"I found the New York office a very busy place, with
several hundred men arriving each week for the Y.M.C.A. work.
After registering and being interviewed, we were sent to
Columbia University for some training. This consisted largely
in lectures on conditions in France and instructions as to what
we were to do, athletic games, which we played out on a field,
classes in French, and later after we had received our uniforms,
military drill. Our uniforms were similar to those worn by the
army officers, but, of course, we do not have any of the insignia.
On one side of our collars we have a 'U.S.' in bronze letters
and on the other 'Y.M.C.A.' On our right sleeve and on our caps
we have the Red Triangle of the Y.M.C.A.
"After our training we were held in New York hotels
several days waiting for ships to take us across. I took an
opportunity to go into what is called 'Transport service.'
In this work a Y.M.C.A. man's duties commence as soon as he arrives
on a ship. He is assigned to a troop transport and works among
the men on the way over. Only two are assigned to a ship. So
instead of taking a trip across as a passenger on a first class
liner, as most of the Y men do, I am already at work on board.
"The man with me happens to be a school man also. He
has given up a place as high school principal of a school that
has
an enrollment of 1,700 in Sacramento, California. As transport
secretaries, we have quite an equipment. It is intended for the
work 'over there' but we are privileged to open it up and use
it on board. We have 1,800 volumes of books collected by the
American Library Association. I hoped that some might have come
from Wisconsin - perhaps Brodhead, but they have all been collected
in New England. I should like to tell how the men enjoy this
part of our equipment. Men that I sure have done very little
reading, are here found reading everything from Shakespeare to
Ring Lardner. We give out two to three hundred books a day. The
ship's officers gave us a room which we use for a library and
'Hut.' The carpenter fitted it out with some shelves so we are
very well fixed.
"We found also in our consignment a portable Sonora
phonograph with a supply of records. This was given by a small
town in New Hampshire. The machine is a dandy, leatherbound,
and folds into a carrying case. It is run by the men almost constantly
- jazz music seems to be the great favorite. Harry Lauder next.
We also have some athletic equipment among which the boxing gloves
are in greatest demand. We also have stationery, testaments (Roman
Catholic and Protestant as well as Jewish) and pamphlets containing
useful information for soldiers in France.
"We are kept busy all day long. I used to have some
misgivings as to whether I could do this work, but I find that
somehow I have little time on my hands.
"I am sorry I cannot tell just what kind of service
I am with, but the soldiers are mostly boys. I would say half
of them
are less than twenty, all volunteers. They are a fine lot
and we can be proud of our representatives in this world war.
"The ship we are on is a British vessel and was built
for the Indian trade. The officers are typical Englishmen, but
the
deck hands, cabin tenders and waiters are all Hindus from
India. There are several castes aboard, and, as the different
castes won't have anything to do with each other, those of one
caste are given the same kind of work. Our waiters are of one
such group. They are dressed in a white robe that comes to the
knees with a white and blue sash about their waists and a white
and blue cap that has a turban effect. It is quite picturesque,
you may be sure. But they look better at a distance.
"The ship has been adapted to carrying troops. The quarters
for the men are not the best, but the boys realize that time
is the big element and that it must be anything to get over
so there is little complaint. Their quarters are in the hold
and were originally intended for freight. But even the promenade
deck has been built up with temporary housings for storing food
and equipment."
France, November 8, 1918.
"After I reported at Paris I was immediately sent out
to my troops and was kept very busy. I was assigned to the 101st
Engineers. They were organized in New England and most of
them came from around Boston. They were among the first to come
over and had been across almost a year when I joined them in
the middle of August.
"Up to the first of September I was kept in a Y warehouse
helping get things in shape for moving to the front for as you
know that was when the big push commenced over here. Finally
I was sent out to my regiment. I found them camped in a woods.
They had been there several days but that night they were ordered
to move and we marched every night, marching at night is necessary,
of course, to avoid being seen by the enemy especially the airplanes.
During the day we hid in the woods and were forbidden to go out
on the roads. I was a bit doubtful if I could stand the continual
hiking for I had come out without any preliminary hardening up,
my scout hikes must have put me in shape for I did not have to
fall out. It was a severe test, though for a tenderfoot, especially
the third night when we walked all night in the rain and mud.
We went only about fifteen miles that night and finished by climbing
a hill for our camp in the woods. I lay down on the wet ground
at about four in the morning and slept in my rain coat until
the sun was high in the heavens when I awoke. The men took it
all as a matter of course so I did not dare think it anything
unusual and made the best of it. We camped on this high hill
for several days and it was here I gave my first real service
as a Red Triangle man. I notified our warehouse where we were
(by walking back twenty kilometers) and they brought me back
with a Ford truck load of candy, jam, cookies, cigars and cigarettes.
We unloaded these in the woods and like magic the boys had formed
a line about 400 feet long ready for me to sell my wares. Somehow
that line never got shorter, though I had three men help me sell.
We limited the amount each man could buy, one package of cookies,
two of cigarettes, two cigars, etc. In two hours I was sold out,
but the line was as long as ever. Then those left in line, of
course, cussed the Y for not giving better service. It hurt me
at first but later I got over it. The boys feels better when
they grouch. First it is at their grub, then the weather, then
the officers and the Y only comes in for its turn. When we stop
to talk with those disgruntled, they admit that after all Uncle
Sam is taking mighty good care of them considering the great
difficulties involved. Certainly no other army has ever been
served with chocolate and cigarettes under shell fire.
"Running these temporary canteens has been one of my
principal ways of serving the boys. Another thing the boys
appreciate that the Y does for them is sending money back
home. Our organization has perfected a plan whereby the soldiers
can send money back to America. The army post-office is miles
away from the troops so it can not be done through the post-office.
I have collected an average of about $1,500 a week and sent to
our division headquarters to be finally sent to the states. Likewise
we cash the money orders that the folks back home send to the
boys.
"Another service the boys look to us for is to keep
them supplied with writing materials and reading matter. We do
our
best to keep up to the demand.
"We also do all that is possible towards furnishing
entertainment and lectures. I was able to place three entertainment
companies for my troops. One performed off the back end of
a truck in front of a battered church, one in a barn, and one
in the woods - the boys putting up a stage in a hurry. This last
was within gun range of the Huns and would have made a fine target
had he known 500 men were grouped there listening to the songs
and 'patter' of this quartet of entertainers.
"Aside from these main points of our program, we are
called on for many other small services - to write letters, answer
questions, give advice, and oftentimes just to talk to a
boy that wants some one to talk to.
"I have enjoyed my work very much and though I was with
the regiment only six weeks before I was hit I feel as though
I have gained a lot and believe I have helped some.
"I certainly have seen something of the awfulness of
war."