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Show Red Cross Field Men Tackle Yanks' Problems Overseas r,' (tmii "J One of the very Important functions of the American Red Cross is the direct communication it affords between the fighting man and his people back home. Here Red Cross Field Director John L. Barnes (left), of White Plains, N. Y., gives a message to Sgt. William J. McDonald, Jr., of Mamaroneck,- N. Y. Picture was made in Sicily outside a straw Italian hutch with the rear headquarters of the 1st Division near Mt. Etna. On Masera Island, up In the Persian Per-sian Gulf, where there Is not a single tree standing and the wind blows across the Island ceaselessly, ;Red Cross field men brought fishing , tackle, books and writing paper to I service men. Most welcome gift i from the Red Cross was clippars ' for hair cutting the boys .had been without a barber for months. In Persia, a Red Cross Field Di-i Di-i rector was able to locate a soldier's j mother whom he hadn't seen for ! 25 years. In Africa, Red Cross field men j flew In Army planes, hitch-hiked in '. supply trucks, bumped In jeeps over ! bombed convoy routes, through blinding sand storms and glaring sun to help men with personal problems and emergency communications, commu-nications, and to deliver magazines and books, cigarettes and chocolate to isolated posts and bases. In Italy, Red Cross field men accompanied ac-companied the troops in on the Invasion In-vasion barges. In India, a sergeant was sentenced sen-tenced to the guard house for disorderly dis-orderly conduct. His officer couldn't understand the boy's behaviour. He was a nice kid he'd never gone to pieces before. The officer asked the Red Cross Field Director to see him. The Red Cross man discovered a very worried wor-ried boy. His wife had not been receiving re-ceiving his allotments, 'she wasn't well and needed an operation. She thought the soldier must have cancelled can-celled his allotments and a misunderstanding misun-derstanding had arisen between them so that she was no longer ! writing him. j The field man got In touch with i the Red Cross chapter In the boy's home town Immediately. It took care of her, financed her operation and saw that she had adequate funds to provide for herself until the allotment again came through. When the Red Cross man explained ex-plained what had happened to the soldier's Commanding Officer, the latter promptly released the boy from the guard house. From then on the boy was all right His worries wor-ries were over, and the Army had gained a good fighting man. All over the world, In every theatre the-atre of war and active battle front go the American Red Cross field men helping soldiers with major and minor personal problems, bringing bring-ing them recreational items such as magazines, books, comfort articles, athletic equipment and re-establishing their contact with home. These men share the conditions and hazards haz-ards under which the soldiers fight They also share their lives. They are on call day and night whenever they are needed. G.I.'s overseas have many problems. prob-lems. Often home seems very, very far away. With the Red Cross there at hand wherever he may be, the soldier knows he can always get In touch with home that he need never feel alone with problems he doesn't know how to solve himself. More than 3,000,000 service men passed through Red Cross field men's offices last year. On the mud clogged roads of Italy, through the far Jungles of New Guinea, on lonely desert posts. Red Cross field men take your place beside your boy. In order to continue con-tinue this service, the Red Cross urgently needs contributions from the American people to Its $200,-000,000 $200,-000,000 War Fund drive this month. |