of our old officers put it, "If it ain't rainin' it's gettin' ready to." So football never flourished. Weather and field conditions at all times rendered it impossible. The Red Cross made a strong effort to popularize basketball on the Grand Blottereau. They erected a couple of cages for the men and even a grandstand for the nurses and rooters, but the hut was constructed on the Aladdin House plan and the assembled sectional units did not make a very stable floor for the speedy games which always characterized those in which "38" participated. The basketball stars comprised Kocher, Willis, Langdon, Risdale, Wilson, Coe, Roach and Kirkpatrick. As for boxing, the title was held down by Lawson, Vare, and "Bun" Coe; as burlesque fighters Daddario and "Buzz" Clarke should receive citations. Lawson, Coe and Vare did some hard training, but they so out- classed everything else in the Hospital Center that they could find no one to meet them, and their loyalty to each other prevented a match ever being arranged for the insiders. With the "dawn" of spring the old baseball spirit re- 200 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT vived and with the lessening of hospital duties the team organization could center all its energies and activities on the one big interest. Permission was granted to level a field, money was secured to purchase shoes and necessi- ties, and a mass meeting was held in the old Receiving Ward; a new team of the men and by the men was sug- gested ; it became obvious that the best plan was for the men to take charge, select the team and choose their own captain. Of course the team would receive the fullest support of the entire organization of officers and men. Johnny Kirkpatrick was elected Captain and no one ever witnessed such loyalty as the men displayed to him and the pep and enthusiasm with which everybody set- tled down to work. In less than a week three teams were provided, every one of them a topper. All had one pur- pose at heart, and that was to bring home "34." The day was finally set and everything broke right. The quartermaster had been relieved, so transportation could at last be secured. Trucks, Fords and everything that ran drew up to the Center that day; team and trained "observers" piled in and beat it over to "34" where every- thing was all set; included among other miracles was the absence of rain; "34" was out strong with hearty greet- ings. After arrival in France the personnel of "38" was en- larged from time to time as the volume of work in- creased; good fortune brought to the team a certain young Westerner who, as his name indicated, had a ATHLETICS 201 faculty of getting under the skin, particularly when it came to twirling the leather; here he will be given im- mortality; his name is Roach. Roach and Thurman made up the Batteries and were supported by Kirkpat- rick, Miller, Fahringer, Risdale, Willis, Cassidy, and Langdon. The game started off with a snap and every last man from the diamond to the side lines was out to win and oh, how they hooted poor old Kelly of "34" until he lost all control, and then they started in on the hitting; "38" just howled those poor fellows clean off the diamond; they couldn't hit beyond the infield. Roach displayed form and won fame. Time after time he walked one, two, three and then struck the next three out just to show them how easily it could be done. Everybody went crazy that day. The French exchange dropped clean out of sight. Every member of "38" bet his entire pay and all he could borrow on his trusty nine. Victory perched on the banners of "38"; coffers filled to over- flowing. The team of "38" cleaned them up with the score of 15 to 2, and if anyone missed that game he missed the most important event in the A. E. F. The box score has been preserved in the archives of "38" and this volume would be incomplete without a record of the memorable event: 202 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT BASE HOSPITAL "34" vs. BASE HOSPITAL "38" Base Hospital "38" PLAYER POSITION R. H. 0. A. E. Willis c.f. 1 1 1 0 0 Risdale 3b. 1 1 1 3 0 Fahringer s.s. 2 3 1 4 1 Cassidy l.f. 2 2 3 0 0 Miller lb. 3 2 10 0 1 Kirkpatrick 2b. 1 2 1 3 0 Langdon r.f. 2 2 1 0 0 Roach P- 1 2 2 2 0 Thurman c. 2 2 7 1 0 -- - 15 17 27 13 2 Base Hospital "34" PLAYER POSITION R. H. 0. A. E. DeCoursay 2b. 0 1 1 2 1 Bonno lb. 1 0 9 0 1 McLaughlin c.f. 0 0 2 0 0 Sterling c. 0 1 7 1 0 0. Moore s.s. 0 1 1 5 1 Felton 3b. 0 0 1 3 1 Stout l.f. 1 0 2 0 0 Kelly P- 0 0 0 2 0 Patterson r.f. 0 1 3 0 0 2 4 26 13 4 Struck out-by Roach 7, Kelly 4; bases on balls-by Roach 5, Kelly 3; two base hits-Cassidy, Miller, Roach, Patterson; three base hits-Fahringer, Kirkpatrick, Langdon; stolen bases-Fah- ringer 2, Langdon 1, Thurman 2, Stout, Bonno each 1. ATHLETICS 203 Games of Base Hospital "38" with Scores VISITORS vs. B. H. "38" SCORES Penn Mutual Insurance Co CC cc cc 1- 9 Atlantic City Railroad CC CC cc 10- 4 Kennett Square cc cc cc 2- 4 Co. B, 42nd Inf., Camp Upton, A. E. F. cc cc cc 0-26 U. S. Base Hospital "33" cc cc cc 3- 9 3rd Motor Machines, Brest cc cc cc 3-11 Colored Inf. Team cc cc cc 2- 7 U. S. Base Hospital "34," Nantes. . . . cc cc cc 5- 2 U. S. Base Hospital "34," Nantes. . . . cc cc cc 9- 3 U. S. Base Hospital "11," Nantes. . . . cc cc cc 3- 8 Evacuation "31," Nantes cc cc cc 0-17 Evacuation "10," Nantes cc cc cc 3-19 Base Hospital "34," Nantes cc cc cc 2-15 Base Hospital "11," Nantes cc cc cc 4- 7 Those who participated in any or all or parts of games are as follows: IB. Miller, Kocher, Bowker. 2B. Cassidy, Kirkpatrick. 3B. Risdale. S.S. Fahringer, Clark. L.F. Davidson, Cassidy. C.F. Willis, Goulden. R.F. Langdon, Capper. C. McGaughey, Thurman, MacMinn, Vare. P. Ungerbuehler, Jones, Rhoads, Coe, Dwyer, Barr and Roach. Those who returned on the "Freedom" will doutbless recall the bout which the Y. M. C. A. arranged on deck with Coe representing "38," and the terrible knock-out he administered with a slight injury to himself, for what is a broken hand when victory is won? Since discharge 204 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT from the Army, Lawson, the prize pugilist, has entered the professional boxing world. All join in extending best wishes, and hope he may have the pleasure and good fortune to meet and conquer Jack Dempsey in the near future. The foregoing story of the athletics of "38" is a tale of reverses, defeats and of final achievement; "38" wanted to defeat "34," a good wholesome ambition, and no mat- ter which won the real will to win that dominates Ameri- can character stands erect, proud, defiant on the mental horizon. None must regard athletics in the Army as an unim- portant factor. Men must be entertained; enthusiasm, esprit de corps and activities that train mind and body are essentials. The average restless American youth loathes solitude, purposeless ease, and mental and phys- ical apathy; he is active, alert, resourceful, strenuous and insists upon occupation for brain and brawn; de- prived of good wholesome activities his morals suffer, he falls before temptation, and loses in life's furious race. In general, all of this applies to soldier and to civilian; occupation may vary and profession change but broad biologic laws fly on through the years as true to their orbits as the spinning spheres of the universe. XXIII RECOLLECTIONS An Officer A RMY service and Base Hospital No. 38. Prepa- / % ration for war and actual service in the medical end of it. Breaking home ties and making new ones. Patriotism, eagerness to serve in the big cause and readjustment of one's previous life. What did it all mean? Where would it all lead? Where did it all lead? The answer is not an easy one. The eagerness to go; the eagerness to return; the dull dead drab of it all after we did return and were mustered out. Any formulated answer must be chaotic which means nothing but "pass- ing the buck" to your questioning soul and relieving your distress by dwelling on some of the extensive recol- lections of life in the army. Nature in her kindliness has often given us the faculty of forgetting the distressing things of life and has con- fined our recollections to more pleasant incidents. That is the reason that little in this will be growl directed at the army or at the war. A first recollection is of walking into that wonderful big barn at Broad Street and Susquehanna Avenue, into 205 206 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT a fairly disorderly room, and of reporting to Captain Hustead, Adjutant. Expecting reprimand for a twenty-four hour delay, one was pleasantly surprised to find that orders were indulgently scanned and filed and one was told to report at such and such a time. Then, after a look around for friends, finding but one or two, a bit of chat and departure for home. Reporting regu- larly, groups were formed and attempts at friendliness were met in the average American way-"We'll look you over to see how you pan out." Nothing discourag- ing, but one felt he had to make an attempt to meet them halfway. Then the talk with the recently arrived Ogle- thorpe people who entertained us with an account of their experiences. That helped. Then Officer of the Day with the necessity of sleeping in the barn, inspecting food, receiving reports of the Sergeant when you hardly knew how to salute properly. Resounding echoes throughout the barn. Automobiles on Broad Street at night, desolation, the wish that the cruel war were over, or that you were a Major and did not have to sleep in this dismal place. Later, growing bonds of friendship, easily formed, never abused, and soon the barn became warm; the men of all sorts; intensely human, and then the eagerness to serve was fortified and given the first place in one's heart. Last recollections of the barn are of that night when we were all ready to depart. The easy orderliness of it all, the weirdness of night activity, the hopeless at- RECOLLECTIONS 207 tempt to sleep on hard floors, and then the march up Broad Street with faithful friends of some of us walking along while we held our heads high, filled with the idea that we were at least and at last on our way to France. The riotous night on the train with everyone on edge and unable to sleep, especially because the highest strung were too much for the more phlegmatic. The arrival in Jersey City with the surrounding trains filled with "out- fits" who had been there for some hours. The snappy march of "38" down the station platform with practi- cally everyone asking "What outfit is that?" and the flattering comments as we passed. Then pride swelled and eagerness to serve was gratified. The long wait on the dock; the rumors that we were to go back to Philadelphia and then-the tug which car- ried us along the docks passed the camouflaged boats into each of which we hoped we would be admitted. The breaking up of officers from the men when the little old "Nopatin" was found to be too small for us all. The more bitter separation when down the bay officers on the great transport saw the "Nopatin" leave them while those on the "President Grant" slowly steamed back to New York. That hurt, because the officers all felt that should the "Nopatin" sink-which it seemed she would do-we could all swim out and hold her up until help arrived. Then the final start for France and for the war. The uneventful trip across the smooth lake they call the 208 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Atlantic Ocean. Of course the "Henderson" did catch on fire and we did run close to the shores of Iceland, if temperature indicates anything, and the cruiser did fire a lot of guns at something ahead of us, but the submarine never "subbed" and we finally did reach Brest-the watery port of moist old France. Our first inquiry was to learn if the "Nopatin" had arrived; we were greatly relieved to know that all were safe, that the real part of the outfit had preceded us by only a few days, had estab- lished a reputation for baseball, and had passed on; we knew not where. A few days' sojourn at "dear old Pontanezen" and we were on our way, but still not surely knowing our destination. Arrived at 11 p. m. in a gloomy but quiet station; no applause by the populace because they were asleep and only the "cochers" were alive; no greeting; no wel- come; we were not expected. The unsuccessful hunt for a hotel by Park and Hustead and the fine supper of bacon cooked on the station platform by compatriot Meng with his sterno stove. It was good. My emer- gency ration rotted in the can and many months later when I opened the can-in spite of the flavor-I could think of it as the thing I had believed could be used when I was floating around the Atlantic Ocean on a life raft. Secretary Daniels told us, after the war, that we were perfectly safe in crossing and that no soldier had been lost under the escort of an American convoy. That was RECOLLECTIONS 209 good campaign stuff, but when Meng supplied us with his little rasher of bacon which army preparedness had compelled him to take along, I was gratified to know that the army depended on no secretary's promises but recognized the fact that men on ocean or on land become hungry. Why my emergency ration was not offered up to the sacrifice at that time it is difficult to say-perhaps the gloom of that big station and no relief in sight in- duced me to believe that sometime before morning I would have to use it and I was saving it for breakfast. Anyway it was never used and when the burdensome "packs" were discarded the emergency ration paid me in full (by its odor) for not having used it as a dessert at Meng's repast. After a few hours ambulances from "34" reached the station-as always when needed "34" turned up to help us out-and we were whisked off to our billet. Through rain, of course, for was this not France; and between stone walls; I have never yet decided where those stone walls were, but I think it was the road from the end of the trolley line to the Doulon Church. How well we were to know it later. We were finally landed at the hos- pital about 3 a. m. Once there the welcome was warm and the surprise at our appearance, great. Did we ever thank "34" for the help out? If not, they will under- stand-c'est la guerre. Greetings, questions, much else, and supper. Then mattresses on the concrete floor, sleep, and the awakening, and then the grand reunion. 210 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT I think there was much disappointment that there were not many wounded, and that the "C in C" of the A. E. F. was not waiting for us, but we soon got over that and began the next morning to arrange ourselves comfortably. Then the days of waiting for something to do. The visits to town, the actual work beginning with the conva- lescents from "34." Later that distressing group of gassed patients from the Vesle River. Principally did it affect us because the 28th Division sent many to us and the terribly gassed group from the 30th Infantry gave us our first real idea of what modern warfare means. These were practically the first cases to die with us and we had our first taste of the horrors of war. To the writer who saw them intimately it seems fitting here to pay tribute to the patient courage of Moran who lived a little more than 24 hours, and the cheerful fight for his life against overwhelming odds made by Chadwick, the sergeant of the group from the 30th Infantry who even in the throes of death still felt-in his delirium-the re- sponsibility for his fighting men. He did not know that most of them were getting well alongside of him and in the adjoining wards. We knew, but ardently wished for his recovery. It was denied us, and him. The only gratification granted any one connected with this case was his noble heroism and the feeling that all that could be done had been done. It has suited some member of this great big army to RECOLLECTIONS 211 write a book about three soldiers. The story centers around three men who went into-or were forced into- this army. The analysis of their characters discloses them as follows: One naturally vicious by temperament; another easily offended and nursing a grudge until he could satisfy it by the murder of his superior officer, and the third a neurotic who was extremely sensitive. They despised the salute and felt it a disgrace to return it. That writer apparently asks us to believe these three composed the U. S. Army. He either lies or does not know. He never saw a Moran or a Chadwick die or if he did, he failed to understand what they meant. He never saw a Maguire-as I did-seek a return to his command and go with it through the Argonne and up with the Army of Occupation when his physician who thought he knew better, would have "S. C. D'd" him to the United States had he been there to do it. Other ob- servations of the American soldier, at close range, dis- closed several things; he was always cheerful; he de- spised the salute as much as the officer; he never was very sure of what he was fighting for, but he was sure he did not know anything much about fighting to save Democracy, and he was sure he was not a Crusader. His chief concern seemed to be that he was in the war because the United States needed him; that was suffi- cient reason, beyond that he had little interest except that in the distant future, there would come a time when he could eat beefsteak instead of "corn-willy" or "mon- 212 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT key meat." Above all he had one idea and that was that Uncle Sam was at war and that he needed him. Nothing else mattered. The "frog" was amusing, sometimes it may have seemed that he did not walk up to the scratch "like he should," but then he had been fighting our bat- tles for three years, he knew dangers, had acquired cau- tion, and so he could be excused. Fritz should be sent back to the Vaterland, and if the doughboy did happen to catch him, he would give him a package of Camels in exchange for his little round cap and wish him bon voyage on his way to the rear. A best girl had to have that little round cap for her collection-so what was a package of Camels more or less. That was the Amer- ican soldier. Against three neurotic soldiers of fic- tion I will present our Moran dying cheerfully because he felt he had done his best; our Chadwick, fighting hard against death, but only because in his delirium he saw the men under him for whom he was responsible, and our Maguire who felt the game was still going on and he had to be in it. Our three soldiers typified more truly the American soldier whether he was in Base Hospitals, combat divisions or quartermasters corps, than those of the novelist. This gentleman's three soldiers reached, rested and remained in Ward 12-the "nut ward," but our three soldiers went on to the end, and that type comprised 99.9 per cent, of the United States Army. Neurotic descriptions of "Life in the Army" can have no influence with the members of "38" RECOLLECTIONS 213 who saw real men die, who saw them give up lives or limbs for their country, with courage and cheerfulness, and who, furthermore, tenderly gave to those heroes the attention which seemed to be a part of everybody's duty to Uncle Sam. There was little we could do at this time or later, but everyone who had to do with the men who had "fought the fight" did things cheerfully and willingly. Following this taste of real war came the hospital trains with their equally distressing burdens and never were there any slackers, everyone stayed up and none dodged his work; carrying to the wards, talking with the wounded, giving cigarettes and looking after their comfort. Of course, it became more or less routine, but never was there neglect. Their distress was our interest and we took care of it. Hospital trains continued to arrive after Up. m., surely before 6 a. m., and of course every time a train arrived it had to rain. Has any one any recollection of a hospital train arriving in daylight or during a short dry spell, or even between temporary showers ? It may have made the work harder but I doubt if anyone complained about it except that he felt it made the poor soldier more uncomfortable. In the morning, however, the sight of the sufferers of the night before, in comfortable beds, between clean sheets and waiting for their "chow" gave one the thrill that even now comes to those who were able to help. That was a greater thrill than the people at home could know because it was closer 214 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT contact with the grim actualities of war. It had "local color" which was often crimson. In spite of much criticism of the government one felt proud of the arrangements in the Center, elated that he was caring for the wounded and his patriotism and de- sire to serve were stimulated. He was even more proud when he compared it with the arrangements for the care of the French wounded. One wished that the American people, whose spirit and money had made these things possible, could see what their support was giving their soldiers; one's deepest regret being that all was extrav- agantly done and all the way down the line one encoun- tered "patriots" who were taking care of themselves. What one saw clearly, however, was the result. What may have mysteriously disappeared down the line wor- ried us not at all, so long as we could give these men what their sincere fellow countrymen wished them to have. We know they received it. Thus affairs went on until the Armistice. The recol- lections of that day should never be forgotten, but it is doubtful if they should be or can be recorded. Only this -duty and attention to the responsibilities of a Base Hospital required us to take care of the fact that there was no armistice in a hospital. That we did. If I recall correctly that was a night when we should have cele- brated "peace," but there was a hospital train coming in and we stayed at home. No credit in that, we should have remained home. RECOLLECTIONS 215 Later come the clays of relaxation. Baseball, basket- ball, Red Cross entertainments, theatricals and all the other things that were encouraged to keep the active American mind and brawn from "slipping a cog." Our debt of gratitude to the Red Cross Hut and its workers can never be sufficiently acknowledged. Our life in the tent in the mud, after Evacuation No. 31 relieved us, can never be forgotten, but with it all there was the big gam- ble about when we should be ordered home that kept up our interest. Of course a separate paragraph should be devoted to the banquet at which we tried to consume all the surplus fund so that Uncle Sam should not get it. We did have that banquet but the then C. O. confided to me after- wards that when he walked into the dining-room of the Hotel de Bretagne he had visions of the "outfit" being placed at the bottom of the list. We did manage to get home that night with Captain Bertolet leading, Lieuten- ant Sinclair bringing up the rear, and the stragglers, but the C. O. was in the meantime using Jack Keenan's good offices and intimate knowledge of the M. P. to prevent a report being sent in. The C. O. tells me that if he ever goes to war again there will be no banquet. He only escaped by a hair's breadth, succumbing to Willis' idea of having entertainers. Had that been permitted we never would have reached home. But at last orders for home arrived. The last march to the station at Nantes. The usual wait and then the 216 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT box cars to St. Nazaire. It mattered little, we were start- ing for home. Perhaps now we look back with regret and wish we had taken a more tearful leave of dear old Doulon. Apparently as a punishment for our levity the Good Lord sent us that wonderful four days of rough weather in the Bay of Biscay on the rollicking "Free- dom." The C. O. told me he had often wished for a trip on a destroyer, just to feel the ocean roll under him, but the trip on the "Freedom" had given him all of that he wanted and we can perhaps all agree with him. Then again, to men who went over on the "Nopatin," what could a turbulent ocean do? Positively nothing. Like typhoid and paratyphoid, the ocean had no terrors for them, they had been vaccinated against it, and were im- mune to any possible attack. Comrades-officers, nurses and men-how unforget- able it all remains, how cherished are all its memories, how stimulating the thought that we did our bit and did it as best we could, and on every detail that came to us. Perchance some of us may become garrulous old men, possibly women, and pass on to posterity recollections of service in the A. E. F.; no doubt often the years may minimize some things and magnify others, but two gen- eralizations will endure, the atrocious cruelty and utter uselessness of war, and the sympathy and helpfulness of all who were of "38"; let us not forget the former and to the latter may we cling, holding closer those bonds, never fragile, forged on land and sea, on two great continents, RECOLLECTIONS 217 during a war that in magnitude surpasses the combative tragedies of all the centuries embalmed in martial history. There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword. U. S. Grant. "Unless mankind destroys war, war will destroy mankind." XXIV A REVERIE Recollections; Incidents; Reflections by an Enlisted Soldier IT is a little difficult to recall the exact spirit of those days and nights in and about the hospital, for time passes and much has come between. In the minds of all the officers and men one idea was fixed so surely that, psychologically, it was certain knowledge-the war should be speedily won. Solid backing at home was partly the cause of this belief, and the visits from Gen- eral Pershing were assuring. Perhaps American deter- mination to see it through, and little first hand experi- ence of actual war conditions, were contributing factors. But the end came quicker than was expected. The first real try-out came from the fighting about Chateau-Thierry, with a rush horrible in aspect. That costly advance was followed by carload upon carload of wounded heroes coming by hospital trains that rolled up to the Doulon and Nantes Stations. Not having suffi- cient ambulances to transport the unexpected number, the French Etospital co-operated with us in every way. 219 220 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Many soldiers were dead when removed from trains; a few passed along during the journey to the hospital; most of them fought through to recovery. At the front the overworked surgeons in the first-aid and in advanced dressing stations, in dug-outs and in tents for "non- transportables," toiled heroically, but time passed, hurry became pressing, crowding increased, every minute stretcher-bearers brought in more wounded. Conse- quently, night after night, in chilling rain and over muddy, desolate, dark roads, lurching ambulances and stretcher-bearers conveyed to trains their shattered bur- dens ; luxurious American hospital trains came in bear- ing the suffering wrecked bodies that G. H. Q. called wastage. Such scenes were being enacted throughout France, the curtain falling at many other American hos- pitals; ours was only one of many places where the tragedy was staged. And so, for four terrible years, it had been with the French and British, Belgians and Germans, and all others mixed up in the horrible affair, collecting as its toll the best of each nation's youth. Day by day, month after month, the casualties increased; the acreage of little wooden crosses steadily grew-a sight not to be contemplated for long by the actors in the grim affair. It is inharmonious with the boasted civilization of the world's greatest powers; it seemed that a cog had slipped in the great machine, the scheme of things seemed out of balance, the universe awry. Sometimes one dropped in on Ted Casey at Ward 19 A REVERIE 221 and quite envied him the comfortable little room which had been made habitable by Engle and himself. The rows of beds were very neat in their exact alignment and spotless linen. In fact the place was like a new pin and its appearance had been commended by the C. O. That was before Chateau-Thierry. A few nights later, what a change! Here the gassed patients had been brought. These poor lads, some blinded, others horribly burned, fought death like demons. Dressings, torn off in deli- rium, littered the floor. Some of the patients had to be strapped in bed. Fortunately, many were unconscious. In a raspy, broken voice, and between convulsive, strangling coughs, a young fellow sang snatches from an old song, 'My only love is always near^ In country or in town; I see her twinkling feet and hear The rustle of her gown." Engle and Casey were haggard from loss of sleep. They did the best possible for these men and offered the little comfort at their command, but nothing much could be done as many of the boys were going the long, long voyage. A young giant, sergeant of marines, believed that he still led his men over the top. It required two men to keep him in bed when, with curses and groans, he attempted to escape. Colonel Lambie, in making rounds, exclaimed, "God, what a sight!" The young 222 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT fellow was finishing his song very slowly, the last he would ever sing, "Lightly I hoped when hope was high. And youth beguiled the chase, I follow, follow still, but I Shall never see her face." It was a bitter thing to hear. What a transcendent and supreme opportunity to see the "glory" of war of which so much was heard from profiteers and politicians who never saw a wounded man dying nor heard the death rattle of a gassed doughboy passing into the Beyond; profiteers who grew wealthy on ships with wooden rivets and on aeroplanes that would not fly, while hundreds of young airmen waited in France month after month for their machines, finally operating any that the French could spare in order to diminish, in some measure, the dread of moonlight nights. Meanwhile, at home, some men prospered and the war was a "great thing"; "shows the world what the Yanks can do," and quite comfort- ably read the bunkum which newspapers served, about easy victories, the ridiculously small lists of casualties, while the G. H. Q. sent new men to the Front, the "wastage" of withered ranks made good by replace- ments-"wastage; replacements"; words, words, death, despair! Near the old Chateau on the grounds there is a wooded grove of considerable size. It was a pleasant place with its large trees and, being considerably removed from the A REVERIE 223 wards, offered a somewhat secluded spot from the atmos- phere of the hospital, and so was frequented by conva- lescents and hospital men alike on odd moments when off duty. It was good to stretch out at full length here under these great trees and gaze upward into the blue arching sky with its white fleecy clouds which looked so peaceful, so far removed from the struggle. It took a little jumpiness from one's nerves. Often ten or more would be lying on the ground, some asleep and some with eyes wide open, others set with a strange stare. One came to know them as the fighting men just returned from the Front, who had gone through horrible experi- ences, and seen ghastly things. Many had more than physical wounds; something within them had given way, they needed time for readjustment, to make some order of their tangled thoughts and impressions, to gain con- trol of ragged nerves. It took weeks for some, months for others, some never recovered. One late afternoon, when a bit done up from several nights' work, a hospital corps man threw himself down near two soldiers who appeared to be sleeping. For half an hour, turning over in his mind various aspects of the war, lost in reflections, altogether sombre, he had nearly forgotten the two doughboys, when, without a movement or the slightest stir, but as if giving voice to thoughts, one exclaimed violently, "Damn the whole rotten mess," "Curse all armies, we're all fools killing one another"; his com- panion rejoined "And each side praying to the same 224 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT God for victory." Stretched out on their stomachs, neither had raised his head and had anyone else been near the voices would not have been attributed to their proper sources. As the hospital worker rose to leave, some birds, startled by the noise, flew from the branches overhead out beyond the wide field. With much chatter and in graceful flight they sped onwards toward the Loire, a silver ribbon in the distance, and finally disap- peared in the waving poplars on its banks. The rays of the declining sun bathed the scene in a warm mellow light, delightful to look upon, for the winter months had not yet arrived with their continuous chilling rain. And it was perfectly clear then, with the words of these sol- diers still resounding, and in this lovely panorama, spread out like a painter's dream, that the world was mad. In the Divine scheme of things what could be the remote purpose of such misery and suffering where, on every side, stretched the serene dignity and transcendent beauty of nature. After months in the zone of combat where death's harvest ripened and rotted, a vote by the men in line, both allies and enemies, would probably have been for peace; they were not cowards; they, in some measure saw the uselessness of it all. But as if impelled by some invisible force there could be no stopping now; hate was the doctrine of the hour, more and more money for shells, more and more men to hurl them against-a wild and terrifying prospect. A Colonel from G. H. Q. called to see a wounded but A REVERIE 225 convalescent reserve officer and old friend. "How are things going?" the reserve inquired; "Fine," answered the Colonel, "we can see our way out, it's all clear now, we have the men." Just back of the officer sat a conva- lescent artilleryman, bandaged head in hands and elbows on knees. A Chaplain was reading a letter from home, from man's only angel, "Mother," which told the soldier of his father's death, of destitution, that she was waiting for her boy. He could not see his "way out"- hopelessly blind. The reader stopped, looked up, coughed and frowned, and the confident Colonel strode on. Such was the tragedy of one who will never "see his way out." So it was with a delicious sense of freedom that one turned his back on the sights and sorrows of the Hos- pital for a few coveted hours in Nantes or the inns of the neighborhood. A soldier off duty has few cares. There was usually a crowd in the cafe near the crossroads at old Doulon. One can see it clearly even now, after three years, as it often looked to Ted Casey and the writer when, after a cold muddy tramp, the light from the door- way beckoned through the darkness and the rain. Some- how it always reminded one of Omar Khauyyam's tavern; regularly this would be an "off-duty" dinner-jambou, pommes de terres frites, omelette au rhum, beaucoup beurre and vin blanc. And up there in that little room, in the dim wavering candlelight, caps and overcoats un- doffed for it was cold, men would enjoy such rare delica- 226 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT cies as butter and the omelette, discuss the latest news from the Front, engage in idle gossip or anything else under the sun, and listen to the racket downstairs. After awhile the door would open very quietly and, in her mys- terious way, Lucienne would appear with "autre bou- teille"; presently the food and wine, and smiling Lucienne would bring some joy of life back to the group-Lucienne with her merry heart and roguish eyes-heavens, we wonder what she is doing now. Then after dinner, perched on a couple of wine casks in the kitchen, men would marvel at the skill with which Mme. Visset cooked, using but the smallest fire made from a few twigs; wood was very scarce. Around the walls hung great collections of saucepans and kettles; the ceiling was low and blackened by the smoke which for years had curled up from the wideopen hearth. One corner was heaped with boxes and barrels whereon men sat, and in another nook was a tall grandfather's clock, the pride of the family. This was of elaborate work- manship and bore all the appearance of age; in fact Lucienne confided that it had stood there for six genera- tions; but this was on Armistice Night and after many anisettes and it might have been no more than twenty years for all one now can know. Outside, in the caf^, the gathering was a picturesque one. Many stocky poilus in battered uniforms, from some of whom hung the croix de guerre, conversed with much animation. The red fez of the French Colonials A REVERIE 227 added an oriental touch. Here a chap with an empty sleeve; there a crutch propped against a table; near the door was one whose head was entirely covered by ban- dages. Occasionally a few negroes from a nearby labor battalion drifted in. Usually there were also men from "38." One remembers Carlyle Wright, Fred and Joe Marvil, Frankenberger and many of the other ambu- lance drivers, Willis, Martin, Wilson and Joe Jones, who had lots of pluck. Men of "38" were in good favor for, in the early days Major Pratt had pulled little Pierre through a severe attack of pneumonia and Mme. Visset almost worshiped the officer. Cigarette smoke hung densely in the air. The Amer- icans made the most noise which sometimes rose to a hubbub in the heat of a discussion or argument caused often by the patients who were soon to be discharged from the hospital. With the terrible mud and slime of the trenches and all the rest of it confronting them again, they were enjoying themselves recklessly and as best they might. It was bright and cheery here; long ago any illusions about the Front had been dispelled. "Come on, Bill, might as well have another; Lord knows where we'll be next week, we're up for cannon fodder anyhow." "Yes, I guess you're right, that's just about it-Encore, porto, Lucienne!" It was late when they left and nearly all had gone. To those who remained, faintly came the familiar crunch of hob-nailed shoes on the gravel and the song of the men 228 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT as they hiked back to camp, indistinct and quavering in the distance, far off down the road-"There's a long, long trail awinding " When the old U. S. S. "Freedom" with its clanking and dilapidated engines steamed slowly into New York Harbor, never was there a more wonderful sight than this to Major Forst and his gang. And especially since they knew it was a toss-up whether they ever should see it again, when, at our departure, the Statue of Liberty gradually faded in the morning mist. The welcome re- ceived, beginning with the Mayor's tugboat and extend- ing all the way down the line to Camp Upton, was good to hear and warmed the hearts that were made glad. But somehow after the coveted discharge papers were in our hands things did not seem quite the same. Some found it difficult to settle down in the old rut of a civilian; it was rather tame, life had lost a little of its savor. Gone was the old camaraderie and in its place came the mistrust and suspicion of the business world together with the great American cry after bigness and progress. Pioneers in what? Heaven only knows! In noisy begrimed cities and a cramped existence perhaps. Certainly little in the better things of life, culture or the arts. Not long ago one evening a few of us happened to- gether, the conversation naturally turned to our days overseas and we talked warmly of our experiences-the interest Major Forst and Captain Hustead took in the A REVERIE 229 men, and Captain Owen who worked early and late, un- ceasingly, and Lieutenant Meyer who made duty in the Laboratory as pleasant as possible; the devoted services of the nurses, the day Genevieve Vix came to the Hospi- tal and sang to the ragged accompaniment of a dough- boy. And we recall how Hughie Gallagher doctored us up through the dark days of the "flu" when the officers had not a minute to spare from the never-ending stream from the front. With us was an ex-officer of the line, an old chum whose service ribbon contained four stars and whom we knew even now would sit up in bed, tense with excitement and call loudly to the men. We were talking with him when a chance remark came to us from another group across the room, "Don't bother about it, the war is over now." He gripped my arm and exclaimed, "Did you hear that? Yes, it's over all right, especially for those poor devils who still lie around Chateau-Thierry or those who sleeiJ beneath the trees of the Argonne- that talk makes me sick." Shortly after he passed through the doorway and strode quickly down the street, soon to disappear in the darkness. A cold drizzling rain drenched the country- side; from a nearby ditch some frogs were croaking in their dismal fashion. One had seen it like this at Le Grande Blottereau, in faraway but unforgotten France. France had more than 8,500,000 men who could be mobilized at the beginning of the war, but at the end of that war 5,500,000 were mutilated, wounded and killed. We gave all we could. Clemenceau. DEAD France 1,400,000 England 850,000 Italy 500,000 United States 60,000 XXV ADIEU Farewell, fair France, with all thy ancient glory, Crusaders new have trod thy sacred soil, To weave again the warp and woof of story- Of death and life-of wartime's tortured toil. For once again beneath fair triumph's graceful arch, Brave men in khaki have held their steady tread; Entombed below thy poppies and thy larch, In sleep eternal, lie our heroic dead. Hold sacred those who with us may not go, Who with thee strove that all might evermore be free, Whose loved ones' hearts are bleeding now with woe- Whose holy dust we leave to lie with thee. With mingled grief and forward-looking joy, Thy storm-swept shores in mist may slowly fade away, But through the years, when memory's wings deploy, Our hearts shall faster beat as we recall this day. W. M. L. C. 231 The war cost the United States a little more than $1,500,000 an hour. After the associate hand of America went in, it lasted 14,000 hours more and cost all of the European Allies com- bined, out of their own resources, a little less than $2,750,000 an hour. Garet Garrett. War is not paid for in war time, the bill comes later.-Benjamin Franklin. XXVI APPENDIX A MUSTER ROLL, BASE HOSPITAL "38" June 21, 1918 Lieutenant-Colonel John S. Lambie, Medical Corps, U.S. Army. Commanding. Major W. M. L. Coplin, Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army, Director and Chief of Laboratory Division. Major J. Norman Henry, Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army, Chief of Medical Division. Major Charles F. Nassau, Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army, Chief of Surgical Division. Captain Leonard B. Tripp, Quartermaster Reserve Corps, U. S. Army, Quartermaster. Major John B. Lowman, Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Captains Bertolet, John A., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Borzell, Francis F., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Burns, Michael A., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Forst, John R., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Gaskill, Joshua H., Dental Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Hays, Charles E., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Hoyt, Mark D., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Hustead, Frank H., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Amy. Mohler, Henry K., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Musser, Guy M., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Owen, Hubley R., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Pratt, Robert B., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Stellwagen, Thomas C., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. 233 234 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT 1st Lieutenants Baily, Harry W., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Davidson, Harold S., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Englerth, Louis D., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Frantz, Winter R., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. James, Maurice C., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Lull, Clifford B., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Mauney, Samuel P., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. McConaughey, James C., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Meng, William L., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Meyer, Julian E., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Park, John F., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Sinclair, Marshall W., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Stone, J. Donald, Dental Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Swan, Guy H., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Tyson, Ralph M., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Williamson, Ernest G., Medical Reserve Corps, U. S. Army. Chaplain John H. Chapman, D.D., American Red Cross. Nurses Clara Melville, Chief Nurse Armstrong, Elsie Armstrong, Gertrude E. Badorf, Myra Batten, Mabel R. Bennett, Evalyn C. Boller, Mabel G. Bowen, Lillian E. Boyer, Amanda S. Brown, Anna M. Cameron, Euphemia Cavanagh, Anne Clark, Jennie F. Clinch, Bessie Cline, Margaret Coyne, Kathryn J. Crossley, Mabel G. Dawe, Alice M. Day, Anna M. DeLauzanne, Adelaide Dexter, Flora E. Dilks, Mary H. Foust, Ethel H. Glover, Mary J. Gorman, Helen Gorman, Jane M. Gorman, Josephine D. Haag, Irene Harpel, Helena O. NURSES 235 Henderson, Elsie M. Henderson, Martha L. Hickman, Mary M. High, Elizabeth Howell, Gladys I. Humphrey, Ethel E. Hurd, Ada A. Irwin, Margaret M. Jones, Elizabeth D. Jones, Florence Jones, Ida M. Jummel, Emily A. Kane, Margaret A. Kirk, Susan A. Krause, Harriet R. Lane, Cora A. Lane, Ida E. Lang, Anna M. Lennox, Mary J. Lewis, Adele M. Logue, Katherine A. Love, Jessie B. Lovelace, Alma V. MacFarlan, Agnes W. MacLaughlin, Elizabeth MacPhee, Margaret E. McCann, Sarah A. McConnell, Sarah A. McGrogan, Carolyn W. McGurk, Katharine McHugh, Helen McLean, Margaret G. Martin, Katherine M. Mason, Eleanor F. Miller, Nellie V. Miller, Stella M. Moser, Esther A. Moyer, Cora S. Murphy, Josephine Murray, Blanche C. Nelson, Lucy C. Newell, Minnie E. Ohland, Eda K. Owens, Mary A. Parsons, Anna W. Peters, Sarah M. Phillips, Elizabeth Phillips, Meryl G. Pipher, Mary B. Rogers, Anna L. Schenck, Eleanor D. Scott, Ray L. Serfass, Sallie A. Shearer, Nora M. Shoebottom, Margaret L. Shoemaker, Ella M. Stafford, Mary E. Stephens, Anna C. Stonesifer, Anna B. Tipton, Esther F. Van Pelt, Mary Van Pelt, Gertrude Vaughan, Alice M. Walp, Rachel M. Ward, Katherine S. Ward, Nellie J. Warren, Emily S. Wilbee, Helen Wilson, Gertrude M. Witherup, Emma C. Zeller, Eva M. 236 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Civilian Personnel Bigelow, Ruth Christie, Rebecca N. Gibson, Adeline Pepper Giltinan, Caroline Megary, Anna D. Snyder, Llewella J. ENLISTED PERSONNEL (In the following list obtainable service rating and ranks are also given.) Sergeants advanced to rank of 2nd Lieutenant Crowther, Edmond G. Dowdy, Wesley D. Gartland, Hugh F. Kazenstein, Norman F. McGinnis, Charles W. Thomas, Ignatius B. Hospital Sergeants Clark, James Reed Wilson, George E. Sergeants, 1st Class Barr, Norman L. Conly, George L. Fahringer, Reitzel R. Ford, Marshall M. Goulden, Arthur W. Kocher, Alexander M. Lefever, John G. McDevitt, Philip S. Moyer, John F. Rhoads, Robert S. Smith, Albert D. Stevenson, John C. Sergeants Bald, Walter R., Jr. Baxter, Frank C. Casey, Theodore M. Eaves, Frank H. Fuller, Harry B. Gallagher, Hugh A. Gilbert, Walter D. Hargis, William T. Heather, William J. Hertzler, Norman B. Keenan, John B., Jr. Kelly, Richard E. Langdon, Alfred T. McCurdy, Robert, Jr. Schenkel, Robert J. Scott, Edwin B. Smith, George Allen Spry, Harold E. Subers, Christopher V. Taylor, Leslie D. Touchton, Arthur H. Walker, Cedric PERSONNEL 237 Corporals Barnes, John W. Bowker, Howard W. Nardello, Joseph A. Sprecher, John H. Thurman, John N. Privates Adams, Harold A. Atwood, James L. Bainbridge, Edwin E. Barnes, Henry S. Barrett, Thurston W. Bartley, Harry B. Becker, Raymond M. Bellem, Eugene R. Betts, Leslie S. Black, Marshall M. Blaker, Harry G. Borzell, George C. Bowen, Paul S. Britton, Calvin M. Buch, Harry H. Burton, Robert J. Butler, Robert L. Campbell, John H. Capper, Joseph P. Carey, Charles A. Cassidy, James L. Christman, Harry L. Clark, James Raymond Clark, Paul L. Clever, Samuel K. Coe, Arthur E. Cole, George W. Crothers, Samuel R. Cummines, Howard E. Cunningham, Harold B. Daddario, Robert Davidson, Vincent M. DeCamp, A. Neville Devine, William J. Dietsch, Harry, Jr. Docker, Russell H. Duke, Herbert W. Dunkerley, John C. Dwyer, Joseph A. Earnshaw, Geoffrey S. Edelman, George J. Effinger, George A. Engle, Albert J. Ewing, Frank R. Ezekial, Alfred S. Finnegan, Edward J. Foehrenbach, Walter S. Forrester, Robert, Jr. Foster, Thomas L. Frankenberger, John H. Freeman, George W. Freeman, Harry M. Frei, Frank J. Frey, George C. Gallagher, Joseph A. Gibbs, John Golden, Lewis Goodley, Harold E. Green, Paul Greisinger, George Grossweiler, Edward F. Guhl, Matthew 238 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Haddock, William C. Hamilton, Vincent F. Harrington, Robert L. Haslam, William H. Herrick, Alfred C. Hibbs, David G. Higgins, Thomas F. Hood, Robert L. Huth, Edward G. Jenkins, Dudley A. Jones, Frank A. Jones, Joseph L., 3rd Keeports, Harvey S. Kees, William G. Kirkpatrick, John A. Kittson, James G. Kling, William Krause, Raymond C. Lanagan, Walter P. Lawson, Edward J. Lefevre, Benjamin B. Leister, John K. Levengood, Linford D. Leveson, Harry W. Livingston, John M. McConnell, Samuel W. McCook, James H. MacCoy, C. Robert McGaughey, William A. McWilliams, Lester M. MacIlhenny, John M. MacIlwain, William H. MacMinn, William Martin, David B., Jr. Marvil, Fred L. Marvil, Joseph H. Michie, Daniel B. Miller, William C. Milne, Norman F. Montgomery, Harry A. Moyer, George W. Myers, Lloyd J. Ostertag, Augustus O'Sullivan, Eugene J. Parkinson, William Plass, Charles W. Portley, Edward C. Prickett, Edwin R. Raeber, Othmar N. Ramsey, Elmer H. Reams, Harold C. Rechsteiner, Conrad, Jr. Reed, Sherman R. Reeser, Alpheus W. Risdale, Thomas C. Roberts, Lloyd M. Roberts, Walter C. Rodney, Daniel K. Roebuck, William, Jr. Rogers, William J. Ross, William H. Ruse, Harold J. Sasseville, William H. Sauerwein, Harry A. Scott, William J. Simon, Howard W. Smith, Crosby L. Smith, Guy S. Smith, Joseph H., Jr. Smith, Russell C. Smyth, Samuel G. Snyder, Maurice PERSONNEL 239 Spencer, Lorance R. Todd, Frank E. Torrey, Hamilton Ungerbuehler, Wesley E. Usher, John A. Van Sant, Samuel M., Jr. Vare, Carmine Verlinde, Leon F. Walsh, Milton E. Walton, Albert, Jr. Way, John T. Whorley, Marshall M. Wilhelm, William F. Williams, Ralph F. Willis, C. Stanley Wooley, Taylor Worthington, William G. Wright, Carlyle P. Wyckoff, Raymond T. Wyckoff, William T. Young, William W. Ziegler, Harry S. Casuals who returned with the Unit Blair, Joseph E. Blake, Herbert C. Brown, Loring E. Cummings, Richard C. Dougherty, James M. Farnum, Joseph N. Field, Robert H. Hadlock, Earl Keeton, Arthur C. Kuhnen, William N. Liskowski, John Mulae, Jaro Murray, Marion W. Roach, Norwin M. Roush, Joseph R. Taylor, Henry Tomes, Thorsten Warren, Edward E. Wise, Brantley The only wise course is to end com- petitive navy buildings not for one year or five years, and not by a few nations, but for all time by all nations.- Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy. XXVII APPENDIX B CONTRIBUTORS Allen, Benjamin, 3rd Allen, Mrs. E. S. Allen, Frederick H. Allison, Mrs. A. Crawford Altemus, Mrs. B. Dobson American Red Cross Atlantic City Chapter Berks County Chapter Bryn Mawr Chapter Independence Square Chapter Main Line Branch No. 1 W. Phila. Auxiliary No. 4 Washington, D. C. Anonymous Through Dr. H. A. Hare Arter, Mrs. Winfield S. Atmore, Miss Nellie Atmore, Miss Virginia Austin, William L. Automobile Club of Del. Co. Baker, D. H. Baker, Mrs. Franklin, Jr. Ballard Knitting Co. Barrett, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W. Barry, Miss Dorothea M. Baugh, Mrs. Daniel Beardsley, Mrs. E. J. G. Bearss, Mrs. H. I. Blabon, Mrs. Edward L. Blabon, Mrs. Walter D. Blakiston, Kenneth M. Blanchard, Miss Harriet Bland, Dr. and Mrs. P. Brooke Bond, Charles and Co. Bordentown Column, P. R. R. Women's Div. for War Relief Bosford, Mr. Bower, Charles F. Boyd, Mrs. George W. Bright, Mrs. F. S. Brock, Mrs. Alice Gibson Bromley, Mrs. Harry Bromley, Mrs. Joseph Brooks, J. H. Brown, Miss Anna M. Bryant, Mrs. Walter Buck, Thomas Co. Budd, Edward C. Mfg. Co. Burk, A. E. Burk, Louis Burk, Mrs. W. D. Butler, Miss Gertrude S. 241 242 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Button, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Caldwell, Mrs. George W. Campbell, Joseph B. Chandlee, E. G. Chapman, Rev. John H. Church of Good Shepherd Clapp, Harry D. B. Clark, E. W. Co. Combs, G. R. Converse, Miss Mary E. Coplin, Dr. W. M. L. Coryell, Mrs. James B. Councils of Philadelphia Coxe, Mrs. Charles E. Coyle, Robert M. Crawford, Robert H. DaCosta, Mrs. J. Chalmers DaCosta, Mrs. J. C., Jr. Davis, Mrs. Edward P. Davis, Mrs. Howard A. Davis, Mrs. J. Leslie Davis, Mrs. Warren B. DeCamp, A. Neville Deisinger, Mrs. Albert J. Deo Juvante Mem. Bap. Ch. DeSanno, A. P. DeSanno, A. P., Jr. Despard, Dr. D. L. Dickey, John, Jr. Dinan, Miss Margaret Disston's Sons, Henry Dougherty, H. D. Co. Driscoll, Mrs. J. C. and friends Drueding, Charles C. Dubosc, Miss Lillian Duffin, Mrs. Emma Earnshaw, Geoffrey S. Eavenson, Mrs. R. M. Eaves, Edward W. Eaves, Frank M. Edwards, Dr. H. T. Efforts of George C. Fry Philip S. McDevitt Chas. E. McGinnis C. Webster Plass Embick, M. E. Emergency Aid of Penna. Headquarters Logan Branch Employees of the P. R. T. Co. Evans, Mrs. Frank S. First Pres. Church of Gtn. Fisher, J. G. A. Fisher, Mrs. John M. Fisher, Miss Lila Fleming, Hon. A. B. Fotterall Square Asso. Fowler, J. Scott Fowler, Philip D. Freed, Mrs. George Friends' Select School, Class of 1892 Fritz, Horace H. Fry, Mrs. George C. Fullerton, Thomas Funk, Misses Funk, Mrs. Elmer H. Garrish, John G. Gaskill, Dr. J. Howard Geisler, Mrs. Louis Geist, Mrs. Clarence Germantown and Chestnut Hill Imp. Asso. Gibbon, Mrs. John H. CONTRIBUTORS 243 Gibson, Mrs. Adeline Pepper Gibson, Henry S. Gillmore, Mrs. Quincy A. Gilpin, Miss Alice Girard College Alumni Asso. Glass, Sara G. Goff, Misses Goff, Miss Gertrude Goldner, Miss E. Goodman, Mrs. Wm. E., Jr. Gormley, George W. Graham, Mrs. Edwin E. Gratz, Mrs. Simon Green, Mrs. William H. Grichler, William L. Gronquist, Charles Gusher, Mrs. Edward G. Haddock, William C. Haddock, Mrs. William C. Halstead, David Hannings, Miss Mary E. Hansell, Mrs. Howard F. Hare, Mrs. Hobart A. Hare, Mrs. Robert E. Harrison, W. W. Hardy, William F. Hartung, Colonel A. Heatherington, Miss Gladys Hebard, Mrs. Daniel L. Henry, Dr. J. Norman Heppe, Florence J. Hermann, Charles Hibbs, Mrs. Quin D. Hill, Benjamin Hinchman, Miss Anne Hunter, Mrs. Thomas P. Hustead, Dr. Frank H. Huston, Charles L. Hutchinson, Mrs. Mahlon Improved Order of Red Men Irwin, A. P. Jacobs, C. H. Jarman, Dr. Albert W. Johnson, Mrs. Alba B. Johnson, Mrs. William N. Jones, Miss M. E. Junes, Arthur C. Kahn, Mrs. Albert G. Kendig, John Kennedy, Mrs. Frank G., Jr. Kennedy, Robert W. Kerford, William H. Kingsley, William H. Klopp, Mrs. Edward J. Koch, Mrs. J. M. Kremer, Mrs. Herman P. Kyle, Mrs. D. Braden Landis, Harrison Langan, Mrs. James H. Lauber, C. A. Lavino, Mrs. Edward J. Lea, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Lea, Mrs. Charles M. Lea and Febiger Lee, Mrs. Walter Leedom, Charles Lewis, Mrs. David Lewis, Mrs. Fielding O. Lewis, Mrs. Howard S. Lindsay, Allan W. Lloyd, Mrs. Horatio G. Lloyd, W. L. Lodge, Miss Edna W. Logan Improvement League 244 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Logan Troop No. 3, Boy Scouts of America Loux, Dr. H. R. Lupton, David B. Lyon, Mrs. B. B. V. McAllister, Mrs. J. R. McCall, Mrs. Joseph B. McCook, Mrs. James McCrae, Mrs. Thomas McFadden, John H. McIlhenny, Francis S. McIlhenny, John D. McKinlay, Archibald McLean, John MacBean, John P. Magee, Miss Anna J. Manges, Mrs. Willis F. Marshall Bros, and Co. Marvin, S. S. Martin, David B., Jr. Mayer, Miss Helen Metheny, Mrs. D. G. Miller, E. C. Montgomery, Dr. E. E. Moore, Mrs. William F. Morice, William N. Muckle, Mrs. John R. Munn, F. W. Nassau, Dr. Charles F. Navy League of Penna. Newbold, Miss Mary Nichols, Prentiss Nitzsche, George E. Nugent, Miss Jane Nusbaum, Miss Blanche Nusbaum, Miss Julia K. Nusbaum, Miss Louise Nusbaum, Miss Rhoda C. Nusbaum, Miss Sarah E. Oakford, Mrs. James Olmes, Mrs. C. W. Owen, Mrs. Hubley R. Pardee, Miss Mary Parrish, Mrs. Esther Passavant, Henry E. Patton, W. A. Pearson, Charles B. Pedrick, A. C. Peirce, Harold Peirson, Walter, Jr. Perry, John C. Philadelphia Electric Co. Pierce, Harvey R. Pierce, Miss Mary Pilling, Geo. P. and Son Co. Pitcairn, Miss Margaret L. Plass, Mrs. C. W. F. Plass, Miss Gwendolyn Poth, H. A. Potter, Thomas Sons and Co. Potter, William Powell, Humbert Proud, Miss Jane A. Public School Teachers Asso- ciation of Philadelphia Pupils of Alexander Adair Pub. Sch. Edwin H. Fitler Pub. Sch. John B. Stetson Pub. Sch. Julia Ward Howe Pub. Sch. Morton Pub. Sch., 5th yr. Newton Public School Phila. School of Practice Simon Muir Public School CONTRIBUTORS 245 Southwark Public School Wakefield Pub. Sch., Class 1 W. Conshohocken Pub. Sch. Widener Public School Wm.CullenBryant Pub.Sch. Rebman, G. R. Reed, Mrs. James M. Reeves, Francis B. Reifsnyder, Howard Residents of Germantown and Chestnut Hill Residents of West Phila. Richmond, J. S. Roberts, William H. Roesch, Miss Claire H. Roesch, Miss Helene M. Rogers, Mrs. James S. Rosenberger, Miss Belle Rosenberger, Dr. R. C. Rosengarten, Mrs. Albert H. Schaeffer, Mrs. J. Parsons Schmidt, Charles E. Schmidt, Mrs. Edward A. Schoble, Frank Schofield, Albert E. Schofield, Miss Sarah M. Schuler, Cloyde A. ScHURMANN, W. A. Schwartz, Mrs. E. H. Scott, Robert Second Regiment Armory Seitz, Miss Minnie Shea, P. M. Schlegel, Miss Mary Shrigley, R. O. Smith, Miss Ann and friends Smith, Arthur Smith, H. Smith, J. Allen Smith, Mrs. S. MacCuen Sparks, Mrs. Edward K. Steele, Joseph M. Stelwagon, Dr. Henry W. Stotesbury, Mrs. E. T. Street, George L. Sturgis, Mrs. Hollister Synnott, T. W. Taylor, John C. Teachers of the Wm. Cullen Bryant Public School The Helping Hand Tinkler, Harry S. Toppert, E. C. Trainer, Miss Mary Trainor, Harry Troth, I. N. Trowbridge, Mrs. W. R. Twohig, Miss Ruth A. Vandegrift, Mrs. J. Van Sant, Miss Eugenia Vaughan, Ira Wagner, Louis M. Walenta, Rev. G. J. Warfield, Charles T. Warren, Mrs. Beulah Watson, W. Edmond Wear, Mrs. Joseph W. Weber, F. and Co. Weeks Photoengraving Co. Weil, Mrs. Edward H. Weir, Mrs. Andrew Weir, Mrs. A. H. Weller, Mrs. H. C. Wells, George B. 246 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Wetherill, Mrs. S. P. Whitaker, Robert White, Howard W. White, J. Atwood White Truck Co. Wilbur, Mrs. Rollin W. Wilcox, Mrs. W. Fielding Wilmer, Mrs. Pere Williams, A. B. Wilson, Miss Sue Windrim, John T. Woll, Peter, Jr. Wolstenholme, Fred Wolstoncraft, Mrs. Mary Wood, W. O. Mfg. Co. Woodward, Mrs. Wendall Worden, Rev. James A. Worthington, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Wright, E. A. Company XXVIII APPENDIX C BASE HOSPITAL NO. 38 CIVILIAN ORGANIZATION OFFICERS and men of Base Hospital No. 38 have formed a permanent civilian organization the purposes of which are to perpetuate and bind closer friendships formed during the World War, at all times and in every way possible to extend mutual aid and comfort, to maintain and broaden that patriot- ism born of service to our Country, and to labor as a unit for each and every cause whenever sustained en- deavor may advance the interests of our City, State or Nation, or promote the welfare and well-being of mankind. Several meetings have been held and others will be provided from time to time as occasion may demand. The following officers have been chosen and are at present serving: 247 248 BASE HOSPITAL THIRTY-EIGHT Commander Dr. W. M. L. Coplin Senior Vice-Commander Dr. John R. Forst Junior Vice-Commander Marshall Ford Adjutant Dr. Frank H. Hustead Quartermaster Dr. J. Howard Gaskill Surgeon Dr. Charles F. Nassau Chaplain Rev. John H. Chapman Officer of the Day William Parkinson Patriotic Instructor C. Robert MacCoy Historian Frank C. Baxter Color Bearers Dr. J. Donald Stone Dr. Clifford B. Lull Bugler William Wilhelm Trustees Dr. J. Norman Henry Dr. M. A. Burns Theodore M. Casey