.
Neither last nor least, however, was our very
energetic Red Cross director, a civilian, unarmed, who had volunteered to jump
with the Regiment on the first wave, and who had set to work at once in
preparing for the earliest possible opening of his "Service Club." If the Red
Cross had more agents like this one, that organization would earn greater
respect among American troops at the front. Whether they actually belong here,
may be a debatable point, but it was not debatable to our eager and
enthusiastic, loyal, and devoted agent "Dick" He was forty years old, and a
non-jumper when he joined our Regiment at Oro Bay. After one or two practice
jumps, he had volunteered for the combat jump at Noemfoor, where so many of our
men were injured on the hard coral landing strip; and again voluntarily worked
his way with the lead battalion here, a fine record, and one which he followed
up by fine performance. He gave what help he could from the start and became an
invaluable morale booster in the days that followed.