Recreation, Welfare, and Morale of the American Soldier

Abstract

money was spent in the Army posts in the United States by the Commission on Training Camp Activities, which built recreation halls, theaters, and field houses, and which supplied the operating personnel, hostesses, athletic directors, song leaders, dramatic coaches, and professional talent. Another large part was spent outside the military posts in the communities adjacent to the large camps, and in France by a loose organization of Y.M.C.A., Jewish Welfare Board, Y.W.C.A., Salvation Army, American Library Association, National Catholic War Council, and Knights of Columbus, who by the fall of 1918 had provided recreation personnel numbering over six thousand with the A.E.F. in France. In all this effort in the last war there was some little confusion, some considerable duplication of effort, some added burden to the military in handling civilians and adjusting disputes between civilian organizations. But the fact remains that a very fine job was done. Athletics, amateur and professional dramatics, singing, and a whole program of recreation had a recognized part in army life. Perhaps most important of all, women in great numbers took part in running canteens and recreation centers. The three thousand American women of the various organizations who accompanied our troops abroad had an incalculable effect on the spirits of the American soldier, and brought a new and immensely valuable element into the life of the Army. Under the fine leadership of Raymond B. Fosdick and Howard Braucher and the heads of the civilian agencies, a new and successful step was taken in the care of the soldier, c mparable only to the advance made with the introduction of women nurses in military hospitals.