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Show A-sni- jnj1"-.: Mill By ELMO SCOTT WAT80N lAl A "T" C f"t" JJ f A BMISTICB day Is a day v8Vf JLij! f I k' Z'' W l for recalling tbe thrill of 5'iaV , -. --'jj-- -A J"' which swept the world , (S) TTlloii November 11, 1018, tfKskW iVT c- ' JTSuX wuen the fouryear ere- 'pTS- 'VV " ' -eHi I j j v I scendo of the guns was jff'ie: I I J sUlled and the costliest Vr7A&r3 . , 1. Mrs. Calvin Coolldge as a volunteer volun-teer "Gray Lady of the Red Cross" reading to several of the disabled veterans of the World war at Walter Reed hospital In Washington. 2. Two patients at General Hospital No. 81 of the Veterans' bureau, New York city, fashioning "Buddy popples" which are sold throughout the country during the week of Memorial day by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. Five million popples are distributed In practically every city and town In the eountry, and pro. eeeds being devoted exclusively to welfare work among disabled veterana. 3. A scene during one of the annual garden parties held on the lawn of the White House for disabled war vet-erans vet-erans In Washington hospitals while Calvin Coolldge was President not constitute the total human cost of our brief participation In the World war. There were, In addition, scores of thousands of young men who either died In the training and concentration camps here in America, or In those camps contracted diseases with lasting last-ing effects. . "The total toll of war was sucb that death or disability claims have been filed for one-fifth of all the men who served In tbe armed forces of the United States during tbe World war. Mors than half a million claims have been allowed. And nearly ted years after the war on July J, 192&-250.. 000 veterans, were receiving disability compensation, That army of disabled Included men afflicted with anemia receiving from $40 to $100 a month, depending upon the seriousness of their condition. It Included thousands of men with Impaired hearts or arteries. ar-teries. We had and have scores of thousands of otoer cases Involving every disease or abnormal physical or mental condition from bronchiectasis to dementia precox." s Another aspect of this problem Is presented by General Lilnes In these words : i "As time goes on the obligation of the government changes.' The average age of the former service men Is now V( By ELMO SCOTT WAT80N f A RMISTICB day Is ' a day f for recalling tbe thrill of Joy which swept the world T - W on November 11, 1018, lAV-V " wlien four-year ere- J VI scendo of the guns was II I J stilled and the costliest war In all history came to an end. For us It Is also a day for remembering the Americans who crossed the Atlantic to play their part In tbat titanic struggle and who never came back tbe 30,000 men who sleep beneath the white crosses In the Meuse-Argonne, St Mlhlel, Olse-Alsne, Alsne-Marne, Somme and Sureanes cemeteries In France, In Flanders . Held In Belgium and near Brookwood, England. But, most of all, It should be a time for remembering those who did come back, not the men who were returned unharmed to their rejoicing families, but the "human wreckage of war" men with blinded eyes, with deafened ears, with gas-seared lungs, with levered legs and arms, with shattered shat-tered nerves, men whose precious years of youth aud opportunity bad been sacrificed for their country. How many of them are there? The best answer, to that Is a statement made by Gen. Frunk T. nines, director direc-tor of the United States Veterans' bureau bu-reau that more than six hundred millions mil-lions of dollars has been spent by the government In the rehabilitation of nearly 130,000 legless, armless, sightless sight-less and otherwise crippled or physically phys-ically handicapped men to the point where they are cnpable of self-support; that more than 20,000 men and .women who served with the military forces of the United Stutes are now receiving treatment In government operated or supervised hospitals; that there are still In hospitals today more than 18,000 ex-service men who are undergoing treatment for disabilities due to their war service ; and that there are under guardianship 25,727 .veterans who are Incompetent to take care of their own affairs. "The problem of paying the human cost of the World war was a huge one In the beginning," says General Hines. "It Is still a major national problem. 4 - ' "Across 3.000 miles of ocean, In 1017 and 1018, we transported an army of 2,000,000 Americans, practically without with-out loss of life from enemy guns, tor-- tor-- pedoes or mines. "Across the same expanse of water, a little later, 117,000 wounded and sick were brought back to the United States some to live, some to die, , many not to know for years the price they must pay for their participation In the war. - Beyond tbe sea, on foreign soil, 80,000 soldiers of the American Expeditionary Ex-peditionary Force were killed in action, ac-tion, or died of wounds, Injuries or disease. "In the single great offensive operation opera-tion of the American First army, in the period between September 26 and November 11, 1018 the attack whlcb brought about tbe enemy's appeal ap-peal for the armistice our losses were 117,000 In killed and wounded. "These Items, large as they are, do thirty-four years. That age Is beyond the period of greatest susceptibility to tuberculosis. We shall have la Vet erans' bureau hospitals, therefore, fewer and fewer cases of tuberculosis. In 1022 we bad 12,000; now we have 6,500. "So, too, the surgical and general medical cases, Including, of course, shot and shell Injuries sustained In the war, have been decreasing. We had 10.000 In 1022. Now there are only 6,700. "But In another direction the gov-ernment'a gov-ernment'a obligation Is increasing. There has been a steady, upward trend In the number of veteran patients pa-tients with mental and nervous affile Hons. In 1019 there were less than 8,000 sucb patients, including those who bore the so-called "invisible scars of war"; the shell-shocked veterans. Now there are 13,000. Our medical experts estimate that the peak of such cases will not be reached until 1047, when, with the veterans at an average aver-age age of fifty-three, there probably will be between 40,000 and 50,000 suffering suf-fering from nervous and mental disorders. dis-orders. We may have to provide hospital hos-pital facilities for 16,000 of these unfortunate un-fortunate veterans." Another estimate of tbe Increasing Importance and scope of rehabilitation rehabilita-tion Is given by the Disabled American Ameri-can Veterans of the World War, a national na-tional organization of disabled ex-service ex-service men established In 1021. This group has been named by congress as an official representative of the disabled dis-abled who present claims to the gov-ernment gov-ernment According to William B. Tate, national commander, during the next decade, more than 275,000 ex-service ex-service men will need help as a result of disabilities Incurred during the war. So when Armistice day comes 'round each year. It behooves all Americans in the midst of their solemn celebration celebra-tion of the day to give a thought not only to those "who gladly died" but also to tbat "lonelier company" of those "who still are crucified." 44444444t ! Disabled ' I! " The busies call . . . the J J . drum's low beat . . ..(.'' , , Crowds surging through the BS- . swept street o ' J J And straight, youn flgurse J , J , marching by j . To mualo Runs against the , sky. ... y J Tst on this day of pescs I set J , J , Another, lonelier company: , o These are not they wbo tell ' these still J J Are tortured on Qoleoths's hill I , , o i And on Is her who not again Will feel the pulse of rapture ' J ba o . ' , Tbe high, hard trail bas yielded . to " ' His conquering steps . , J ' ' - t Another who J , , No longer now will joy to see i The April dawn's swift ecstasy ;; J Ot blue and gold . . . And , , J , here one lies With pitifully staring ayes, . 1 ' To whom th drum's low beat J J will bring J, , , Remembrance of some hideous . thing " J I ' ' So. on this day of peace, I se J J Another, lonelier company: , , . ' These are not they who gladly ' died ' ' " But they wbo still are crucified J J Catherine Parmenter In the , , , , New York Herald Tribune. $ |