Newspapers / The Black Mountain News … / Feb. 21, 1946, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page Two Miss Dorothy Potter Writes Some j Red Cross Experiences In Service Miss Potter recently visited Mrs. Mary Aleshire, of Oak Knoll. Black Mountain, N. C. This letter will be run in installments each week. Watch for it—you will enjoy reading her experiences 11 the Red Cross with the service men of the U. S. Armed Forces Written exclusively for The Black Mountain News. (Continued from last week) Patients from Cherbourg pre sented an entirely different rou tine for me and all the detach ment personnel’ As soon as al passengers were loaded Pd start out with cigarettes and matches . . . market baskets filled with' them. “Hey Red Cress watcha got?” “B-y! . . . just look at those cigarettes! Lady we haven’t seen that many in weeks." “My favorite brand!” “Can I have a couple books of matches They’re awful hard to get.” “Thanks lady— l gotta pack ! Give ’em to somebody else.” “Red Cross, the guy below me is in the latrine. Those (pointing into my basket) are the kind he smokes. I’ll keep ’em for him . | BACKING UP YOUR DOCTOR j • The advise adn prescription your Doctor gives | I you will not be worth anything unless you follow I j his advice faithfully and have the prescription Z I filled with pure, fresh drugs. It is our business I 9 to back your Doctor in this manner. 2 I Have Your Prescription Filled Here ! j Black Mountain Drug Company j § The JggaJL Dru S Ston | I Black Mountain, N. C. | ■ Prepare Now For Rainy Season m H ■ Elastic-glass Raincoats for Ladies with match- ■ £ ing kerchiefs. ■ 1 RAINCOAT -.58.95 * J KERCHIEF SI.OO » | Jfk I 2 We also carry Men’s and Boy’s Raincoats and J Men’s Overshoes ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥■¥¥■¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ ■ [ RICE’S QUALITY STORE j - O. K. ” “Look lady—that tenow ovei there can’t understand anyone. He was too near a shell when it ex ploded. We’ll tkae his cigarette and see that he gets smokes.” “Hey bud . . . You over there with your hands all done up. I’ll take yours and you hollar when you wanna smoko. ’ Stopping at each bed I managed a word or so with all the patients. Each one presented a series of unique experiences culminating in being wounded. Some were vet erans of months of fighting, oth ers were mere fledglings injured minutes after going into combat But all were glad to get away from the mud, rain, cold and aw fulness of the German break through. Our Cherbourg patients fresh from such events, talked and talked about what they had been through. Telling of the night mares and ghastly experiences seemed to relieve aU of them.: Each listened intently to his near neighbors and they in turn to him. Subconsciously, I believe,' they realized the value of the “blowing steam” and helped each other. Personal possessions just didn’t exist. The patients had lost ev erything except articles tucked | away in pockets of the uniform they were wearing when the Ger-j mans started abruptly to hammer j our lines. I never realized how truly important the little posses sions are. The men who had man aged to '•fttain a toothbrush or razor were the envy of everyone- Toothbrushes, after cigarettes, were the first things to be re quested, then came shaving gear.' In a couple of hours our patients became a toothsome, shiny-vis aged group. Those who could, hobble took showers, and bed pa tients were bathed and shaved by nurses and wardmen. Little hoarded articles came aboard tucked in pockets, paper bags or simply held in their own ers hands. Grateful indeed was I to be able to give the men ditty bags which the Red Cross volun teers back home have been mak ing by the hundreds of thousands. “States music” was the cry of all the patients. Crossing the Channel the public address sys tem piped hundreds of recordings to the wards . . • everything . . . hillbilly, western, jive . . . the us ual conglomeration that Amer icans love. Great was the contrast between the embarking at Cherbourg and debarking in England. Patients left the St. Olaf reluctantly, vo ciferously hoping they’d catch her if they were Z.l.ed (sent to the Zone of the Interior —the United States.) They were clean, rested, fed and in good spirits. | We churned our lonely -way across the Atlantic twice more after completing our shuttle as-j signment on the English Channel. And we did bring back many pa tients whom we h-.d carried to England. They were “old tim ers” aboard, staged a personal home-coming and told all the new comers about the snip, personnel and routine. They greatly enjoy ed being “in the knew.” On these trips we also earned patients we had known under quite different circumstances. In New York we were docked next to a transport. ■ Many of the soldiers chatted over the railing with our personnel-j Pulling out ahead of us the “Weil be seeing you” they shouted across the widening band so water had an ironic significance. They were correct. We saw a number of them. They were among our pa tients States bound. A sergeant presented a vital problem in one ward- He was nas-J ty, viciously so, in all his remarks to everyone. Two days before docking ne answered our unspok en wonderment by explaining that he had been on the troop transport sunk off Cherbourg the Christ- 1 mas Eve we docked there. Unin- 1 jured and rescued he had gone on to the front and been wounded. ■ His horror of the torpedoing and ensuing events stuck with him— and being transported home on an other ship made it even more hor rible. Waking and sleeping he relived the impact of the torpedo,' the explosion, his fighting to get his unit out (which he did except for one man), the survival in- ! stinct making everyone into a screaming, terrified, fighting maniac, and then finding himself in the water beside his buddy, l talking to him and seeing him suddenly go down. Another patient had been slight ly wounded twice in Europe and each time we brought him to Eng-| land to recuperate. The third time back to combat duty his in-' jury was sufficiently serious to! send him to the States . . . and .. J we provided him with transporta-, tion that time too. At one English port a company of colored soldiers unloaded our Cherbourg patients. These men handled as many as three, and sometimes four, hospital ships a 1 day. Rightfully they had the rep utation of being the fastest and smoothest group in the E.T.O. All of us learned to duck into door ways when we saw a pair bringing a patient down a passageway. These men had a speedy, running walk (taking all the movement in their hips) that transported pa tients rapidly with nary a jolt. It was great fun watching patients as they suddenly realized the speed a; which they were being moved. Disbelief appeared first on their faces and with whatever number of hands they could use they’d THE BLACK MOUNTAIN NEWS grab for the sides of the litter. In a minute or so they’d realize there was no jolting and their balance wasn’t in the least disturbed, j Slowly they’d relax and then grin aS people ducked and scurried to get out of the way. These colored litter bearers had an outstanding basketball team and they were to play off the championship game one evening when we docked load- \ ed with patients. They found they could still play off the game if they unloaded us by a certain time. Those colored men literal ly flew on winged heels and they cut their usual time by an hour. They played the game and won the championship. Our men homeward bound have a tremendous, relentless urge, like the lemmings of Norway in their yearly trek which takes them over cliffs and into the sea. They MUST get there as soon as possi ble. Our disabled soldiers in Eng land, knowing they were going home, dreamed and hoped for a plane ride whicn .vouid get them there in a matter of hours. The majority had come to the E. T. 0. by ships and a return trip by the same means of transportation did not appeal to them. These men were disgruntled just a bit when they came aboard our ship, and their dispositions didn’t improve when they learned .ve ’.raveled not to exeded 12 knots. Within a day or so most of them shelved their disappointment because the daily ward and ship routine, coupled with a planned recreation pro gram, made time pass quickly- In tentionally our route swung south ward by the Azores and then west to Bermuda to provide easy seas and good weather. Patients,' stripped to the waist, daily ab sorbed sunshine on the open decks. When we arrived in the States the vast majority had gained weight, were relaxed and more normal from plenty of sleep and goo I living conditions. Even the litter cases presented suntanned fact: going down the gangway to shore 1 for they too had been out ->r_ the decks for their share so the sun’s | rays. Patients from England were definitely different from those we transported from Cherbourg. Dis ! ferent in that they had spent more time in hospitals, were ac customed to medical routine and no longer craved the primary comforts and needs. These men had lost much of their battle tense ness and were calmer. They | knew of recreation programs and what to ask of Red Cross and j Special Service. Their chief con cern was to make time pass as | rapidly as possible by keeping busy. Most longtime patients art easily identified by their very long fingernails, of which they are 1 very proud. Despite the talons ! interfering wit hthe use of their fingers the patients are reluctant 1 to cut them off for they have be ! come an accepted badge of long hospitalization. Seeing two movies a day would not be an excess to any patient. Movies have always topped the ! list of favorite recreation. One 1 trip we managed 157 shows, for bed and ambulatory patients, us • ing three machines and 15 mov ies. Judging from the use of our li -1 brary there must be a large num ber of real and potential cowboys ‘in the Army. Zane Grey’s west ■ emers are read far more than any others. In just two trips a new Zane Grey is “all beat up,” dog eared nad limp. On the whole pa tients are avid readers and some average better than a book a day while enroute home. Craft work is popular for the men are proud to have completed something attractive, and are mightily pleased to have that same something to take home as a gift. Often patients will loudly proclaim their complete disinter est in crafts of any kind . . . nope . . . none of that stuff for them- Soon a couple in the ward are whipping up scarfs, knotted belts, sewing and stuffing ani mals. Others admire the results and start. Soon our recalcitrant friends find themselves doing some of that “stuff.” Soldiers are ingenious and seemignly can always make some thing out of nothing, and, given something to work with, they de velope most attractive items. Our trip-ly craft exhibit always brings forth excellent handwork . . hooked rugs with original designs; enlarged arm patches worked in needlepoint; sailing ship models; square knotted belts, purses and coasters; plexiglass frames, pend ants and pins; wo.ol purses with plexiglass monograms,. There seer,is no end to the things the men can do and improvise, and I, who teach crafts, have learned all I know from them. It is fun a " d necessary to direct craft tren >■ I have found that as soon as one patient starts a scarf others in the ward will follow suit, and t.ien I have to interest some patient in a knotted belt so that the supply of scarf yarn isn’t depleted too soon. Then comes the necessity of preventing the same thing from happening to the tying cord. Hooked rugs are introduced to off- j set that, and so on, until I m act ually out of everything just as we dock. My once ample supplies go ashore as gifts to baby Mary, Sweetheart Sue, Mother, Dad and all the others. One-armed patients are anxious to keep busy- With a bit of de termination and patience they learn to do the scarfs on boards. One one-armed patient was par ticularly intrigued with a knotted belt and wanted to make one for his wife. Two hands are almost essential in tying the knots but he puttered arovfnd until he found a solution. He sat with legs stretch ed out on his top bunk, fastened the belt to the bottom of the bunk, made the knot with one hand and then tied one strand to his big toe on his armless side. He would then fasten the knot by pulling with his hand and foot. It was tedious at first but he mastered it. When it was completed he had a perfect belt to take o this wife. (Continued next week) Fence Row Philosophy 0 Farmer John Discusses Subjects of Decidedly Human Interest ’Long about the first ov the year Mandy an’ me slipped over to one ov the nabers’ homes one evenin’ for a friendly little visit. We found the man at hiz desk bizzy az a bee plannin’ hiz work fer the next few months. It wuz cold an’ stormin’ outside, but there in hiz comfortable home he wuz layin’ hiz plans so that when time come that he could work outside he’d , • have everything in shape to git | right at the job and git everything ! done “to advantage” as he sed. He had a list ov things to do on ! rainy days and bad weather; ! things, ov course, that could be I done inside. There wuz a little tinkerin’ to be done on the com planter, sections to be ground fer the mowin’ machine an’ the har- : I vester, an’ quite a bunch of sich j | items fer “shop work” this win ter. I’ve sort ov noticed that this feller always seenjed to git along with his work somewhat better than sum ov the rest ov us, an’ I gess I found out part of the rea son. He had his work planned an’ “laid out” az he had, sum time in advance. When time cum to 1 plant er harvest all the machinery wuz in top form, ready to roll right along. j But that wasn’t all, he had all his work planned out jist as care j fully az this an’ he was always ahead ov his work, whereas a lot , of hiz nabers seemed to be mostly behind ; az he sed, he liked to be on top the work insted ov hav in’ the work on top ov him. I guess it’s that way with most 1 things, not jist in farmin’. It’s j piannin’ the work an’ then work in’ the plan that gits things done. Your old neighbor, FARMER JOHN. i jj SEWING Dress Making—Sew- ■ l ing of all kinds. I 5 We turn your old shirt col- g , B lars and put in Trouser ■ ! ■ Pockets. ■ * OUR PRICES ARE £ l reasonable * * MRS. J. H. KELLY 5 ■ Dennis Avenue * Black Mountain, N. C- JUMPER’S PHARMACY %SZ,Z"T%'22TIZr~ ; ~r* w *r"*mmm M 4 Tailored Suit Helps Buy Bonds | : - j k ** m Dark tailored suit for school ol business can be made at home a) small cost, freeing extra dollars to invest in Victory Bonds. Suit pat terns procurable^ [ANN’S LUNCHEONETTE HOME COOKED MEALS A GOOD PLACE TO TAffi i| JSj&LjpL ™ E FAMILY I Come In! See for Yourself! CHICKEN DINNERS ! Without Bocks, Necks or Wings I i . , '“■Ja ! tIJS CHECKING 'I |g[ W ACCOUNT j j FOR PERSONAL CONVENIENCE A checking account assures you safety and convenience l and in addition, is an auto matic bookkeeper. There is no danger of your losing money—you can pay bills by , mail and the stubs are a | > complete record cf all pay | [ ments. Open a checking I account with us today. You A will like our friendly and | l helpful service. Z f- »'<!- 1* . j 1 ' the NORTHWESTERN BANK | Member F. D. I. C. I Black Mountain. N. C. - Thursday, February 21, Xeeurifa HOG FEED! B&romir* pj 0 _ iSLTJS •nd vitamin* to * nC ® hom * (til, • • • depend on SJ CURITY to * vide a good f*, with high palatabj ity and digeatibilitj “Security” i, elCt lent for growing pigs to help tin, “pile-on" prime quality weight. SECURITY MIUS, IHC. • MOXVH.LE.Ift MILLS FEED STORE Swannanoa, N. C.
The Black Mountain News (Black Mountain, N.C.)
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Feb. 21, 1946, edition 1
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