The socks, the cigarettes, the wristlets and the soap were needs of vast import, but our knowledge that those behind us were marshaled just as we were was more warming than wristlets, more comforting than cigarettes.
The officers during the early period were Miss Virginia Fuller, President; Miss Helen Pritchard, Secretary; Mrs. W. B. Wise, Treasurer. The meetings were held in a barren loft at 6 East 30th Street, New York City. Here the ideas were conceived, the plans formulated, and the policies acted upon, that were so far-reaching and effective.
Tho first drawn together for the good of Company B, their own sufferings served to consolidate their interests and to strengthen their purpose.
As notice after notice issued from Washington advising as to losses in battle by death and by wounds, the need for common consolation became most urgent and a noble response came from those who were in a position to give comfort. These were trying days, days of mental agony, days of longing and hoping and praying.
In September one of our own men, Sergeant George A. Klein, Jr., who had been returned to the United States as an instructor, appeared at a meeting and gave word, mostly welcome, some sad, to the news-hungry relatives.
These various activities were recorded in a small four-page bulletin published for and distributed to us overseas.
And then the Armistice. Relief from the tension of the meetings was given by the final let-up of the war and soon the time came when much thought was given to filling those "9x4x3" boxes of Christmas cheer.
The Ring
The date of our return was flashed across the waters during the early part of April and immediately wheels were set in motion to prepare for it.