3. To co-operate with the Government and with all relief agencies in caring for the dependent families of men in the military and naval service, and to relieve suffering caused by any disaster.
4. To maintain at the lowest cost consistent with efficiency, machinery to assure the uninterrupted performance of these duties and of the relief work in Europe.
The Work in Europe.—
1. To do everything possible to assist our Army and Navy in insuring the health and comfort of American soldiers and sailors abroad.
2. To relieve suffering among the armies and destitution among the needy civilian populations of our Allies.
The cooperation of the American Red Cross with the medical service of the Army and Navy consists of recruiting, organizing and equipping base hospital and other hospital and ambulance units to be called into service when required by the Army or Navy Medical Corps; handling special problems of health and sanitation in connection with the cantonments, camps and naval stations; stimulating the manufacture of surgical dressings and hospital supplies of all kinds; and promoting the comfort and welfare of the men in training or en route from their homes to camps and training stations.
Photo. Harris & Ewing, Washington, D. C.
American Red Cross. Officers’ service uniform
When base hospitals and other organizations recruited, equipped and trained by the Red Cross are taken over by the Army or Navy for active service they become a part of such service and wear the uniform thereof; but officials of the Red Cross assigned to duty with the military establishments to perform such duties as are assigned to them under the orders of the Secretary of War are required to wear the regulation uniform and insignia of the American Red Cross as approved by the War Department. Such officials have the status of officers in the Army while so serving at the camps and stations and they are accredited to the Division Commander and are subject to his authority and to military laws and regulations.