A
UNSELFISH LOYALTY
IS THE SORT THAT SERVES
WHEREEVER STATIONED.
Patriotism, according to Webster is:
Jmve of ones country-devotion to wel
fare of ones country; the virtues and
actions of a patriot. ,
But I venture to eiaborate upon his
definition. by adding a few subheads.
There are different kinds of patriot
ism: First, the real patriot, the men
• who, in the spirit that he wduld sacri
fice all to save the honor of his moth-
er-enlists for that same reason; to
save the honor of his country-that it’s
past and present standards may be
maintained for the coming generation-
the man who in his patriotic devotion
' is altrusistic enough to forget that he
is making a sacrifice. Then there is
the traditional type of patriotism, in
termingled with a pride so dominant
that a man feels that he can’t with
stand the call. There is the man who
has not the courage of his convictions;
the man who enlists throng fear.
I have come in contact with each
type since I have been in the service,
and^ the different conceptions of pat-
riotism-as portrayed by members of
every branch of the service-have been
interesting, surprising and sometimes
even amusing.
Patriotism is reveasaed in ones at
titude, and if we would have people
believe' in our sincreity of purpose we
must develop that purpose through
sources more worthy and convincing
than figures of speech. And if it be
true that:
“Once to every man and nation
comes the moment to decide.
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah,
offering each the bloom or
blight.
Parts the goats upon the left hand
and the sheep upon the right
And the choice goes by forever twixt
that darkness and that light.”
Surely that great cause calls each
of us today. Will you help to redeem
it or crucily it?
1 can’t get the point of view of the
doctor or nurse who states, “I never
would have enlisted had I known I
wouldn’t have some foreign service.”
And yet that individual will tell you
in answer to your question of “Why
did you enlist at all then?”.
“Why to serve my country of
course.” Have we no duties to per
form? Do We owe nothing to those
who are being left on this side? Must
we be sent to the other side in order
to, demonstrate our idea of patriot-
isrh-liave we no duties here and upon
whom shall those duties devolve and
why not you?
It seems to me that from some
standpoints we are needed on this side
to be intelligent minds and well bal-
be the intellignt minds and well bal
anced judgement of worthy men to
solve the many national and commer
cial problems that are daily arising
during this terrible' crusade. We must
have a large number of men and wo
men to advance the Industrial forces
of the country. Pood conservation is
another and jjerliaps the most momen
THE CADUCEUS.
tous question: To meet the supreme
, need in this country as well as that of
the- other side. I might go on indefi
nitely but I want to bring my mess
age closer home to you.
If you really enlisted to serve your
country does it really matter whether
you are at Camp Green or at Camp
Dix; whether you are placed with a
field hospital or a base hospital;
whether you are assigned to surgery
or medicine, whether you are assign
ed at home service or foreign service.
It is not just as great an honor to
care for our boys on this side as the
other? Are you in the army selfish or
unselfish motives; for what you can
get or what you can give?
Is it really because you feel that
your opportunities for serving human
ity will be .greater over there, or is it
because you see in that dramatic field
of operative surgery the rare chance
to develop your ability and win fame
for yourself? Is it experience that you
want or your services you want to
give? Nurses I ask you that question.
And man or woman who does not
accept cheerfully the work allotted
him or her-and perform each duty to
the best of his ability during this crit
ical period, when the entire future
of our country hangs in a balance. Is
failing utterly and should be condem-
med accordingly. Our boys-hundreds
of them are giving their lives to the
cause that we may “carry on” and yet
some of you dare to grumble over your
lot. Surely you do not realize -the grav
ity of the situation.
When war was declared I was in
southern France in a beautiful little
French town near the Swiss border.
Dating from the first hour that the
wires and press sent forth their mes
sage of horror, France lost no time in
the conversation of every resource.
She had before her the memory of the
ravages of the conflict of 1870-she,
realized what it meant, and the spirit
of the day and every day that follow
ed was “Viva La BTance.”
How vividly I recall that afternoon,
just as the sun was sinking in the
west, the glory of it’s warmth des
cending upon the heads of that little
regiment-on it’s way to the front. The
courage of the men was splendid, but
more splendid till was the courage of
the women, who until the end stood In
.groups cheering those men on to bat
tle.
There was no outward demonstra
tion of grief, ont even a tear in the
eyes of those brave mothers, wives
and sisters who were sending their
loved ones away to—who knew. It was
an impressive sight-a beautiful and
inspiring picture-there was something
almost godly in their attitude.
And then when the last sign of blue
had melted into the grey twilight, and
the sound of the drum had faded away
in the distance- the deathlikht silence
that prevailed-the change of expres
sion that of mental anguish-in the re
alization of it all. And the dawn of the
day that followed, those same women,
their faces revealed the struggle of
the preceding night, but througb it
was evidenced that grim stoical deter
mination so characteristic of the
French woman-to see her catch up the
Continued on page 12
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