A medical officer of the U.S. Army while traveling in Northern Africa
stopped over night at a hotel in Algiers and there learned of the
presence and illness of a U.S. Ex-service man. This young officer was
out of funds and in need of hospitalization. The attention of the
Surgeon General of the Army was called to the case, who in turn advised
the Veterans’ Bureau of the man’s distress. The State Department was
called by telephone and requested to cable the U.S. Consul at Algiers,
directing him to give immediate service to this American boy and report
action taken, with the result that the boy was promptly cared for and
sent by first available transportation to Marseilles, France, where he
was hospitalized.