CAMP MILLS--ST. STEPHEN'S, NEW YORK--ENTER ARMY
Given sufficient time and mellowing, the butterfly eventually merges
from the chrysalis; and it was with rapturous delight early June saw us
exchange Camp Dodge for Camp Mills, Long Island! We were now on the
shores of the Atlantic, and would soon tread the deck of our ship of
dreams--a transport bound for Over There!
Enter, now, the "season of our discontent!" It all grew out of the
nature of the Commission I was holding. It was not at all satisfying.
Commission in the Red Cross, I discovered, did not authorize front line
service; it would hold a person somewhere in the rear area; this would
not do; I determined to enter the regular Army.
A kind Providence helped bring this about! Instructions were abruptly
received from the War Department classifying all Red Cross Chaplains as
mere civilians, denying them the right to sail with the Units they had
accompanied East!
Fully fifteen other such Chaplains were then at Camp Mills waiting
sailing orders. They, too, had left their home towns and positions fully
expecting service overseas. Receipt of this heart-breaking news induced
many to give up the work and return home, utterly discouraged. It only
served to hasten my entrance into the regular Army.
Going at once to the Rectory of St. Stephen's, East 29th St., New York,
direction and cordial welcome was there received from one of God's
noblest of men, Bishop Hayes. Appointed by the Holy Father to the
special direction and care of all Chaplains in the National service,
this brilliant and big-hearted Prince of the Church was father and
friend to all.
Father Waring, the Vicar General, and the vicars and assistants in the
Ordinariate and parish of St. Stephen's co-ordinated in their own
charming manner with the vastly important work and cordial hospitality
of their devoted chief.
Within a week the physical and mental examinations had been successfully
passed and commission received as First Lieutenant in the National
Army.
While those days at St. Stephen's were of surpassing pleasure in the
rare companionship afforded, they were characterized, too, by a round of
strenuous activity. There was the necessary visit to Fifth Avenue, where
the good ladies of the Chaplain's Aid, doing the same great good in the
East that Father Foley's Aid Society was doing in the West, generously
supplied the necessary Mass and Sacramental equipment. Then, too, the
farewell Musical by the Paulist vocalists of Base 11, given at Garden
City; and for which Mrs. Charles Taft kindly acted as hostess. Genuine
regret marked that unavoidable parting. To co-labor with such splendid
officers and men was truly a privilege; and to have served, even
briefly, with the gallant "11" that wrought so worthily overseas, is an
honor proudly ever to be cherished.
It was during these days an event occurred which the "Parish Monthly,"
of St. Stephen's, was good enough to record:
"On Tuesday, July 23, Unit No. 102, Overseas Nursing Corps, gathered in
our church, to ask, in truly Catholic fashion, God's blessing on their
journey across the Atlantic. Ten 'Cornet' Sisters of Charity are in
charge of this Unit, which is almost wholly Catholic in its membership
and which has been recruited from hospitals conducted by these Sisters
in the South and West.
"At six-thirty, Chaplain George T. McCarthy, U. S. A., of Chicago,
celebrated Holy Mass. A congregation which numbered, besides the Unit,
our own Sisters of Charity, many overseas Nurses attached to other units
and a goodly quota of our parishioners was present. All received Holy
Communion. At the conclusion of the Mass, the "Star-Spangled Banner" was
sung, and after he had blessed a large American flag--the colors of the
Unit--Father McCarthy bade the nurses farewell."
SERMON
"In this holy hour and place, while Jesus, the gentle Master, still
lingers in your Eucharistic hearts, we are met for a two-fold
purpose--to bless the starry banner of the free--the colors of your
Unit--and to wish you Godspeed on your heroic way.
"Here within these historic walls of St. Stephen, the Proto-Martyr,
whose every stone and pillar and vaulting arch is richly storied with
the memories of surpassing men and women and their splendid
achievements--here, as it were, on the shore of the far-flung billows of
the Atlantic, you are gathered from the length and breadth of our
beloved country. With all the sacred courage of an Agnes of Italy, an
Ursula of England, a Joan of France, you have, during the past few days
and weeks, been called upon to bid your loved ones at home a fond and
tender farewell, as you go to follow the trail of the Crimson Cross to
service overseas.
"Our first and most holy purpose here, indeed, is to bless this flag
that is to lead you on your way; but most truly may the question be
asked: 'Can the flag of our beloved Country be blessed more fully than
it already is?' Its red is consecrated by the blood of countless heroes;
its white is stainless and unsullied as the Truth and Justice for which
it has forever stood; its blue is of the mid-day heavens, lofty in its
purpose to point the way of freedom to all mankind, that 'Government of
the people, for the people, and by the people' may not perish from the
earth!
"As we unfurl it to the breeze, it speaks with an eloquence irresistible
and it tells a story of heroism and patriotism unsurpassed. It brings
memory of Lexington and Concord; it tells of suffering at Valley Forge,
and of Victory at Yorktown. It was waved in triumph on the hills of
Gettysburg; and the blue of Grant and the gray of Lee entwined it
forever in the reunion of Appomattox. Dewey carried it to victory in
Manila Bay, even as Shafter and Joe Wheeler did at San Juan and
Santiago.
"When a military Power overseas attacked the cause of universal freedom
in the world, Pershing with his boys in khaki, and Benson with his boys
in blue, carried that flag to the forefront of the battle line; and
today, side by side with the banners of England, martyred Belgium,
gallant Italy, and unconquerable France, it waves defiance to the foe.
It kisses the poppies of Flanders and to the lilies of France it
whispers 'Lafayette, we are here.' In asking, therefore, the God of
Truth and Justice to bless this flag, we offer Him no indignity. As He
loves the right, He must love Old Glory, and therefore we ask Him to
re-adorn it with victory.
[Illustration: SISTERS OF UNIT NO. 2--THE ONLY SISTERS OF THE A. E. F.
Standing from Left to Right: Sisters Valeria, Catherine, De Sales, M.
David, Angela, Agatha, Florence. Left to Right Seated: Sisters Lucia,
Chrysostom, Mariana.]
"Ours, too, is the performance of another duty, it is to speak the
briefest, yet the hardest of all words to utter, the word of final
farewell. Had I the gift of eloquence, I would pour into that word, as
into a casket of alabaster, all the love, all the affection, all the sad
sweet smiles, all the 'God be with you until we meet again,' of your
loved ones back home. Through the gates of memory you have left ajar, I
seem to see your old home town--the streets guarded by sentinels of
maple, oak, and elm; the cottage of white, with lattice of climbing
roses; and in the door, her dear face looking sweetly sad yet bravely,
towards you, the mother who kissed you as you turned to go. Tenderly she
hung the service flag in the window; bravely will she wait and pray
beside the vacant chair.
"Many of you have come from the dear old Southland; and there seems to
come to me now, floating down the valley of dreams, the song old mammy
used to sing:
"'I hear the children calling
I see their sad tears falling,
My heart turns back to Dixie
And I must go.'
"Yes, my dear Sisters and nurses, you must go. There is need of you over
there. Our Country's heroes are there, bleeding and dying, and they need
you, beloved angels of mercy, to bind their wounds. In the cities, the
academies and hospitals from which you came, there are those who would
love to be with you on this mighty errand of National Service. The
Providence of God has chosen you, however, for the work, and not them.
As of old, on the shores of Galilee, the God of Mercy commissioned His
chosen followers to carry into the broad world His blessing, even so
from these shores of the Atlantic He is sending you forth on your
mission of love.
"From yonder tabernacle, He stoops to each one of you and sweetly
whispers: 'My daughter of the crimson Cross, of the faithful soul, of
the clean heart, and skillful hand, I am sending you over there as My
own representative. I know you will not fail Me, and that even unto
death you will be true to the Cross and Flag that go before you!' The
Nation is proud of you and you are the holiest and best offering of our
Country to the cause.
"And thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and wild war's desolation.
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that has made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, since our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, 'In God is our Trust!'
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and home of the brave."
As Base Hospital 102 is vested with the proud distinction of comprising
on its roster the only Sisters accompanying the American Expeditionary
Forces, it may be here permitted to anticipate and insert a brief
account of its heroic personnel and their splendid service.
Its Chief Nurse was Sister Chrysostom Moynahan of Mullanphy Hospital,
Saint Louis, Missouri; Sister Agatha Muldoon, Sister Angela Drendel,
Sister Catherine Coleman, and Sister Florence Means were from the
Sisters of Charity Hospital, New Orleans. Sister De Sales Loftus and
Sister David Ingram were from the City Hospital, Mobile, Ala. Sister
Lucia Dolan, St. Mary's Hospital, Evansville, Ind. Sister Mariana Flynn,
St. Joseph Hospital, St. Joseph, Mo., and Sister Valeria Dorn, St.
Vincent Hospital, Sherman, Mo. The ninety nurses were graduates of the
various nurses' schools connected with the hospitals in charge of the
Sisters of Charity.
They took the oath of allegiance July 2, 1918, and reported at New York
on July 4. There they were equipped by the Red Cross with uniforms for
overseas duty and were given the necessary military training by an army
officer.
The officers and enlisted men, of whom there were thirty-six of the
former and two hundred of the latter, in charge of Dr. Dana, reported at
Fort McHenry, and when they were ready the Sisters and nurses joined
them there. Its chaplain was the Rev. Godfrey P. Hunt, O. F. M., of
Washington, D. C.
Thus completed, the unit sailed August 4 on the Umbria, which ship was
afterward lost with Italian troops in the Adriatic. The second day out
the work of the unit began, when fifteen men, who had been struggling
with the waves in a row boat for twenty-four hours, were picked up. They
belonged to the O. A. Jennings, oil tank, which had been torpedoed. They
were given treatment by the unit, which turned back with them for a
day's journey; then, given supplies, they were started toward land,
which was in sight. The gratitude of the rescued men amply rewarded the
unit for its work of mercy.
The Umbria was without convoy, and though in one night alone it received
fourteen warnings of submarines, it threaded its perilous way in safety,
and on August 18 reached Gibraltar, where a stop of three days was made.
The officers and nurses were given shore leave, and put in their time
visiting places of interest.
On August 21 the start for Genoa was made, which port was reached on the
27th. The American Ambulance Corps, with a band of music, met the unit
at the boat, and Italian officers went aboard to greet the Americans in
the name of the Italian Government. The Sisters and nurses were taken
to the Victoria Hotel, while the commanding officer, Colonel Hume of
Frankfort, Ky., and Lieutenant Colonel Dana, went to Rome to secure a
place at the front for the base hospital.
The place selected was Vicenza, about fifteen miles from the firing
line. It was located in the Rossi Industrial School, which in olden days
had been a Dominican convent.
Here for seven months the Americans carried on their work of mercy and
during that time three thousand patients were cared for, of which number
only twenty-eight were lost, and they were victims of the influenza,
which was very severe in that locality. It was a remarkable record, the
lowest loss of any of the American units. The 332d regiment of Ohio boys
was in the section. The Ambulance Corp, composed chiefly of college men,
did excellent work. The Sisters found the Italians very grateful, and
their admiration for the Americans was great. There were many gas cases,
and while hundreds had their eyes badly burned, such was the success
attending the treatment they received, not one patient suffered the loss
of his sight. A great deal of good was also done by the Sisters and the
chaplain in bringing back neglectful soldiers to their religious duty.
On several occasions air raids threatened the town, but as the Italian
aviation force was superior to that of the enemy, no injury was done,
although earlier in the year Vicenza had suffered severe bombardments.
As the work increased a second hospital was opened for Italians for
medical cases exclusively. Besides Italian and American soldiers,
British soldiers were also treated at the base hospital.
The signing of the armistice was joyfully celebrated in Vicenza, and so
keenly did the Italian people recognize that the ending of the war was
largely due to America, it was a common occurrence for American soldiers
to be caught up and carried in triumph through the streets by the
emotional Italians.
As their work grew lighter, leaves of absence were given the
hard-working Sisters and nurses. During one of these the Sisters visited
Rome, and had the happiness of assisting at the Mass of the Holy Father
and receiving Holy Communion from him. Later they were received in
private audience by the Pope. The Sisters had also the pleasure of
visiting the mother-house of their Order in Paris. It was while there
they were ordered to proceed to Genoa for embarkation.
They sailed from Genoa March 21 for Marseilles, where they were joined
by several American officers and nurses who had served in France,
arriving in New York April 4.
While they were the only Sisters with the A. E. F., still they found
everywhere abroad Sisters doing their share of work. One band of Italian
Sisters of Charity walked sixty-five miles with a retreating force. They
were in the war since its beginning. This is not only true of the
Italian Sisters, but also of the French and Belgian, and presumably of
those in the enemy countries. The American Sisters were glad of the
opportunity to give their service in this war, in which their country
was engaged, as they have done their part in the other wars of the
Republic.
[Illustration: SEVENTH DIVISION TROOPS BOARDING LEVIATHAN AT HOBOKEN.]
I had made known to good Bishop Hayes my decided preference for a combat
force, and have always felt he favored me, for, on July 30, the
message from the War Department came: "Report at once to Officer
Commanding Seventh Division, Camp Merritt, New Jersey."
Good Father Dinneen, the Bishop's Secretary, added to my joy by
venturing opinion, that the "Seventh" was about to sail! He also
generously equipped me financially--"Just a little pin money for you,"
as he charmingly expressed it.
What magnificent men these priests of St. Stephen's and the Ordinariate!
How worthy to be associated with the Bishop who so kindly, so wisely,
and so well cared for the Chaplains in the National service.
Reporting at once to Camp Merritt I entered upon my Army duties.