RED CROSS PRAISED FOR WORK IN WWI
Rahway, New Jersey (JFK+50) One hundred years ago, January 24, 1919, "Over Here" published a front page article quoting a statement made by the Surgeon General of the United States Army, General Merritte W. Ireland*, praising the work of the American Red Cross during the world war.
The statement read...
"Without the help of the American Red Cross, the American Medical Department could not have done its work. Our greatest enemy in this war was not the Germans, but dirt.
Never before have soldiers had to fight so much exposed to dirt and filth. And yet never has a great war been won with so little suffering and death caused by this enveloping contagion.
For this achievement...we have to thank most of all the American Red Cross."
The statement was to be included in the February 1919 issue of Red Cross Magazine.
*Merritte Weber Ireland (1867-1952) was born in Columbia City, Indiana. MWI received medical degrees from Detroit College of Medicine (1890) & Jefferson Medical College (1891). He served as a surgeon with the 45th U.S. Volunteer Infantry (1899) & was Surgeon General (1918-1931).
SOURCE
"Red Cross Great Aid In Winning The War," Over Here: Official Publication of United States Army General Hospital, January 24, 1919. www.collections.nlm.nih.gov/
Merritte W. Ireland
Surgeon General
From "The Medical Dept of the US Army
in the World War"
by Joseph H. Ford (1927)
