Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 117, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1919 — INDIANA SOLDIERS TO AID S. A. DRIVE [ARTICLE]

INDIANA SOLDIERS TO AID S. A. DRIVE

Col. Solon J. Carter, 42d F. A., of 14th Division, Directs State Campaign. -*- - - - Home People Ready to Back Up Salvation Army Workers in Gratitude for Services to Boys In ,tha Trenches. Indianapolis, May 15. —Indiana is rapidly getting set for the Salvation Army National Home Service Fund Campaign May 19 to 26. Col. Solon J. Carter, Indiana State Chairman, has already confirmed the appointment of directors of the drive in a majority of counties in the state and In others organization is in process. Col. Carter is the youngest officer of that rank in the American Army, according to the best Information ’ obtainable hero. His promotion came in July, 1918, when he was twentynine years old. Col. Carter was Major of the 150th Field Artillery when- that unit left Indianapolis in September, 1917. April 28th, 1918, he was advanced to LieutenantColonel of the Regiment. ‘Following his appointment as Colonel he was transferred to the 42nd Field Artillery of the 14th Division, locatedat Camp Custer, and he had prepared that unit for overseas service when ’the Armistice was signed. Col. Carter was decorated‘with the Croix de Guerre and palm for his gallant conduct on the Champagne front In the attack July 15th, when he commanded an artillery detachment which. Included six French batteries stationed in front of the town of Sulppes. For seventy-six hours the fiercest possible fighting was endured.

Col. Carter has been prominent in welding together the Indiana organization of World War Veterans and the National Organization of Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, which recently "convened In St. "L6uls. He has accepted the State Chairmanship In the Salvation drive because he has known personally the service which Salvation Army workers gave to the country’s fighting men on the battlefield where they shared with the men in khaki all of the dangers. Practically all of the counties in the state are organized for the. campaign, and chairmen and other executives have been named. Each county is organized as a working unit and will conduct its own drive, under the direction of the local committee. -Organization meetings are now being held In all parts of the state and reports indicate unusual interest. It is stated by county chairmen that no difficulty is anticipated in raising the quotas asked for. The Interest that is being taken by the soldiers is proving a determining factor in the campaign, and the home people are ready to back .up their boys—who went to the front—by assisting the Salvation Army workers who meant so much to the men while they were in the trenches. Thousands of letters from Indiana soldiers came back from "over there" that told of their gratitude to the Salvation AJrmy; And of their deep obligation and now that the opportunity has come to express appreciation in substantial form, the parents and friends of these boys are ready to do their part. President Wilson cabled a personal endorsement to Commander Miss E. Booth. The campaign is attracting widespread attention from returned service men, and hundreds are volunteering their aid to assist in putting over the drive. In fact, one of the remarkable features is the general in-* terest manifested by prominent individuals of all faiths and walks In life, as well as organized bodies. Among the latter are the various lodges of Elks throughout the state, all of which are co-operating. Cardinal Gibbons Is among the high churchmen who have endorsed the movement. There are forty corps and outposts of the Salvation Army in Indiana. Heretofore the money has been raised by small collections 1 made by individual members of the army, but no longer will the Salvation Artny . girls go about with their tambourines collecting pennies. This method has been a bugbear to members and lie alike. The new way will permit the workers, who have devoted more than their time to collections, to give all their time in the future to the work for which they have been trained.

A war worker, who served to the hospitals in France throughout the war, said: “Too much praise cannot be given the Salvation Army workers for their faithful, devoted service. They went right up to the trenches and many a soldier has told me that when the service men in the trenches became desperate they always found a Salvation Army worker at hand to help them bear their sufferings and cheer them up. Many a soldier who has been in the trenches without relief was sought out by a Salvation Army man or woman and given a cup of hot coffee and* food at the very moment that It seemed as if nature 1 could bear no more. That’s why all the soldiers love the Army and why they are solidly behind the drive.”