Winbigler, Wayne M., E. Main St., Jeromesville, Ohio Yant, James R., East Sparta, Ohio Yarion, Harold P., 853 Market St., Nappanee, Ind. Young, James L., 221 E. Market St., Mercer, Pa. Young, William W., Savanah, Ohio The spirit of the men of the S. A. T .C. College of Wooster was of the highest degree, and all had the Esprit d' Corps of a common purpose "Serve our County to Win the War." During the existence of the S. A. T. C. College of Wooster, recognition must be expressed of the fidelity with which the soldiers discharged their duties, under difficult conditions which so generally prevailed. In spite of the serious effects of the influenza epidemic, and the many new adjustments incident to the working out of the plan, the S. A. T. C. served a useful purpose in supplying officer material, and had reached the point of development at which its success as a military project was assured. Incidents of the S. A. T. C. College of Wooster during its existence: One-third of the soldiers had influenza but no fatalities occurred. During the Fourth Liberty Loan Campaign, the soldiers at the College of Wooster purchased Liberty Bonds, totaling $16,500.00, which was more than the quota set by them. About two o'clock in the morning of October 24, 1918, 150 soldiers who were housed in Taylor Hall, College of Wooster escaped down improvised ladders of sheets and blankets when a fire in the fanroom in the basement filled the whole structure with smoke. Although exit was impossible through the doors, there were no fatalities. On Nov. 26, 1918, order for demobilization was received by Lt. Schwartz, and on December 21st, 1918, all of the soldiers were paid off and all received honorable discharges. THE COLLEGE IN THE WAR While the Students Army Training School provided Wooster and vicinity with the only outward show of military effort for several months, except the brief furloughs home of some of the more than a thousand Wayne County men in service, it should be remembered that the great contribution made to the army in the war by the College was not the S. A. T. C. here, but that larger army of graduates and former students who became a part of the country's military forces. There were, approximately, four hundred men who had attended Wooster College who joined the army or the navy. Many of them saw service overseas, and the names of sixteen are included in those who gave their lives in the service.' The list of men who made the supreme sacrifice follows: Ross Russell Boor, Ex-'18, Connoton, O. (See Photo). Blake Cave, Ex-'19, Conesville, O. Died of Pneumonia, Camp Sheridan, April 19, 1918. Served with Engineers. Edwin G. Cuthbertson, Ex-'16, Bedford, O. (See "The Men Who Died"). Lieut. William H. Eyler, '12, Akron. (See Photo). Private Co. M., 101st Infan try, 26th Division. He fought in the St. Mihiel smash and was killed in the battle of the Argonne October 23, 1918. Charles I. Forman, Ex-'13, Kasur, India. (See Main Section, "The Men Who Died.") Hugh Clayton Fraser, '08, East Palestine, O. Private Co. C., 326th Machine Gun Battalion. He died of influenza September 28th, 1918, enroute to France, and was buried at sea. John Paul Henry, Ex-'14, Fremont, O. Private of 107th Infantry, 27th Division. Fought in the battle that broke the Hindenburg line and came out unscathed, but later was wounded, shell-shocked and gassed in the battle of San Souplet. He died in a base hospital, October 18, 1918. Julius Glenn Keister, '21, Wooster, O. (See "The Men Who Died"). Joseph McHatton, Academy, Pittsburgh, Pa. Killed in Action in France shortly before hostilities ceased. Walter Rue Murray, '09, Philadelphia, Pa. The Rev. Murray was in Y. M. C. A. service, and died in the trenches in France July 16, 1918. Guy E. Musser, '17, Lodi, O. He was killed in action in the Argonne Forest on October 5, 1918. gon. Fred Phelps, Ex-'13, Chicago, Ill. He died of pneumonia in Ore Richard B. Reed, '13, Van Wert, O. Aviator of the Royal Flying Corps. Died in U. S. service from wounds June 5, 1918. Lieut. David Neeper Richards, '11, Montreal, Canada. First Lieutenant Medical Corps. Died of pneumonia at Camp Merritt, a few days before he would have sailed for France. Lieut. Wilbert Wallace White, '12. (See Photo). Members of the Faculty of the College, during the winter of 19171918 delivered a series of very instructive specially prepared lectures concerning the various phases of the war, clearing up many disputed points in the minds of Wooster people. Lectures by Dr. John B. Kelso and Dr. William Estabrook Chancellor were especially interesting. Besides the large number of students who went into service, sev eral men on the Faculty, the majority of them not liable to service through the draft, gave up their positions here and became a part of the forces of democracy. Outstanding because of its individuality was the service of Prof. J. Milton Vance and Mrs. Vance. Dr. Vance, holding a commission as Captain, and accompanied by Mrs. Vance, went to the Holy Land with a party of Red Cross workers, and performed valuable service there in reconstruction work in the wake of the conquering British army. They did not return to Wooster until June, 1919. Mrs. Vance sang for refugees in Jerusalem. Capt. Vance, while carrying on his work at Aleppo, witnessed a massacre of Armenians. Dr. Clarence P. Gould, teacher of History, entered the U. S. Navy and received the rank of Ensign. Prof. Moffett entered the ranks of Y. M. C. A. workers. Lieut. James Husst Hall, of the Conservatory of Music, was in the service during the greater period of the war. Prof. R. H. Hunter, instructor of physics, entered the aviation department, and had a part in the reorganization of airplane manufacture. Of the many former students and alumni who served in the military forces, the greater number were officers, and a great many of them were in high places of special departments. The College of Wooster in truth did much to win the war. The establishment of the Students Army Training Corps here came as a result of action by the Board of Trustees of the institution early in the war in offering to the government the college laboratories, and plant in general, for any use the government might designate. In the months that followed the S. A. T. C. plans were developed, and when the announcement of their establishment was made, Wooster was ready. Dr. J. Campbell White was President of the College during the period of the war. CHAPTER V THE STORY OF THE COMFORT BAGS The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Wayne County, because of the fact that its President, Mrs. R. J. Smith, of Wooster, had schooled herself carefully in all of the work of the national organization, and was familiar with all of the departments, whether or not these departments were in operation in Wayne County, was ready, at the outbreak of hostilities, to supply Comfort Bags to each soldier who went into service. Mrs. Smith was President of the Wooster Local Union for sixteen years, and had been County President for ten years. The Soldiers' and Sailors' Department of the national organization of the W. C. T. U. had, more than thirty years before, adopted the policy of supplying these Comfort Bags to each man in the military service. In sections where there were regular army barracks, or at seaports where the sailors came ashore, W. C. T. U. organizations had, through all these years, made and furnished these handy bags to men who wanted them. When war was declared Mrs. Smith, knowing this, as President of the Wayne County organization began the task of making the Soldiers' and Sailors' department effective in Wayne County. For a time she was in active charge herself, but later Mrs. Isabelle Yocum, of Wooster, was made the Superintendent of this department, and devoted to it a great deal of her time and attention, as well contributing a considerable sum of money to the work. Mrs. Yocum was one of the pioneers in W. C. T. U. work in the county, and was the first president of the county organization. The first Comfort Bags were made of cretonne, and was rather bright in color. Later the majority were made from brown cloth nearly matching the army khaki. The bags were small, and were equipped with a draw-string, and each one of them contained the following articles: One soldiers' testament; one book on health and methods of preventing illness in the trenches; one pledge card; some leaflets; one package antiseptic cotton; one tube medicated vasoline; one cake soap; one wash cloth; one khaki handkerchief; one trench candle; one roll adhesive plaster; box khaki buttons; box white buttons; khaki and white thread; pin ball filled with pins; one package needles; safety pins. Careful judgment, and experiences of men who had seen service brought about this selection of articles. All were things that the army itself did not furnish, and many of the articles in each Comfort Bag were selected because the men would need them soon after entering camp, before they acquired the soldier's knack of getting what he wanted, even under difficulties. In the main, they were articles that the soldier, in civilian life, had never thought much about, but had depended upon wife or mother to provide as a matter of course. Many letters written home by the men who went to camp, where they bumped up against many unforeseen conditions, attested to the value they placed upon the contents of the Comfort Bags so thoughtfully provided them. The majority of the unsolicited donations that came to Mrs. Smith, who was in charge of the financing of the Comfort Bag project, were from the fathers and mothers of the young men who were called to the military service, and were sent to the organization because of the kind words said of them by the men in camp. In all, one thousand three hundred and fifty Comfort Bags were were made by the Wayne County W. C. T. U. organization, and distributed among the men who went into service from here. Some others were made by individual members of the Local Unions, and given as personal gifts to particular soldiers. Practically every man who went into service from Wayne County received a Comfort Bag. In a few instances conscientious objectors declined to accept them. None of the funds of the Wayne County W. C. T. U. were used to provide these Comfort Bags. A considerable part of the money expended for the material and the contents was contributed by the Local Unions of the county, of which there are fifteen. The remainder was in contributions from business organizations and individuals, part of it solicited, and part unsolicited. The total amount of money expended was $1325, so that the Comfort Bags cost, on the average, a trifle less than $1 each. The first ones were made at a cost of about eighty cents each, while the last ones made cost $1.50. This was wholly due to the increase in the cost of materials, both for the making of the bags, and the articles contained in them. The first material purchased for them cost from fifteen to twenty-five cents per yard, while the last cloth bought cost from fifty to sixty cents per yard. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Yocum personally presented the Comfort Bags to the men who went into the various branches of the service. Some were given out as men boarded the train for their cantonments, but the majority were presented when the men were inducted into service, officers of the Draft Board giving notice to Mrs. Yocum when induction dates were fixed. Some Comfort Bags were sent through the mails to men who went to camp without them, and later sent back requests for them. The services of numerous volunteer workers were required to make the large number of Comfort Bags sometimes required on short notice. The average soldier made good use of his Comfort Bag, and the great majority of the men who went overseas clung to them discarding much other important paraphernalia when army orders compelled a lightening of the men's equipment in preference to giving up the substantial and cherished gift of the W. C. T. U. |