The Story of the American Red Cross in Italy (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Story of the American Red Cross in Italy The purpose of this book is not to give a detailed statistical account of Red Cross activities in Italy, - that may be found in the various Department Reports, - but rather to tell the American people who contributed so generously to the Red Cross funds the simple tale of what their dollars did in Italy. It is a great and inspiring record and one in which Americans may well take pride. The American Red Cross came to Italy in the hour of her greatest need, not to bring charity, but to render justice, by alleviating as far as possible the sufferings brought on by two hard years of fighting in our common cause before our own country took up arms. The material aid that it has been privileged to give, at the front, in canteens, in assistance to hospitals, and in helping refugees and the needy families of soldiers, stretches from one end of Italy to the other and looms large in figures. But it is not in figures that one may find the true measure of its achievement. What mattered most in winning the war, and what matters most for our future relations, is the fact that through this material aid the Red Cross succeeded in translating into deeds the soul of America, in making it plain to the Italians that we were there to work as brothers, filled with a common enthusiasm and inspired by common ideals; the fact that through it the heart of America touched the.heart of Italy, strengthening the bonds of friendship that bind our nations together, by mutual understanding and mutual respect. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.