2008.012

Lukacs, Claire

Gift

Museum Collections. Gift of a friend of the Museum.

1920 - 1925

Date: 1920-1925

Excellent

Notes: Text printed on verso of card: V18241 Transferring Severely Wounded to Hospital Ship from Transport. During the war thousands of our soldiers who were severely wounded in France were brought home to be treated in our own hospitals. We felt that nothing was too good, nothing good enough for thos brave boys who went "over the top" for us, facing death in every terrible form, returning maimed and crippled. We knew they could get better care and more effective treatment here than it was possible to give them in the overcrowded hospitals of Europe. We knew that the mere thought of being in their own country, near home, far from the noise and filth of the trenches, would be a help towards recovery. So we brought them home, as many as we could, and sent them to splendid hospitals in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere. Here not only very care, but loving sympathy was lavished upon them. No sooner did the great transport tie up at the wharf than careful hands carried these desparately wounded men to the hospital ship, from which they were transferred to the hospital. The attitudes of the doughboys who carry the wounded mean before us suggest something the solicitude they feel for him - for here is a man who has been "over the top." In medical terms he is what is known as a "basket case," a man so badly wounded that he cannot be carried on a stretcher. The Shinnecock was one of the ferry boats commandeered by the government to transfer wounded men from the ocean transports to the base hospitals. To the left, bulking huge against the ferry boat, we see the massive steel side of the transport which brought the men from France. Original or Copy: Original Status: OK Status By: dw Status Date: 2008-03-03