The Wilson Times

ACTION
Means

We often see in the casualty list "Reported missing in action."

Thinking that a great many, and especially the relatives of the one reported missing would like to know what that means, we are sending you a clipping from the Literary Digest which will explain what it means.

James Dempsey Bullock.
For Council of Defense, Wilson, Co.

Probably the greatest ordeal to a family comes when a soldier is reported "missing in action," says Mr. W. J. Castle, Director of the Bureau of Communication, Washington, and this uncertainty is due to the fact that the report may mean any one of several things. It may mean that a soldier has been killed, or that he has been injured so severely that identification is not possible for the time, or it may mean that he was taken prisoner. In the greater number of cases it will turn out that men who are reported missing in action have been captured by the Germans. This information is further quoted in the press:

"The Bureau of Communication does not wait for an inquiry from the family when a soldier is reported missing in action. The name, regiment, and company of the man are sent at once to the searchers in all the hospitals. Effort is made to find the soldier who saw the missing man last, and it is likely that survivors of the engagement in which the man disappeared may be found in some of the hospitals. Those who took part in the engagement are asked, when found, whether they knew the missing man; whether they saw him at any time during the fight; if not, whether they have any hearsay knowledge of what happened to him.

"The evidence obtained, no matter how conflicting, is forwarded to Washington, where bulletins, successively, are issued to the family, with a caution as to what information is hearsay.

"While this investigation is going on among those American soldiers who were in the same engagement, another is being conducted to determine from German sources whether the man was taken prisoner. This is done through the International Red Cross at Geneva. As soon as an American soldier is reported missing, the name is sent to Geneva and thence the request for information is sent to the German Red Cross. As the German Red Cross is desirous of obtaining reciprocal information as to German prisoners captured by the Allies, we find that prompt attention is given to our requests.

"Information as to prisoners captured by the Germans is generally received by us, through the International Red Cross, days, sometimes weeks, before a report is received by the State Department or the publication of the official lists by Germany. In a few cases we have received information that a man reported missing is a prisoner in Germany within a week after he disappeared, but usually the time required is five or six weeks. The Germans often permit us to send cards to their families stating that they have been captured

"The prisoners are first sent to a central camp in Germany; thence they are distributed. When they arrive at the other camps the Prisoners' Help Committee is permitted to send a notification to the American Red Cross in Berne, Switzerland, in order that regular food supplies may be properly forwarded.

The American Red Cross maintains a warehouse at Berne, with supplies of food and clothing from the American Red Cross and the Quartermaster's Department of the United States Army. There are also stores of clothing from the United States Navy.

"Four parcels of food are supplied to each prisoner of war every two weeks. Clothing is also sent, as needed, and tobacco. A self-addressed postal-card, for acknowledgment of the receipt of the package, is enclosed, and, with few exceptions, the prisoners return the card.

There are, at present in the warehouse at Berne, 3,000 tons of food and incidental supplies, besides stock of clothing. These supplies will be doubled within six weeks by the addition of shipments now in transit."