Accomplishments of the Mercersburg Branch of the Emergency Aid During World War I
By Joan C. McCulloh
When the United States declared war upon Germany and entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Europe had been engulfed in war for thirty-two months from August 1914. During that time the United States was reluctant to become involved in the conflict in what was then often termed the Old Country even though many people were appalled by the fact that Germany had violated the neutrality of Belgium by invading that country on its attack upon France. President Woodrow Wilson and his administration pursued a policy of neutrality. However, after Germany had attacked shipping to and from the United States, Congress upon Wilson’s request on April 2 declared war upon Germany. Despite the fact that the United States was reluctant to join forces with the allies led by Great Britain, France, and Russia, after a lapse of a few months after the declaration of war it rapidly began to mobilize and to train troops and to provide materiel to the Allies. Likewise, on the home front people throughout the nation quickly organized groups and agencies to aid the war effort. Mercersburg with its surrounding area was no exception.
On April 3, 1917, one day after President Woodrow Wilson had asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, the minutes of the Woman’s Club contain the first written reference in Mercersburg to the Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania. At that meeting the president of the club, Mrs. Waidlich, read a letter from a Mrs. Sharpe, District vice-president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Women’s Clubs, encouraging the local Woman’s Club to form a branch of the Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania and telling the club that a Mrs. Anna LaDonius would be willing to come to Mercersburg to explain what would be expected. Upon a motion by Miss Sadie Parker seconded by Mrs. Krebs the members agreed to respond positively to Mrs. Sharpe’s letter. The club certainly knew of Emergency Aid earlier because at that same meeting a note of gratitude thanking the club for $25 sent to the Belgian Relief and Emergency Aid was acknowledged with the information that the $25 would care for four children in the province of Antwerp for six months.
At the next meeting of the Woman’s Club on Tuesday, May 1, at which the Reverend Clyde Fasick, the young Methodist minister in town, spoke of the work of the American Red Cross, it was announced that a meeting for the purpose of establishing a branch of the Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania would occur on Friday, May 4, at two o’clock in the Presbyterian Church and that Mrs. Anna LaDonius would attend. After this announcement the ladies had “an animated discussion” about the merits of the Emergency Aid as compared with those of the American Red Cross. The tensions between the proponents of these two organizations would surface later.
On Saturday, May 5, the Executive Board of the Woman’s Club adopted the following resolution: “That the Executive Board of the Woman’s Club solicits the assistance and cooperation of citizens of this community for the purpose of organizing a branch of the Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania.” This resolution, presented by Mrs. North and seconded by Mrs. (Bruce) Nevin, chair of the relief committee, passed unanimously. The Executive Board appointed the following citizens of the town to serve on the committee: Mrs. (Christian) Fendrick, who became chair, H. W. Byron, Mrs. H. W. Byron, Mrs. Dickey, J. M. Drumn, John Faust, the Reverend Clyde Fasick, Mrs. (John) Finafrock, Mrs. (William Mann) Irvine, James Karper, Mrs. (Harry) Krebs, Frank Long, Miss Anna North, the Reverend Dr. James G. Rose of the Presbyterian Church, Miss Rose Steiger, Seth Steiger, Dr. Swartzwelder, and Mrs. (H. S.) Waidlich. Also serving on the committee were Mrs. Appleton Berger from Cove Gap, Miss Jennie Bowles from Welsh Run, and G. W. Fleming, editor of the Mercersburg Journal who died before the end of the war and whose son would serve in France. The secretary of the Woman’s Club, Mrs. Ione J. Byron, was instructed to notify these people and to tell them that a meeting would be held in the library on Thursday evening, May 10, at seven o’clock.
The committee did remarkable work until the end of April 1919. The committee organized quickly so that Mrs. Fendrick at the June 5 meeting of the Woman’s Club reported “the satisfactory progress of the Emergency Aid” and said that there “was plenty of work to be done by everyone, both at Headquarters and outside.” Between May 10 and June 5 the committee had secured a room in Town Hall and had begun work. At some time in this period the Emergency Aid had acquired a sewing machine, and in 1918 money for a new Singer sewing machine was given by five local secret orders: the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the I.O.O.F., The Majestic Circle, the Hampo Tribe of the Red Men, and the Stony Batter Encampment of the I.O.O.F. Later in 1918 through the efforts of a man who had been a Mason for fifty years the “Masonic Fraternity of Mercersburg” gave another new Singer sewing machine.
Also by the beginning of July 1917 the local branch of the Emergency Aid was productive. On July 6 the Journal reported that in addition to articles not enumerated in last week’s paper the following had been sent to Philadelphia: 6 chest protectors, 11 bed shirts, 13 pairs of pajamas, 1 bathrobe, 7 wash cloths, 1 sweater, 1 pair of flannel trousers, surgical dressings, 5 body binders, 10 rolled bandages, 80 gauze compresses (3x3). and 120 gauze compresses (7x7).
Also by the beginning of July local people had made monetary contributions and had held two festivals on the Square in order to raise money for preparing comfort bags to be sent to the sailors on the flagship, Pennsylvania. Each of the one hundred and six bags contained the following: comb, wash cloth, soap, scissors, buttons, safety pins, needles, spool of black thread, spool of white thread, toothbrush, toothpaste, shoe laces, collapsible drinking cup, tablet, pencil, handkerchief, chewing gum, post cards, and jokes cut out of magazines.
In addition, also at the beginning of July a committee with examples of garments and surgical supplies it had produced visited Welsh Run in order to encourage people there to participate in the effort. Workers in the Welsh Run branch included Mrs. D. Nisewander, Mary B. Craig, Carrie Craig, Roy Myers, Scott Ditto, Lou Craig, Jonah Myers, Ada Myers, Neil Steck, Lillian Nisewander, Carrie Ditto, Betty Ditto, Bess Gove, W.B. Duffield, John Diehl, John Little, and John Johnson.
Likewise, in that same month after the Journal had published a small paragraph exhorting people to give pillows or cushions for use by the Ambulance Corps stationed in Allentown, the women of the community, assisted by young girls who collected them, sent one hundred and sixteen pillows and cushions.
The Journal reported that on July 14 the local branch had sent its third box to Emergency Aid Headquarters in Philadelphia and that it contained the following: 42 hospital shirts, 28 pairs of pajamas, 13 pillows each with 2 pillow cases, 6 bathrobes, 2 nightingales, 5 pairs of bed socks, 6 wash cloths, 1 bundle of soft cloths, 10 surgical stockings, 5 operating caps, second hand clothing, and the following surgical dressings: 15 oakum pads, 140 gauze compresses (3x3), 160 gauze compresses (7x7), 200 tampons, 30 gauze packing,60 gauze packing, and the following knitted articles: 26 pairs of wristlets, 2 sweaters, and 3 mufflers.
By the end of July - still in 1917 - the local Emergency Aid had received an urgent appeal from the Anesthetic Committee of the Pennsylvania Emergency Aid for money to be used to purchase anesthetics for the base hospital in France. The local branch sent $150 for this purpose, $30 of which was earned from a second Lemonade and Cake Festival. By the end of July the local branch had raised $990.36 with $880.80 paid to the general fund, $38 in donations for the Comfort Bags, and $62.50 from two festivals.
At the end of July the Journal published an article headlined “Rag Day! Rag Day!” that quoted from a bulletin prepared by the state Emergency Aid that made an emotional appeal for people to give old linen and old cotton, free of starch, both so that pillows could be made for army hospitals in France and that this material could be used to stop bleeding. The article referred to a letter from someone in Paris in which the writer described conditions in two military hospitals of 4,000 beds each. The letter writer spoke of men lying on the ground with only a bolster filled with straw under their heads or a stained uniform making a roll pillow. The writer also spoke of the use of straw and newspapers to staunch blood as proper materials were lacking.
The Journal reported at the end of July: “Dozens of new handkerchiefs, outing flannel, muslin, thread and other articles have been sent in. Quantities of old muslin, linen, cotton, counterpanes, towels, bedding etc.- these are being utilized in many ways. Seven yards of outing flannel, seersucker, gingham, or similar goods make 1 set of pajamas. Seven yards of outing flannel make a bathrobe. Remnants are used in bed socks. Two yards of outing flannel make a shoulder wrap for invalids. Old and ragged articles, washed free of starch, are cut into strips and mixed with cotton for filling pillows and are greatly needed on been put into the pocket of every garment made.” Also the Journal stated that the Emergency Aid had issued a call for one thousand handkerchiefs and noted that many donations were coming in, including donations from the Woman’s Club.
Also by the end of July it seems that confusion existed about the relationship of the Emergency Aid and the American Red Cross but that it had been resolved with the understanding that they were separate relief agencies which would not interfere with each other’s work. However, it seems to have been agreed that the work of distribution abroad had to be centralized. It was noted that all Emergency Aid supplies would reach their destinations “subject to the risks of ocean transportation.”
By August 14, 1917, the committee had sent six boxes. The contents of Box 6 were as follows: 3 sweaters, 11 pairs of wristlets, 5 pairs of bed socks, 11 pairs of surgical stockings, 5 bathrobes, 12 pillows with 2 pillow cases each, 10 fracture pillows, 7 day shirts, 54 hospital shirts, 55 pairs of pajamas, 5 bed spreads, 1 pneumonia jacket and the following surgical dressings: 5 surgical caps, 10 oakum pads, 25 cotton pads, 20 eye bandages, 140 rolled bandages, 20 flannel binders, 10 T binders, 40 linen compresses, 80 gauze compresses (6x6), 540 gauze compresses (3x3), 20 gauze packing, 10 gauze packing oneself millimeter, 200 tampons, and 10 incontinent pads.
Now that the United States had been at war for about four months, and people realized the effects of war upon men and their families, the Emergency Aid Committee in Philadelphia working with the state employment bureau announced that it would take care of every unemployed wounded man, American, French or British, who came to Philadelphia. The committee indicated that it would place men who had skills into positions they were accustomed to and that it would train men who had no marketable skills. The reality of war had set in.
By the end of August the Journal noted: “During the past month there has been a considerable falling off in the number of those sewing at Town Hall” and attributed this to vacations, extreme heat or lack of interest in the work. The Journal article reminded readers of the work to be done and encouraged people to come.
In either late August or early September the local Emergency Aid in order to stimulate interest had a Patriotic Rally that raised $40. At the rally the Mercersburg Band played patriotic songs. During the singing of “America” Miss Zola Vandreau, dressed as the goddess of liberty, appeared and, according to the Journal, “made an impressive and most beautiful picture.”
By September the local Emergency Aid had received the first requests for manila envelopes. The Journal reported: “Everyone throws away 2 or 3 of these each day. Ir does not matter what is stamped on them already, we can use them for certain types of small dressings, and besides they are so convenient, being already closed on 3 sides.” On Saturday evening, September 8, the committee held an exhibition at headquarters in Town Hall of the work done in August and asked people, if they desired, to bring 5-cent handkerchiefs.
By September the needs had become more acute. Before Boxes 8, 9, and 10 were shipped overseas, the committee exhibited the contents in Town Hall on a Saturday afternoon and evening. The three boxes contained the following: 25 incontinent pads, 30 cotton absorbent pads, 60 lavatory pads, 30 linen compresses, 72 gauze compresses, 144 gauze compresses, -181 yard rolls, 123 yard rolls, 60 drains, 24 flannel bandages, 18 muslin bandages, 24 crinoline bandages, 12 abdominal bands, 18 T bandages, 12 head bandages, 12 triangular slings, 110 T binders, 19 body binders, 4 pneumonia jackets, 42 hospital shirts, 6 day shirts, 51 pairs of pajamas, 1 bathrobe, 1 chest protector, 1 nightingale, 18 pillows with two pillow cases each, 3 fracture pillows, 24 double compresses, 72 large gauze wipes, 18 bedside bags, 1 comfort bag, 24 wash cloths, 5 bed socks, 5 pads of surgical stockings, 1 muffler, 8 pairs of wristlets, 1½ yards of bulletin board cloth, girls’ dresses, 3 girls’ petticoats, 1 box of lint, underclothes, old muslin, and old kid gloves. Also the Mite Society of the Presbyterian Church donated the following: 20 flannel chest protectors, 1 knitted protector, 9 body binders, 4 flannel bandages, 4 knitted ear bandages, 30 knitted eye bandages, and 2 wash cloths.
The Journal also noted that the ladies of Fort Loudon had sent the following to be included in the next shipment: 22 hospital shirts and 2 pairs of pajamas and that the people of Lemasters had held a festival that had raised $87.66 for the local Emergency Aid fund. In September 1917 a Treasure and Trinket Committee was formed. The committee with Mrs. H.B. Krebs as chair and the following young members - Virginia Rose, Mildred Witherspoon, Esther Steiger, Margaret Nevin, Alice Dechert, Gladys Philips, Mary Philips, Pauline Unger, and Sarah McDowell - asked that people to bring “broken, useless unwanted bits of gold or silver trinkets, jewelry, or table silver, triple-plate” to Krebs’ Drugstore from September 26 to October 6. These were to be melted down and the proceeds used to “buy comforts” and equip hospitals for “the airmen of the American army.” The Journal reported: “The Government is building a great fleet of airplanes….One of the stations in only 60 miles from Mercersburg as the birdman flies. Soon they will be flying over our valley and town and mountains.” The committee asked for old gold or silver thimbles, bracelets, brooches, rings, cigarette cases, match boxes, scarf pins, cuff links, tops of canes or umbrellas, watch charms, broken spoons or forks, and coins. The Journal stated: “Our airmen will save the lives of multitudes of men in the trenches. They are the eyes of the Army and the wings of the United States.”
In November 1917 the Journal reminded people that food was needed in French military hospitals, that the Committee of Food for France Fund “guarantees that money you donate will be spent entirely for foodstuffs with no reservation for any form of commission….,” that it was France that had provided money to the colonists in their war for independence from Great Britain, and that, therefore, the Americans should now help France in its need. Also in November 1917 the local Emergency Aid Committee added to its efforts. First it expanded its mission by sending clothing to war-torn countries, Romania, Italy, France, and, of course, Belgium. The committee sent, for instance, to Belgium in this month girls’ second-hand dresses, boys’ second-hand suits, underwear, caps, mittens, stockings, 13 new dresses, 18 new petticoats, and 3 new hoods. From this time until April 1919 the committee sent several hundred garments including, at one time, a barrel of shoes, a barrel of women’s and girls’ clothing, and a barrel of men’s and boys’ clothing to France. Secondly, the committee entreated people to knit more sweaters, gloves, mittens, socks, and stockings for the soldiers but reminded the knitters that the socks had to be plain, not ribbed, as the ribbed ones filled with vermin in the trenches. Sometime in 1917 the committee held an exhibit of finished articles in Town Hall. Upon each parcel a small paper label bearing the portrait of James Buchanan and the words, “Mercersburg, Pa” was affixed.
The next spring, March 1918, the Journal reported that the following sixty-four local men had received knitted articles: Ray Tritle (France), Harold Winters (France), Thomas Bradley (France), Jacob Burhanan, Gaylord Gates (France), Percy Fendrick (France), Alfred Leo Fleming (France), W. Witherspoon (France), Duffield Varden (France), Elmer Houpt (France), Sergt. U. Ragan (France), Olin A. Joyner (France), Sergt. A. Castaynor (France), Archibald McDowell (France), John Snyder (U.S.S. Minnesota), Howard Snyder (U.S.S. McDougal), David Burrall, Lewis Frisby, Clifford Willkins, Simon Bailey, Norman Pfoutz, Roy Belle, Edgar Rockwell, Charles Zeger, Earl Gluck, Jos. Miller, Mr. Coons, Thomas Shroeder, James Varden, Mr. Yeuchar, Mr. McDonald, Wallace Angle, Clyde Fasick, Victor Knauff, Howard Ommert, Clyde Fasick, John Rhea, Arthur Hoch, Chas. Bush, James Rockwell, Robert Pfoutz, David Cooper, Raymond Fendrick, John Overcash, Lawrence Cuff, Claude Cuff, Guy Greenawalt, Earl Bricker, Mr. Moffat, Mr. Andrews, Lt. A.B. Kremer, Russell Graves, Corp. Frank C. Wilson, Preston Gearhart, Charles McGilberry, and Lewis Himes. Of the sixty-four men noted here two were killed in France in 1918: Lewis Himes, who died on September 20 from wounds received in battle, and James Cameron Rockwell, who was killed on October 4 by machine gun fire while taking the town of Exermont in France. Also in 1918 Leslie Zeger was killed on November 4, one week before the armistice.
Miss Golden Grosh, a local young woman, who was an army nurse in the hospital at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia, and who had given some of the articles to some of the men stationed there, wrote, “My appreciation is nothing compared to how the boys feel who received them; they were a happy lot, as I know they do not have anyone to knit for them, or look out for them in any way. I sometimes feel like the old woman in the shoe, for when I am on duty alone with 44 measles patients, you know I step lively.”
As Christmas 1917 was approaching, the committee encouraged people to send boxes to loved ones and acquaintances. It suggested a khaki handkerchief, writing tablet, pencil, hard candy, a box of stuffed dates, fruit cake, sweet chocolate, cocoa, condensed coffee, loaf sugar, Steero cubes,
Trench candles, chewing gum, mints, tobacco, cigarettes, a pipe, flashlight, and air pillow. The committee reminded people that the box must be of wood, not weigh more than 7 pounds, must have a hinge on top to permit inspection, and should be marked “Christmas Box.” Also the committee determined that it would send each soldier serving in France what it called “a packet.” On Thanksgiving Day women met in Town Hall and put together and wrapped 50 packets worth $1.15 each. Each packet, wrapped in a khaki handkerchief and tied with red string, contained the following: a book, 6 bouillon cubes, loaf sugar, cocoa, cigarettes, tobacco, chocolate, fruit cake, chewing gum, hard candy,
By early February or March 1918 the committee had increased both the number of surgical supplies and amount of clothing it sent. Evidently by this time some people had criticized the committee for sending articles overseas as in a March letter to the Journal Mrs. H. W. Byron noted that “…all contributions of articles are given where the committee in charge feels that they are most needed.”
Also in March 1918 an article in the Journal encouraged people to gather all of the kid gloves they could find regardless of condition and to take them to Town Hall. These gloves were to be used in making vests for men in the trenches. By April 18 the committee had held an exhibition of articles, all of which were destined to be sent to a hospital in Liverpool, England. Because of a German offensive, according to the Journal, “The wounded are pouring into her hospitals.” Because of the increased need for surgical dressings and supplies the local newspaper reported that headquarters would be opened both Wednesday and Thursday evenings and that more workers were needed. The Journal also requested people to take to Kuhn’s Drugstore tin foil, empty toothpaste tubes, scraps of leather, silk stockings, beads, and old tires.
In May, as the Emergency Aid Committee marked its first anniversary, it sent another box. Since the committee had kept a tally on a blackboard in its room in Town Hall of the articles sent, it could report that during its first year it had sent approximately 23, 657 surgical dressings and 3,400 articles and had purchased 8,700 yards of material in addition to thousands of yards of gauze, cheesecloth, oakum, muslin, and cotton. Miss Ella Bradley, a local young woman then living in New York City, wrote to a friend in town, “The war feeling here is rife, but it seems to me not in the degree of perfection found in Mercersburg. I shall never forget the wonderful display of the Emergency Aid when I was in Mercersburg. I have visited similar displays here, but never its equal.”
In June the committee again sent boxes, and the Junior Emergency Aid set up on the east side of the Square an egg basket with an American flag on each side. Farmers’ wives brought to the basket eggs which the young people sold in order to give money to the Y.M.C.A. On the first day, on which the boys and girls sang patriotic songs, the farm families had given 30 dozen eggs and $14.19. This egg basket project was successful as each Saturday throughout the summer the young people, who consistently provided a patriotic program at 8:30 in the evening, with their eggs and produce raised enough money, including donations, to keep two French orphans for one year. Later, after having earned more money, they added to their project another French orphan, a Belgian orphan, and a Belgian prisoner. As they receiver $10 as a result of an article in the Ladies’ Home Journal, the egg basket must have drawn attention. It surely drew the attention of the occupants of “a large touring car” as the driver stopped to see the basket. Also both Welsh Run and Fort Loudon had egg baskets.
In late June the Journal reported that Edgar Fallon and Charles Taylor had created a hand bandage roller that they mounted on the bed of an old sewing machine. With this device the operator could treadle the machine and, therefore, have both hands free to form the bandages
In both July and August 1918 boxes were sent to the Committee on Supplies to the Belgian Relief Committee and to the British-American Committee. Also in August for the benefit of war relief the local committee held a white elephant sale on a Saturday on the Square. The newspaper advertisement asked for the following: a duplicate Christmas present, a bit of china, food of all kinds, butter, eggs, vegetables, glass, bric-a-brac, pictures, fancy goods, domestic articles, homemade soap, brooms, antiques, furniture, clothing, and small articles for a fish bowl. The advertisement ended with the words “Come! Come! Come! Buy! Buy! Buy!” The sale brought in $342 apportioned as follows: $100 to the Salvation Army for American men in France, $50 to take Belgian children into Holland to recuperate. $50 to the town of Aguila in Italy for warm clothing for the women and children, the aged and infirm, $50 to Serbia for warm garments for the perishing children, $50 to the Emergency Aid, and the remainder undesignated. In October and November 1918 the local committee sent more supplies, but after the Armistice on November 11 it focused its energies upon supplying clothing for people in war-torn companies, especially Belgium. After the committee had closed its room in Town Hall in April 1919, the Journal ran a series of articles enumerating its accomplishments. Preceding the first of these articles, the Journal noted:
“…our devoted women have served our country and the allied nations with a spirit of sacrifice that is both rare and beautiful. Many there are among our women who have given to the cause more than service, for they have sent forth at their country’s call that which is dearer than life itself - the life of one beloved. They have manifested a high order of business capacity and have inspired the men of the community to emulate their patriotic example. The amount of work has been the occasion of favorable comment at Philadelphia headquarters again and again. The interest in a task covering a period of almost two years was sustained to an amazing degree, and the close friendships formed in the intimate association of the work room will remain throughout life. It is with keen regret that these busy women feel compelled to close the Hall for sewing, but they stand ready to respond to urgent calls for relief….”
During its existence the Emergency Aid had kept a tally on a blackboard in Town Hall. In April 1919 the committee reported that local people had sent to both United States soldiers and European allies the following new items with the note that the list did not include used items: 1,176 bed shirts, 162 woolen chest protectors, 112 day shirts, 30 gowns for women, 500 dresses for girls, 260 chemises and drawers, 51 pairs of stockings, 389 pillows, 200 comforts, 50 housewives (sewing kits), 75 puzzles, 10 dozen diapers, 500 surgical dressings - binders, pads, pneumonia jackets, slings, bandages, compresses, shell dressings, etc., 137 wash cloths and towels, 245 skirts for girls, 77 caps and mittens, 234 bedside bags, 778 pillow cases, 5 afghans, 225 scrapbooks, 480 piece goods, 818 pajamas, 50 nightingales, 71 bathrobes, 25 layettes, hundreds of handkerchiefs, 76 pounds of absorbent cotton, 3 gross buttons, 3 dozen spools of thread, 7 dozen safety pins, tape, tin foil, and Victrola records and the following knitted articles” 137 sweaters, 122 pairs of socks, 36 scarves, 14 pairs of mittens, 171 pairs of wristlets, 32 helmets, 20 caps, and 4 trench caps. The committee also stated that the quality and quantity of the second-hand garments were equal to the quality and quantity of the new items sent.
What is impressive beyond the many achievements of the local Emergency Aid Committee is the large number of good works, often sacrificial, of the individual citizens. Among those who gave unselfishly and generously were Christ Barges, an immigrant from Greece, owner of a restaurant on the Square who gave $13 to buy tobacco for the soldiers, Miss Margaret Rupley who sold a bushel of apples her uncle had sent her, Mrs. George Peters who made 95 shirts, the sisters who ran a knitting department in their home, the lady who with her mother and daughter made 45 comforters, the lady who sold her husband’s 1872 wedding suit in order to help the Armenians who were being persecuted by Turkey, the students and teachers who brought to Town Hall a collection of peach seeds to be used in making charcoal for gas masks, the people who sent 52 quarts of seeds to France and the school children who put the seeds into packets, the school children who brought pennies to school, the Clear Spring Dramatic Society that gave a play in order to raise money, and all those others whose good deeds were unrecorded and remain forgotten.
The account of the work of the Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania by the residents of Mercersburg and the surrounding area is a chapter in our local history of which we can be proud.
Notes: The Woman’s Club is now known as the Women’s Club. In the list of 64 men who received knitted articles those identified only by their last names were students from the Mercersburg Academy who entered the service from Mercersburg. One, Charles McGilberry, was a Native American from the state of Oklahoma.
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