cruited to organize and train volunteers and paid workers in Red Cross chapters, for the service to families that came to be known as "Home Service."

Fifty base hospitals were organized for the Army and eight for the Navy. Fifty-four of these were established overseas. In addition to nurses, dietitians, orderlies, etc., the Red Cross enrolled for this work nearly 2,500 physicians and 50 chaplains. It also recruited and organized personnel for 47 ambulance companies to staff 564 ambulances for service in outlying areas, and 141 trucks to supplement these. After training, each ambulance staff was turned over to the Army and mustered into service. All companies saw service over

seas.

In this country 700 canteens provided food to troops in transit, aided the ill and injured, and distributed recreational and other supplies. Communications workers at national headquarters, and 400 searchers in France, handled about 100,000 requests a week from relatives and friends asking for the location and welfare of military personnel. Red Cross staffed and directed programs at the Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men in New York and the Institute for the Blind in Baltimore, to supplement government services in the reeducation and rehabilitation of soldiers and sailors.

The Prisoners' Aid Service, working out of Switzerland, supplied food and clothing to prisoners of war, forwarded mail and money, and communicated with families and friends. Supplies were shipped regularly in 20-pound packages to all American prisoners of record, wherever located. Card acknowledgements from prisoners were received for 90 percent of the shipments.

Surgical dressings, hospital garments and supplies, and supplies for soldiers and sailors valued at nearly $94 million were produced by chapter volunteers. These are only a few of the many activities conducted during World War I for the Armed Forces.

Before the war ended it was obvious that many men in service would continue to look to the Red Cross for certain kinds of assistance after their return to civilian life. This was especially true of those who were disabled, or who became disabled later from condi

tions not apparent at the time of discharge. The Home Service program was therefore broadened to include service to veterans and their dependents.

WORLD WAR II. This war saw a further enhancement of Red Cross activities. In addition to the retention and expansion of services traditionally given to the Armed Forces, the ArmyNavy Blood Donor Service was developed; an extensive oversea club program was carried on; prisoner-of-war activities provided heretofore unknown services; and recruitment of medical technologists augmented the stepped-up recruitment of nurses.

At the request of the Army and Navy, the Red Cross inaugurated the ArmyNavy Blood Donor Service in February 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war it was expanded rapidly. From February 1941 through 15 September 1945 more than 13 million pints were donated. All blood was turned over to the Army and Navy without charge. The cost of the project to the Red Cross was nearly $16,000,000. Whole blood, plasma, and serum albumin were widely hailed as "the foremost lifesavers of the war."

After the Red Cross was asked by the Secretary of War to extend its recreational program to oversea areas, as many as 1,800 recreational facilities were operating during the periods of peak activity. Included were off-post clubs, on-post clubs, rest homes, clubmobiles serving men in ioslated areas, and snack bars and canteens at air strips and in other areas where more complete club facilities were not available.

The Red Cross served more than 100,000 American prisoners of war, providing supplies valued at over $17,500,000. Four thousand women volunteers, working on assembly lines, turned out about 1,400,000 food, medical, and miscellaneous packages per month for American and Allied prisoners. Every week or ten days a Red Cross vessel, loaded with prisoner of war supplies, left for Europe, sailing under the flag of the International Red Cross. As many supplies as Japan would permit were shipped to the Far East. Up to the end of 1943 about 90 percent of the goods moved into Japanese channels reached those

for whom they were intended. However, the amount received per prisoner in the Far East was only about onetenth of that received per prisoner in Europe in the same period. Problems were lack of Japanese cooperation, shortage of Japanese shipping, and unwillingness of the Japanese to permit neutral vessels carrying relief supplies to enter their waters.

In the United States the Red Cross participated in a wide variety of services for members of the Armed Forces, such as furnishing sunrooms and dayrooms, giving parties and entertainments, and providing recreation equipment, clothing, comfort items, and reading material. It certified 105,000 nurses for military service-more than four times as many as in World War I. First aid was taught to many Armed Forces members, and a survival swimming course was developed and widely used by the military. Millions of volunteers served. They made more than two billion surgical dressings and millions of kit bags and miscellaneous articles. Others drove military convoys, served as nurse's aides and friendly visitors in military hospitals, gave canteen service at airfield and other locations where there were no feeding facilities, and helped families that were being assisted by Home Service.

In fiscal years 1940-1946 inclusive, covering the war and the preceding period of national emergency, the American Red Cross

Spent $502,248,000 for services to the Armed Forces.

Gave assistance to an annual average

of 2,630,000 servicemen and women, and 1,700,000 members of their families.

Extended financial assistance to members of the Armed Forces and their families in the amount of $108,000,000. A major part of the loans was repaid.

Provided over 13,300,000 donations of blood.

KOREA. With the outbreak of the Korean conflict, Red Cross services to the military were again expanded. As an example, during this 3-year period national headquarters handled each year about 285,000 requests for communications service overseas in connection with

welfare inquiries. Military authorities asked for an emergency recreation program in Korea, and the first club was opened in November 1950. Gross attendance during the 20 months of operation totaled 10,400,000. Through the Red Cross National Blood program, which began operations in January 1948, the first shipment of whole blood for Korea was made within 48 hours after the Department of Defense asked for supplies. No blood requirement of the Department was unmet.

At the onset of the fighting, delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross were welcomed by the United Nations Command and accorded free access to all United Nations prison camps. However, Communist authorities refused to allow the Committee to carry out its usual functions in the area under their control. The League of Red Cross Societies therefore asked the societies of combatant countries to urge immediate exchange of sick and wounded prisoners. Resultant negotiations led to "Operation Little Switch," in which sick and wounded soldiers were repatriated.

To bring some relief to able-bodied prisoners of war, Red Cross societies of the belligerent nations formed joint teams that provided comfort articles and welfare services to the thousands exchanged in "Operation Big Switch." The American Red Cross furnished 25 of the 70 United Nations team members, and coordinated the group's activities. Its workers were on hand to help American repatriates at every step of the long journey from "Freedom Village" in Korea to the United States.

THE RED CROSS AND THE ARMED SERVICES TODAY. Thanks to the continued large size of our Armed Forces, the agency's services to members and their families remains at a high level. These services are based on demonstrated needs which have been recognized by the military establishment itself, and the measures taken to meet them have received official military sanction. No charge is made by the Red Cross for services or supplies to members of the Armed Forces.

In each of the military departments (Army, Navy, and Air Force), and in the offices of their respective surgeons general, officers are designated to act

as liaison with the Red Cross. The Armed Forces are represented on its Board of Governors. By law, all its accounts are audited by the Department of Defense.

Field Directors. Red Cross services are handled by field directors assigned and accredited to military stations and hospitals. A field director can call on local Red Cross chapters for whatever volunteer or other service is needed. Thus, he can obtain such widely diversified services as those given by volunteer nurse's aides, Gray Ladies, canteeners, motor drivers, supplementary supplies and comfort items, and the training in first aid, water safety, and home nursing that is available to military personnel and their families. The resources of Junior Red Cross members, including those now enrolled in the dependents' schools overseas, can be similarly utilized. Every member of the Armed Forces, wherever located, has ready access to a field director.

Home Service. This branch of the American Red Cross functions through local chapters. It is a point of contact with the families of military personnel, and with such personnel themselves when they are away from their stations. It also assists veterans and their families. Field directors and Home Service workers cooperate to provideCounseling on personal and family problems.

in

Reporting and communications family emergencies. This service is given when direct communication will not meet the need. Chapter Home Service also obtains confidential reports to assist military authorities in making decisions on discharge or leave. Other reports assist military medical officers in making diagnoses and treatment plans for ill or disabled servicemen.

Financial assistance. Loans or grants are made to servicemen in emergencies to meet unanticipated expenses, such as transportation costs incident to emergency leave, maintenance en route, and family needs caused by delayed allotments, illness, or other reasons.

Assistance in applying for government benefits. Servicemen and their dependents often need help with applications for Federal and State benefits available to them.

Referral service. There are times when the most valuable assistance the Red Cross can give is to explain what services or benefits are available from other agencies and organizations, and help servicemen and their families to obtain them.

Service in Hospitals. In military hospitals Red Cross social workers assist patients with personal and family problems, and provide comfort and chapterproduced articles. The Red Cross also carries on a medically approved recreation program for patients. Chapter volunteers and other interested groups assist recreation workers in this activity. When feasible the Red Cross furnishes free motion pictures in wards of large hospitals and in patients' recreation houses. Whole blood and blood derivatives are provided for hospitals on request. Members of the Armed Forces have maintained an excellent record in donating blood through the Red Cross Blood Program.

Special Activities Overseas. The Red Cross operates a clubmobile recreation service in Korea. In certain communities adjacent to U.S. military installations in Europe and North Africa, centers have been established to encourage and develop participation of local residents in planning leisure-time activities for servicemen and women.

Extent of Peacetime Activities. While Red Cross activities today are naturally less than in wartime, their scale is none the less impressive. In fiscal year 1957 the agency served some 1,178,000 members of the Armed Forces and 1,272,000 members of their families. It extended financial assistance in the amount of about $14,000,000. It provided over 138,500 donations of blood. An average of 16,400 volunteers served each month in military hospitals. These are merely some statistical highlights of its multifarious activities.

Wartime Activities. In time of war or when war is imminent, the Red Cross, in addition to giving the foregoing services, will undertake other requested activities on military installations at home or abroad, or in centers or leave areas outside the continental United States which are under the direction and control of military authorities. Ac

tivities include recreational services of all types; canteen and clubmobile services; provision of supplemental recreation supplies and equipment; special

services to hospital ships, hospital trains, ambulance planes, and rest homes; and assistance to prisoners of war in enemy prison camps.

The treatment of prisoners of war in the past has varied greatly. In many epochs and civilizations they were considered to have no rights, and were killed by their captors, sacrificed to the gods, or enslaved. At other times, for example in medieval Europe, they were often held for ransom. In the 17th century the theory arose in Europe that they were the property of the State, not of any individual captor; this tended to prevent personal abuse, revengeful punishment, or servitude.

The strong humanitarian and rationalist movement that marked the 18th century in Europe and America brought about a new attitude toward prisoners of war. It was based on the concept that the membership of an individual in the army of one nation did not in itself constitute a crime against an enemy nation. It followed logically that, if a soldier was captured during a war, the captor nation was fully justified in holding him prisoner, but had no justification for punishing or maltreating him on the sole ground of his being an enemy. The wars of the 18th and 19th centuries show in general a progressive amelioration in the handling of captives, although there were many instances of harsh treatment.

Beginning in the late 19th century a movement developed to codify the status, rights, and duties of prisoners of war by international agreements. One such agreement was set forth in regulations annexed to the "Hague Convention with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land," dated 18 October 1907. Its provisions were elaborated by a Geneva Convention of 1929. The most recent agreement is the "Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War" dated 12 August 1949. Over fifty nations, including the United States and the countries of the Soviet Bloc, are parties thereto. They are bound to apply its provisions in their relations with one another, and also in their relations with nations

which are not parties to the convention when such nations themselves accept and apply its provisions.

PROVISIONS OF THE 1949 GENEVA CONVENTION. The most important provisions of the Convention are summarized below.

Prisoners of war are defined as persons falling within any of several classes, who are in the hands of the enemy. The largest class consists of members of the armed forces, militia, or volunteer corps forming part of the armed forces of a party to the conflict. Captured medical and chaplain personnel are not considered prisoners of war. They are, however, entitled, as a minimum, to the same privileges as prisoners of war. They may be retained by the Detaining Power only to minister to prisoners of war, and must be granted all the facilities necessary for that purpose.

The Detaining Power is responsible for the treatment of prisoners of war. It may, however, transfer this custody to another nation, if that nation is a party to the Geneva Convention.

Prisoners of war are entitled, under all circumstances, to respect for their persons and honor. They must be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity. No prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation, or to medical experiments of any kind which are not justified by his state of health. Except for particular treatment permitted or required by the Convention by reason of rank, sex, state of health, and age or professional qualifications, all prisoners of war must be treated alike, without distinction based on race, nationality, religious belief, political opinion, or similar criteria.

Upon capture a prisoner is to retain possession of all his personal effects except arms and military equipment and documents. Money and articles of value taken from him for reasons of security may be taken only by order of an offi