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c h a p t e r n i n e Fighting on Two Fronts The World War brought the American red cross to the center of American military and civic life and also transformed it into a sprawling, decentralized institution. in 1915 the organization had only twenty-two thousand members; just four years later, it had enlisted more than 20 million adult members and its chapters covered “practically every square mile in the continental United states.” The organization raised more than $400 million to finance its war efforts and employed more than 12,700 paid staff in twenty-five countries by the war’s end. Trained American red cross nurses, who rose to iconic status during the war, numbered nearly twenty-four thousand. Although these changes began upon the outbreak of war, most of the expansion occurred after the United states entered the conflict. in may 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appointed a red cross War council of business and political leaders to develop the organization into a wartime government auxiliary. The council displaced mabel Boardman and other prewar leaders and recruited a phalanx of professional wartime managers, who built the Arc into a corporation-like enterprise with fourteen regional divisions. The War council also officially suspended Arc neutrality for the duration of the conflict. While the organization between 1914 and 1917 provided aid to wounded soldiers on both sides, between 1917 and 1919 it became a quasiofficial auxiliary of the U.s. military. At the same time, many Arc workers launched ambitious programs of humanitarian relief to civilians—a mission that the organization pursued with renewed vigor after the war. The extensive wartime operation would not have functioned without its unpaid army of volunteers. during the war, 8 million women, mostly from the white middle and upper classes, along with millions of schoolchildren who joined the Junior red cross, produced 371 million “relief articles”: surgical dressings; hospital garments and supplies; sweaters, hats and other knitted items for soldiers and sailors; and clothing for war refugees. other women performed social work, helping the families of servicemen resolve their problems; participated in the camp service, which delivered snacks, magazines, cigarettes, and chocolates to servicemen in training camps; or worked at 158 The Boardman Era canteens, which offered food and refreshment at mobilization points such as train stations . Wealthy women with access to private automobiles joined the Women’s motor corps, which transported servicemen, doctors, and nurses to mobilization depots, bases, or hospitals. men also volunteered to organize Arc fund-raising drives. This network of volunteers proved critically useful when the global influenza pandemic reached the United states in late 1918. As flu cases mushroomed in cities around the country, the Public health service, hospitals, and state and local health departments faced perilous staff shortages. As many as 25 million Americans became sick, and at least 550,000 died of influenza. more than any other voluntary body, the Arc stepped in to help. The organization supplied more than eighteen thousand nurses and volunteers and expended more than $2 million of its war chest to furnish equipment and supplies to hospitals; establish special kitchens to feed influenza sufferers and houses for convalescence; and transport people, bodies, and supplies. While doctors could do little for victims of this virus, the Arc nurses and volunteer workers provided attention and care that significantly lessened patients’ suffering.1 humanity and neutrality in Wartime When war broke out in August 1914, Boardman rushed back from murray Bay, ontario , where she was vacationing with the Tafts, to coordinate a new Arc european war–relief fund-raising drive. Boardman and Arc board members wanted to raise enough funds to send an Arc hospital unit of surgeons and nurses to each country involved in the war. President Wilson helped by issuing an appeal to the American people to contribute to the Arc relief fund. in one month, the Arc collected enough donations to finance its first relief ship, which sailed from new York on september 12 with 33 surgeons and 137 nurses aboard. several similar groups sailed within the next few months. in this early effort, the Arc followed its principle of neutrality, which was consistent with the neutral position of the United states in the war. While many Americans’ sympathies lay with the Allies, especially the British and the French, the Arc took pains to aid the wounded on the other side as well. Boardman’s German-born friend dr. sofie nordhoff-Jung and her husband dr. Franz Jung, who...

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