"Dear Friends: 

"Out here, somewhere in New Guinea, the kits, which you good people prepared for men in the Armed Services, have arrived, and I, as a chaplain in this division, have the extreme pleasure and obligation to be your messenger, to see that the men in the hospitals and others in my unit are the recipients of your handiwork. 

The kits came baled up and arrived in excellent condition. They are the answer to many needs, as they are well-chosen articles for use and entertainment. Reading and games are some of the ways we have of relieving ourselves of the seriousness we get into, because of the serious work which we have to do. If we did not have reading and games and the saving sense of humor, which is always present, we would 'blow up' physically and mentally. The little articles which you send are also a help, in that respect, as well as their use to our comfort. 

My wife and daughters are living in Los Angeles, and Mrs. King keeps busy rolling bandages and doing much the same work as you are doing in the Red Cross Chapter there. The Red Cross has certainly done itself proud for us overseas. We have a very active Red Cross service in our division, and you can be justly proud of your field directors out here in the combat areas. 

God bless you all and your labor of love, 

Thank You! 

Sincerely, GEORGE B. KING, Chaplain, Headquarters, 43rd Infantry Division"

Mobile Blood Donor Unit Will Arrive Here Monday

RED CROSS MOBILE DONOR UNIT

Eau Clare has made a good showing in its registrations, although there is still need for donors to fill the quota. It is believed that we will be able to meet the quota and, if there are any extras, the St. Paul Unit will remain in the city to care of them, so register today. 

The importance of blood plasma is increasing daily, and many men will again be able to take their place in life after the war because the plasma was on hand when it was needed. 

Anyone who was unable to register for a donation, because they were unable to find a convenient time, may now register for Friday, as that day will also be devoted to the taking of blood. 

A large number of citizens have registered through the theaters, where registration has been the charge of Mrs. E. F. Burns and Mrs. J. K. Carter. In charge of general registration are Mrs. H. M. Stang and Mrs. E. F. Burns who, with their committee, spent Wednesday at the Pressure Cooker Company, where several hundred donors were signed up.

Sometimes it is hard for us, who are far from the battlefield, to realize just how important our donations may be. The life of a soldier may depend upon that added supply of plasma. The soldiers know this. They see its life-saving work in action.

During the past week, a contribution of $21.75 was received at  the Red Cross office, here, brought in by Mrs. Irvin Vold of Osseo. It was given by relatives and friends in memory of Mrs. Vold's brother, Richmond Rosenberg, Flight Officer with a troop carrier squadron, who was killed in New Guinea on February 19.

Flight Officer Rosenberg was the son of Mrs. Robert Rosenberg of Osseo. He had been transporting the wounded. Shortly before his death, he wrote his sister:

"I would like to have you do something, if you haven't already done it. I would like to have you tell your friends to give all the blood they can to the Red Cross. I was talking to some doctors and they were telling how many lives they have saved with blood plasma."

The donation will be used in the chapter's Blood Donor Program as a memorial to Flight Officer Richmond Rosenberg.

Frederick Nelson, Ralph Daub, Mrs. Ted Erickson, Mrs. B. R. Schwahn, Mrs. J. Brandvick, Mrs. Lucile Horel, Mrs. Edith Schreck, Oscar Dahl, Mrs. Harold Ross, Mrs. Charles Royer, Mrs. H. H. Kliener, Willard Johnson, Stewart David, Mrs. Joseph Gustin, William Luedke, Elmer Ross, Mrs. Julia Glenna,  Mrs. Virginia Mary Hagg, Miss Ione Rasmusson, Miss June Rasmusson, Miss Arlene Larson, Miss Marion Thompson, Miss Alice Gullickson, Jean Schlieve, Mrs. J. W. Gilchrist, Mrs. Betty L. Tinker, E. H. Cotton, Mrs. Clarence Jacobson, Mrs. Jean Richter, Mrs. Agatha Strachota, Clyde Sundby, Mrs. John Schneider, Mrs. E. G. Hoeppner, Mrs. E. E. Chmel, A. R. Lund, Grover Ramsey, Curtis Hanson, Charles Larson, R. L. Paine, Mrs. Roy W. Bailey, Miss Marion Eldridge, Mrs. Alfred Nelson, Mrs. Mary Clark, Maurice Hoehler, Nathan Camm, Willard Tomachek, William Powers, Mrs. Inez Hagman, Miss Margaret Pieper, Miss Beatrice Alt, and B. F. Harvey.

Additional names of donors will be published each day during the visit of the unit to our city.

Miss Selmer has brothers in the service, Staff Sergeant John Selmer, in the Glider Transport Service in England, and Lieutenant (jg) Robert Selmer, somewhere in the South Pacific area. Barbara is hoping that she and Robert may meet soon. She will be given a leave in March and plans to spend it in New Zealand.

We are publishing, today, the first part of a letter she wrote, describing the work of the Red Cross Club Service as she has taken part in it. The name of the town, deleted by the censor, she was allowed to identify in a later letter as Noumea, New Caledonia. She wrote:

"Of the Red Cross operations in New Caledonia, I can speak more comprehensively of the Service Club in (censored) be cause that is where I work and have spent most of my time for the past nine months. Red Cross, however, has a variety of opera tions on this island. The head quarters for the South Pacific area are here, and the super visors of the hospital, field, and club operations go out from here to other islands in the territory to make their observations, suggestions, and reports. Supplying all the operations in this area is also done from here, and Red Cross has several warehouses and a staff of about ten people whose entire job is supply.

"In the town of (censored) is also the Field Office, with jurisdiction over small clubs, recreation huts, and canteens set up in camps and airfields on the island. The Field Office also takes care of all the welfare and case work and has a special staff to do that because it is big and important work. 

" During the course of a day, they get many strange and amusing requests. For example, a boy wants to look up some friend or relative; he doesn't know what outfit he is in; doesn't even know whether or not he is in the Pacific. He asks the Red Cross to look him up. A lot of their work is looking up people, and they have located sons, fathers, cousins; brothers and have been instrumental in bringing people together after long separations.

"They also get such requests as 'Where can I get my false teeth fixed?' One day, someone wanted to know where he could get a divorce—cheap! Or, how can I send a message to Russia? In addition, all cases of investigation, which have to be referred to local chapters in the United States, are done through this office. They can send cables in case of extreme emergency but, because these have to be sent by radio (there is no cable) and because of strict censorship, they are necessarily limited.

"Then there are the hospital operations. Each Army hospital on the island has Red Cross personnel attached to its staff. In the case of general hospitals, the staffs are larger, usually consisting of five girls, two of them social workers, two recreation workers and one secretary. In the smaller hospitals, these are fewer.

"The places in which they work are as varied as the personalities. In some cases, they work in a tent-- the large, circus-like variety, which is apt to blow over in a wind. These are equipped with ping-pong tables, phonograph, piano, reading and writing materials, and canvas chairs. In other places, they have a well-constructed building or recreation hall, equipped with the finest things and able to withstand wind and rain. In any case, the people who are working in the hospitals do fine work and an extremely gratifying one, because the need is so real and the results so satisfying.

"Two Red Cross girls were dispatched here to start a radio station, designed to meet the needs of the island. It has now grown to much greater proportions and moved into a brand new, specially-designed building. It has increased its frequency so that it will serve the outlying islands, too."

(Miss Selmer's account of the service club and its activities will appear here tomorrow.)

"The Service Club here is a large, L-shaped, rambling building which occupies an entire triangular block in the middle o£ the town. It is screened in from about four feet off the ground up to the eaves, from which slanting shutters are built to keep out the torrential tropical rains. In one end of the building, there is a reading and writing room with tables, magazine racks, canvas chairs, and books shelves filled or empty, depending entirely on the shipment of books.

"The rest of that side of the building is taken up by the lounge, at one end of which is a stage, which we use for everything from an art exhibit to a stage show. At most any hour of the day, there is a competition between piano and radio. In self-defense, we moved the phonograph into another room, and we have become adjusted to listening to radio and piano at the same time.

"At the opposite end of the room is the kitchen and cafeteria, staffed and operated by French and native people. The food line, called the chow-line, is always popular, even though the quality of the doughnuts turned out by our French allies is not of the high American standard. With the installation of a new doughnut-making machine, we hope to improve the situation. And we do claim to serve the best coffee and the best ice cream in town. When the slightly antiquated dispenser works, we also serve cokes.

"The other side of the building is taken up with the large game room, equipped for pool and ping-pong. Then there are the offices, the washroom (we also claim the only hot showers in town), the check room, and a tiny workroom where the girls retire to do the million little jobs which are part of the day's work, writing reports, making posters, sewing on chevrons or buttons for boys, or making new check room tags.

"We like our club. There are 10 girls running it; eight Americans and two New Zealanders. We are assisted by a volunteer enlisted men's committee which helps plan our activities. The club is open from 9 in the morning to 9 in the evening, and our activities include everything from organizing and running a stage show to giving advice on naming a baby. We have one dance every week, which is all we can manage because of the shortage of girls here. The boys want to dance everything from the most graceful waltz to jitter-bugging.

"We also have a State party every week, representing a different state each time. It has happened at almost every state party that some boy has run into a buddy who used to live down the street or who went to the same school with him. That is always a glad day.

"We have several  shows each week. Some of them are amateur hours, and some are far from amateur, because you can find any kind of talent you choose in the Armed Forces. We have discovered talents ranging from professional fire-eaters to Hollywood script writers, and we have utilized them in our activities here at the club.

"We have sponsored such things as art classes, cartoons and art contests and exhibits, helped organize meetings and clubs for those interested in such things as writing, public speaking, learning French, etc. The writers' group has published a magazine called GISMO (a slang term, meaning a gadget or thingmajig), and it is made up of articles, stories, or poems written by anyone who wishes to submit something. We like to say that we can accomplish anything here, and that 'The difficult we can do right away; the impossible takes a little longer.'

"The service men seem to like our club. They say they like talking to American girls. We remind them of their homes, which take on more meaning to them when they are far away and overseas. There is a friendly and warm spirit here, and we hope to keep it. And we are glad to be here."

Miss Selmer, one of the first Eau Claire girls to go abroad during this war, served with a Red Cross recreational unit for 19 months in the South Pacific area. That serenade for the Navy men was part of the Christmas celebration arranged for soldiers and sailors on duty and on leave and in the hospital in New Caledonia. It included a gaily decorated Christmas tree at the Red Cross center, with gifts for all and a Navy officer acting as Santa Claus.

When Barbara volunteered as a Red Cross worker, the fact that she was a musician was one of her qualifications. Her music helped her in her work, but she says she was not called upon very often for the classical works she had studied during her course at Northfield College of Music in Minnesota or the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. But all other kinds, from church hymns to "boogie woogie," were in demand.

The men on the Red Cross staff accompany the Army even to the front lines. The women workers set up their recreation centers after proper arrangements have been made. Workers go into hospitals and do many of the tasks nurses are too busy to do, such as writing letters for the men, shopping for them, reading and playing for them, and you have to be a "jack of all trades" in Red Cross work, Barbara points out.

There are many permanent recreational centers in rest areas. There are also units which travel. Barbara was stationed in Noumea for a longer time than most Red Cross workers stay at a post. She lived with a French family and, although they spoke no English and she knew little French, they got on very well. "I could discuss the laundry list in French before I left," she said.

Noumea, the capital, was a sleepy colonial town in peace time. The white residents were French. There were many bare-footed natives on the streets. Houses are built with the aim of keeping out the sun, with shutters and stained glass. There is much iron-grill work to decorate them. The whole town rests in the middle of the day. That was when the Red Cross workers went swimming, the only way to get cool.

The heat is enervating, but one becomes acclimated, she said. New Caledonia is free from malaria. The reason for this is supposed to be the presence of a special kind of eucalyptus tree. This makes it ideal as a rest center, except for the fact that there is little in the way of amusement. The wounded men recover but get very restless and bored.

Her home town looked very good to Barbara when she returned, she said. But the war, she finds, has reached into almost every home, and she finds everyone doing whatever he or she can to help. There is no one who "doesn't know there is a war on."

But one thing she does think dangerous on the home front, and that is the tendency to believe rumors-- to take as fact what may be only opinion. "Even those who are close to the front can't know everything that is going on," she points out, "yet many people at home believe things without trying to find out the facts."

Barbara will spend Christmas at her home here; then will report to Red Cross Headquarters for reassignment, either to a post overseas or in the United States.

Through the cooperation of Army authorities and the American Red Cross, classes in "functional" swimming for combat operations are being conducted in the London area. These classes cover several hours of intensive instruction, in a short course. This "swimmando" training has been included in the basic training of the field forces.

Soldiers taking the course learn, among other things, to jump fully-clothed, with steel helmets and rifles, from a 20-foot diving board; to swim as far as 75 feet under water with full equipment; and to plunge into a burning oil surface and swim through it.

Stress is placed on the use of improvised materials, such as barracks bags to be used as water wings and gasoline cans and logs as floats . In addition, Air Force men are taught the proper use of the rubber dinghies and "Mae Wests."

James M. Carnahan, Assistant Athletic Director of the Red Cross in the European Theater of Operations, is in charge of the course. He is assisted by Foster R. Blaisdell of Waco, Texas. G. B. Fitzgerald of St. Paul, Minnesota, Head of the Athletic Department of the Red Cross in the European Theater of Operations, is in general supervision of the program.

Among the soldiers in this "swimmando" training is Staff Sergeant John S. Selmer, 417 Hudson Street, Eau Claire, WI.

A letter of praise for the Red Cross work in this respect was received recently by Mrs. David Steven, formerly of Eau Claire, now of Los Angeles, CA. The following V-mail letter is from her brother, Major O. H. Peterson, who is now a pilot with the Air Transport Command. Major Peterson is the son of Mrs. Minnie Peterson, 519 Second Avenue, this city.

He wrote:

"DEAR HATTIE: Not much of interest going on, as far as I'm concerned, at least not to write about, but I saw the ruins of Pompeii the other day, and you might like to hear about them. I was a member of a touring party arranged by the Red Cross in Naples to go out and see the excavated remains of Pompeii. We rode out there, about 15 miles, in a unique tram, which probably compares with the type of train used in the U.S. about 1910. 

At the entrance, or gate, through the wall which surrounds the town, our guide briefed us on the history of the place and, with still active Vesuvius belching smoke in the background, it was not hard for us to imagine what happened. We stepped lively over the chariot- grooved streets, turned round and round the once popular forum, visited once popular wine shops; lowered one eyelash, while some of the nurses blushed, when we saw a few of the statues, and ended with a view of the amphitheater.

"It was a half day well- spent, and another item to chalk up to the efficient Red Cross service. Really, the work overseas that the Red Cross is doing is grand and deserving every bit of its widespread praise. I know that the soldiers will back that organization to the limit from now on out and after the war. Keep 'em flying—BUD"

Out of China skies from over "the hump" of the Himalayas flew an American Red Cross Club. Stored in the elongated hold of a transport plane, which is usually filled with war supplies for General Chiang Kai-Shek, were both furnishings and personnel. The three trained club workers were the first American women to arrive at this forward echelon headquarters of the U.S. Army.  

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed a startled khaki-clad "grease monkey," as blonde, petite Gerry Lennox, former New York show dancer, stepped from the plane. Following her were Eleanor Liss of White Plains, NY and Mrs. Alma B. Kerr of Chicago, IL, formerly Acting Director of American Red Cross Clubs in the China-Burma-India Theater of War. 

While the "forgotten" American Airmen of the war and their service crews stared, the three women in their neat gray uniforms went in for an interview with Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell, head of the U.S. Army in China. Then, they rolled up their sleeves and set to work converting a former mess hall and dayroom into a homelike club.

Over their initial amazement, the soldiers, some of whom had been stationed in China for two years, set about the unaccustomed task of house cleaning. They helped unpack crates from the plane, finding handmade Indian furniture, jute rugs, cotton curtains, games, and party decorations. 

When the music-hungry GIs came upon the latest recordings of American bands, they started the needle. Chinese natives were treated to the sight of Johnny Doughboy hanging curtains to Tommy Dorsey and "cutting the rug" as well as laying them on the floors. 

In record time, the opening club party was held with Chief of Staff Thomas O. Hearn and Brigadier General William Bergin bringing greetings from "Uncle Joe" (General Stilwell). 

Further greetings were brought by Colonel L. H. Chow, Liaison Officer between the U.S. Army and the government of the Republic of China; Captain M.W. Miles of the U.S. Navy, and General and Mrs. Shang Chen. 

Hold Christmas Party 
The party brought  cheer to what would have been otherwise a sad Christmas season for the American servicemen stationed so far from home. The sum total of all American girls available as partners for the dance was infinitesimal compared to the number of soldiers. The Red Cross girls were able to add to their number some Chinese girls of good family from the neigh boring town. Several of these Chinese girls had attended American schools and were able to lead the conga-line and even to "swing out" to jitterbug rhythms. 

[**data missing**] providing the men with the magic and stimulating elixir sometimes described as a "bit of America in China," the Red Cross club workers try to get them interested in help ing plan activities. Then it becomes their club instead of the Red Cross Club.  

"It was like something we read about," commented Miss Lennox, who looks like something soldiers dream about. "It's great being here when everyone is so glad to see us."  

The former USO camp show entertainer carries with her, as chief impressions of the first GI dance in China, the memory of  "tired feet, the fun men had in spite of the shortage of gals, and the chow hounds who never seemed to get enough of home style sandwiches, cookies and coffee."

Sing-Hymns 
At Sunday evening "sings" held at the club, these bombardiers, who have been doggedly plugging away at Japanese installations in China, drop their quizzical chatter and hard-boiled exteriors in deep-throat ed rendition of old-fashioned hymns. Their accompaniment is played on a miniature piano which was also flown over the hump.

Practically no furniture or supplies are available locally. Red Cross workers have to improvise decorations for parties and ingredients for party food. They also employ ingenuity in providing programs.  

Local learned Chinese are invited to lecture. While to the culture- minded GI this is a treat, some of his fellow soldiers repeat the feeling of the Red Cross worker who recorded in her diary: 

"The lecture tonight was on 'High lights of Chinese History'—the high lights took place many years BC. I fidgeted right along with the men. The pall was lifted by refreshments and some 'ding how' piano playing by a special service officer. These men, who live on the threshold of the future, find it difficult to con centrate on dates prior to December 7, 1941." 

Tours Are Planned 
Co-operation of the Allies extends to guides for tours to nearby temples and other points of interest. Red Cross workers have even arranged visits to private homes where the GIs may escape for awhile the regimentation of Army life. 

One Red Cross worker dining with some Chinese-American officers, reported that, speaking perfect English, they expressed, oddly enough, nostalgia not for Shanghai and Hong Kong—but for New York City.

Overhearing several servicemen speaking in homesick terms of the farms they left behind, a Red Cross field director arranged a visit to a Chinese farm. Here, the American boys examined curiously the century-old implements used by the coolies. 

In addition to their duties of [**data missing**]

A V-mail letter from Sergeant Lyle Rostad to his former co-workers in the New York Life Insurance office in this city contains an account of his sight-seeing jaunts in London and the way the Red Cross helped him. Sergeant Rostad wrote on February 22:  

"Since I last wrote, I have spent some time in London. I visited and saw lots of interesting things, but I'll have to wait until the end of the war to tell you about them. 

"The American Red Cross is doing a wonderful job in London and all over England for entertainment and lodging and everything else. It's almost impossible for a GI to get an hotel room in London, so the next best thing is to stay at one of the many Red Cross clubs. They had real sheets on the beds, which was really a treat. The rates for lodgings is only 2 shillings per night (40 cents) and the meals, one shilling three pence (26 cents). 

"I visited some of the law courts and government buildings and St. Paul's Cathedral and numerous other places. In another four or  five visits, I will probably see about all there is to see. The buildings are very old with plenty of fancy architecture. I was up on top of a large building in London, so I got a pretty good look at the city from above. I think I can safely say that 50 per cent of London's corners contain either a bank or a life assurance company, as they call them here."

Whether a soldier wishes to go sight-seeing alone, seeking out the scenes which especially interest him, or whether he prefers to join a group making a tour of some locality he has read of in his history, the Red Cross is trying to make it easy for him to do so.