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Show 1 1 SEES WINDED J BOYSJVFRANCE I . President Spends Four Hours in an American Hospital at Neuilly. ? PARIS, Doc. 22. (By the Associated Press) President Wilson today vis- i Ited the Red Cross hospital at Neuilly. r where he shook hands Individually and talked with 1200 badly -wounded :' Americans, for the most part survivors , of the Chateau Thierry action. He I . spent more than four hours in the hospital, hos-pital, visiting every ward and stopping stop-ping at every bedside. Later he vls- ited the French hospital at Val de Grace. ; Speaking of his experiences at the American hospital, the president said: "I went through the American hos- pltal at Neuilly with the greatest in- Jterest and the greatest satisfaction. 1 found the men admirably taken care of and almost without exception In excellent ex-cellent spirits. "Only a very few of them looked really ill, and I think that their moth-l moth-l ers and their friends would have been entirely pleased by their surroundings i and by the alert look In their eyes and J the keen interest they took in everything every-thing about them. Feeling of Joy "I am sure that they will go back to their loved ones at home with a now ' feeling of Joy, alike in their recovery and In the fine service they have been able to render." Going to the American hospital with . the expectation of remaining an hour, , j , the president found four hours all too I Ehort, as he felt that he could not leave without speaking with every man, and he expressed regret only of his in abil-1 abil-1 j Ity to clasp the hand of every Ameri-' Ameri-' can soldier in France. ' The president looked tired and worn when the ordeal was over, for, notwithstanding not-withstanding the cheerfulness of the ; men and the care which they were receiving, re-ceiving, there were many affecting cas-! cas-! es in the wards. When ho came to one very badly wounded, he sat on the edge of the cot for a moment and asked whero he ' was from and how he had been wound -! ed. He admired his war crosses and decorations. Noticing that many of his ' ; wounds were in the leg, the president ; t , asked: i Meeting Policeman ! "Why have we here no men wounded wound-ed in the upper part of the body?" "Men who are wounded above the waist are not here; they have gone on," answered the soldier simply. ;. One of the men the president came to stood proudly erect wilh medals on his blouse and one arm outstretched in an appliance for restoring its use- i ' fulness. He looked suggestively like a traffic policeman on duty. "I'm glad to see you look so cheerful," cheer-ful," said the president "You have seen me many times before, be-fore, Mr, President." responded Iho soldier. "I used to be a traffic police -1 I man at the Grand Central station. Don't you think 1 look natural?" ! The president laughed softly. It probably was the only merry moment he had Sn the hospital. Another strapping fellow gave his i name as Private Wilson. "I am proud to have a namesake like you," said the president. "It Is a very honorable name. I only tried to do it proud," responded the soldier. One soldier had lost both legs by a shell. "I am thankful they didn't get an arm," ho said cheerfully. Modern Surgery More than C500 wounded Americans from the battles around Chateau Thierry have passed through Neuilly hospital. The 1200 remaining are the most serious cases, whom miracles of modern surgery are rebuilding to resume re-sume their places in civil life, though some will probably never leave the hospital. The president abstained from attendance atten-dance at church in order to make tbo visit. He was accompanied by Mrs. Wilson and Rear Admiral Grayson and was met at the entrance by the commandant com-mandant and his staff. But he made it plain that he wished no ceremony. "I Just want to go in and visit the boys 'and have a chat with them," he said. i Beginning with the first ward, the! president went down one side of the j room and Mrs. Wilson the other, stopping stop-ping to chat here and there with the wounded and grasp a hand for a moment mo-ment or say a word of cheer and encouragement en-couragement The president himself, where it was possible, took the hand of every man, saying: "Wo hope to have you back soon with us," or "1 wish you the beat of luck and a speedy recovery." So the president went from ward to ward, always asking each man's name and saying something Intimately personal. per-sonal. As he left each room he turn-od turn-od for a moment and said: ''I wish you boys as merry a Christmas Christ-mas as Is possible under the circumstances." circum-stances." There was no cheering In reply, for some of the men were in no condition for cheering; there was no handclap -ping for most of the men had at least one hand in surgical appliances. But there were genuine smiles of appreciation. appre-ciation. Some of the wounded were introduced intro-duced to the president by the names the doctors and nurses had given them. There were "Texas Red." "Tennessee "Ten-nessee Slim" and "Sunny Sam." The last named was introduced as the sunniest sun-niest boy in the hospital. The president saw one lad who came to the hospital eighteen months ago with half his face shot away. His story was almost too terrible to repeat, re-peat, but the president wanted to hear. So the doctors told it to him. The boy entered the hospital with so little of his face remaining that his eyes are all that are now shown in the plaster cast which begins his record For n year he took all his food through a tube. Now, by additions of one of his own ribs, a bit of shin bono and teeth from a soldier less fortunate and some scraps of odds and ends, he has a face again. Today he sat up in bed and was chewing gum. At a distance of, twenty feet his face looked quite! normal. I nn I |