HOME FRONT O N TH L Y B U LL E TI N OF THE ALABAMA STA'l".J!l DEFENSE COUNCIL VOLUlVIE 1. MONTGOMERY, ALA., FEBRUARY, 1945 NUMBER 9 Civilian Defense Is Highly Praised By Montgomery Officials Dr. Austin Appeals F o r Enrollees F o r Nurses Training B. F. Austin, State Health Officer is appealing to women no t already engaged in essential wa r work to enter nurses t r ai n in g b o th as a patriotic duty an d as a means preparing themselves fo r paid postwar work. Dr . Austin call ed a tte ntion to President Roosevelt's recent message to Congress an d a dd re ss to th e Nation in which he recommended t he d ra ft in g of nu rs es in o rd er to relieve th e crit ical lack of n ur si ng c ar e f or thos2 in the armed forces. I f a sufficiently large number of w om en e nr ol l as student nurses, th e 14 nurses' schools which ar e p a rt ic i pa t in g in th e Ca de t Nurse program or in th e which ar e no t participating, a substantial number of n ur se s n ow on duty in c i vi l ia n hospitals ca n be freed fo r duty with th e armed forces, ac cording to D r. A us ti n. Women i nt er es te d i n m ak in g t hi s c o nt ri b ut io n to th e w ar effort are a dv is ed to write to th e d i re ct o rs of th e nursing schol/ls of their choice or to Mrs. B. Norton Ely, Recruit" ment Secretary, 1020 Woodward Building, Birmingham, Alabama. At an impressive ceremony held at th e Dorsey Plant in Elba, Feb. 2nd, Claude L. Dorsey, Jr., so n of th e fou.llder of Dorsey Trailers wa s presented with th e Army an d Navy "E " Banner by Col. J. P. McIntyre of the War D e pa r tm e nt s G e ne ra l Staff in r ec og ni ti on of war production. This places th e Alabama plant in th e exclusive ranks of in dustries thus honore for "performa n ce beyond th e c al l o f d ut y." Before a large crowd of guests gathered fo r th e occasion, Col. Mc Intyre spoke of hi s pride in th e production record of th e State of Alabama. Th e wa r is at a critical stage, according to th e Colonel an d an y sl acke nin g of effort either among th e armed forces or on the home front will delay th e end. "Trailers," said Col. McIntyre are indispensable in modern warfare. (Turn to p age 3 -0' 01 . 4) City Of Florala Honors Citizens Defense Corps Th e Mayor of F lo ra la , Alabama in recognition of th e volunteer ser vice rendered th e City by Civilian Defense ha s i ss ue d t o each member of th e C it ize ns D ef en se C or ps a Certificate "I n grateful appreciation of patriotic duty to. th community in volunteering service in the pres en t emergency." OUR CHAMP Civilian Defense (cooperating with other Montgomery agencies) is a weary an d battered champ, th e tornado having proved a violent boxer. Spang, th e Montgomery Advertiser's inimitable cartoonist ha pictured th e struggle in, a cartoon, more expressive than words. This appeared in th e Advertiser of Feb. 15, 1945. Volunteers Given Recognition F o r Recreation Work The Federal Recreation Center in Jacksonville, Alabama is celebrat in g it s fourth birthday with fitting ceremony on Fberuary 28th. A feature of th e birthday celebration will be th e presentation of Civilian Defense Service Award Certificates to 75 volunteer workers wh o have devoted time to th e recr ea ti on p ro gr am f or servicemen. -Spang I Dorsey Trailers . Receive' ' E' , Award '------------------ From Army-Navy C. D. Police A nd Firemen Rescue Tornado Victims C iv il ia n D ef en se p la ye d a major role in th e face of d is as te r when more than 600 auxiliary firemen an d p ol ic em en of th e Montgomery County Defense Council worked he roically with local fire an d police organizations, State guards, Gunter Field an d Maxwell F i el d p er s on n el and the American Red Cross to rescu e hundreds of victims of a devastating tornado, which circled Mont gomery on th e afternoon of Februar y 12th. General W. P. Screws, City Police Commissioner an d Commander of M o nt g om e ry County D e fe ns e C or ps expressed hi s praise an d appreciation of th e c oo p er at i on of th e auxiliary police an d firemen in a state·· ment in th e Montgomery, Alabama A d ve r ti s er o f February 1 4 th d e cl a rin g that in less than an hour after th e storm struck, 600 Civilian De fense police an d 75 firemen h ad reported a t th e City Hall an d were s en t o ut on guard an d rescue duty in v ar io us s ec ti on s o f th e city. Police Chief Bernard Young main tained that Civilian D e fe n se police auxiliaries h ad justified their continuation. State D ef en se C ou nc il Director Haygood Paterson, H. B. Andrews, C hi ef of C iv il ian P ro te ct io n, an d Carl G ri ff in , C hi ef of War Services remained on th e scene throughout th e night assisting with th e rescue. Director Paterson complimented th e fine work of th e auxiliary police, whi(:h continued zealously until th e crisis wa s over. Paul Fuller, Chair man of th e M on t go m er y County Defense Council, too expressed grat ification at th e response an d ac tivities of th e C. D. volunteers. Lt . Col. Paul R. Sheahan, Indus trial Protection Officer an d Major Fletcher of th e C iv i li an D ef e ns e Field Office LTl Atlanta, Ga., rushed to Montgomery an d accompanied by Director Paterson visited th e devastated areas. Montgomery's tornado struck first a t Meridian, Miss., cutting a swath of destruction on two s id es of th e city, then roared eastward into Ala bama, damaging th e towns of Livingston an d York, next skirting th e western and northern edges of Montgomery. Twenty-six p eo pl e w er e k il le d in Montgomery, 94 injured and h un (Turn to pag 2-0'01. 4)
