PREFACE
In the first part of this volume, which concerns physical reconstruction and vocational education, an attempt has been made to show, first, the provisions for the central organization of the division of physical reconstruction. Reconstruction was a new field of activity in so far as the Army was concerned. Since there was every necessity for having a clear conception in War Department of the situation as a whole, with the view of anticipating and avoiding duplication and conflict of effort on the part of nonmilitary governmental agencies that were or might be concerned with the question of the physical reconstruction and vocational education of our soldiers, inevitably many details were considered and much time was consumed before War Department authorization was given for the establishment of facilities by the Medical Department to initiate and carry on the work; therefore, the records pertaining to all this have been used quite fully. Following this are discussions of the activities of the specialty in the various kinds of military hospitals-that is, not only in hospitals for the care of general cases, but also in hospitals especially designated for the care of particular types of injury or disease.
In this connection it will be apparent that throughout the description of the educational service is presented more in detail than the physical reconstruction. This is because of its greater variety and complexity and because of its general interest. The application of the educational service to curative purposes is also more novel than that of the better-established scientific procedure in physiotherapy. The wider divergence of opinion regarding value and procedure in occupational activities also justifies a more detailed account and more critical analysis.
Though development battalions were instituted primarily to relieve combat divisions and other organizations of all unfit soldiers and the physical reclamation of such men, the Medical Department's interest in these battalions was great. This interest centered in the division of physical reconstruction in the Surgeon General's Office; therefore, a chapter has been devoted to this subject and to that of convalescent centers which, following the signing of the armistice, absorbed the functions of the development battalions of which there now was not the insistent need that obtained while the Army was rapidly expanding.
Morale work among the patients of our military hospitals was essential to the successful accomplishment of the reconstruction plan; therefore a section has been devoted to this subject.
Though War Department prescribed that no disabled patients in military hospitals would be separated from the service by discharge until after they had attained complete recovery, or as complete recovery as could be expected, considering the nature of their disabilities, both functional and vocational reeducation in many instances were left incomplete by the Medical Department to be taken up by the nonmilitary governmental agencies assigned to this work. The subject would be incomplete without a brief reference to the functions of these agencies.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Col. Frank Billings, M. C., and Lieut. Col. Lyman Greene, M. C., for helpful suggestions and corrections regarding the manuscript. Acknowledgment is also made to Maj. F. B. Granger, M. C., for material on physiotherapy; to Lieut. Col. Charles W. Richardson, M. C., for the material on defects in hearing and speech; to Lieut. Col. Harry E. Mock, M. C., for the chapter on development battalions and convalescent centers; to Miss Susan Hills, reconstruction aide, for the account of the work of reconstruction aides in the American Expeditionary Forces. Miss Mary Corufel, Miss Ruth Pope, and Miss Emily Huger prepared the monthly statistical summaries from which tables of enrollments were compiled. Capt. Charles Harlan, S. C., and Capt. Calvin P. Stone, S. C., prepared the longer studies based upon reconstruction registers and personnel records. Without this assistance and hearty cooperation it would have been impossible to present the facts in as complete, concise, and analytic form as it is believed has been done.
After the preliminary work on this portion of the volume had been completed, supplementary matter having then become available was added by Maj. A. S. Bowen, M. C., thus necessitating a rearrangement of the text. For this work of Major Bowen's acknowledgment is now made.
In the second part of this volume, having to do with the Army Nurse Corps, only the more outstanding or unusual activities of that corps, both at home and overseas, are recorded. In the preparation of the first chapter--the Army Nurse Corps in the United States--much work was done in the way of gathering material from the records and in making a preliminary arrangement of it by Miss Ruth Stevens. Various members of the Army Nurse Corps prepared accounts of activities, either of themselves or of their organizations. Since these accounts have been of material help in the preparation of the manuscript as a whole and have been freely used, the present occasion is utilized to make grateful acknowledgment to members of corps who formulated them.
