As more young men left for the battlefields of France, service flags were proudly displayed in homes, business, churches and social organization across North Dakota. In fact, service flags were such a popular display of patriotism, that service flag stationary became available. Each page of writing paper or envelope contained a star for each member of the family serving in the military, along with the emblem of the branch of service to which they belonged.
By mid-September, North Dakota had 25,000 men in military service, and the casualty lists continued to grow. As the blue stars on service flags turned to gold, the efforts to provide comfort and care to the battle worn troops became even more important. Red Cross efforts increased across the state. This had become a routine for most homemakers. In Balfour, Mrs. J. J. Thomas had established a new record for the number of socks knitted in a day. Not to be outdone, Harry Weber, a pool room operator from Havana, in Sargent County, knitted 68 pairs of socks for the Red Cross making him the male champion knitter.
While it was said that the Salvation Army met the battered soldier at the mouth of the trench with food and coffee, the Red Cross ambulances and hospitals were as close to the trenches as possible to administer to the wounded. Images of Red Cross nurses sent a powerful message to the people back home – images of nurses in their angel-like, white dresses adorned with the cross-shaped emblem of mercy, listening to those whispered last words of a dying soldier.
But not all Red Cross nurses cared for the wounded. On this date in 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces operating in the area of San Mihiel, captured the railroad town of Toul. Edith Jane Veitch, a Red Cross nurse from Gilby, North Dakota, said fate intervened, and instead of nursing, she helped set up a canteen at Toul. Over an eleven-month period, she helped make the 461,114 doughnuts served at the canteen. She also stated that one tenth of the 1,561,625 sandwiches made with thick white bread, sardines, cheese and jam were made by that daughter of North Dakota. And when a son of North Dakota dropped by, an extra piece of cheese, an extra spoonful of jam and the largest Hershey bar went into his package. She stated that those were the days of brotherhood, not politics.
Dakota Datebook by Jim Davis
Sources:
Courier-Democrat, September 9, 1918
Ibid.; September 12, 1918
Nelson County, North Dakota, in the World War. Petersburg, N.D.: Publisher Not Identified, 1920.
American Legion Auxiliary. Department of North Dakota Records, 1934- 1935, Series 10339, State Historical Society of North Dakota
