George Rock
History of the American Field Service
1920-1955

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The spirit of the American Field Service is often referred to as something recognizable on sight and needing no definition. The protean manifestations of this spirit make this questionable. In the First War, over 2,000 Americans volunteered to drive ambulances with the French. They operated the ambulance and truck services, both badly needed, and came to know and to respect and to be fond of the French. When the war was over they founded the AFS Fellowships for French Universities, Inc., so that more Americans might have the opportunity of learning at first hand about France. And when France was threatened with another war, these same men reorganized AFS so that it could again go to her assistance with an ambulance corps. During the Second War, AFS served in many places with the troops of many countries: in France, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, India, and Burma alongside men from France, Great Britain, Greece, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Poland, Italy, India, and Nepal. Again they formed friendships. Together in 1946 the two groups of volunteers created the framework of the second AFS scholarship program.

At the time of the Korean action, AFS received over 200 applications from men and women offering to drive ambulances. Such a corps was not then needed so much as continued expansion of the teen-age scholarship program. But should different circumstances arise, all members will again be ready to provide whatever may be called for by any such change. That is the spirit of the AFS.

This spirit, most simply, is that of people doing things for others, the only thought of personal gain being that of a better world for all. Because of the numerous lasting friendships AFSers formed during the two wars with men of the various nationalities with whom they were in daily contact, AFS believes direct understanding between individuals to be one of the most potent mediums for making good international relations effective. This is the supposedly mysterious "missing link" between the volunteer ambulance corps and the international scholarships. They are just two ways of meeting a felt need within the current circumstances. The AFS has been fortunate to have had a great number of friends eager to help further its programs. Without them, AFS would not be able to function.

The Second World War looms large in this narrative for obvious reasons-primarily because it is a very good story. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give more than a representative view of the French Fellowships or the current teen-age scholarship program because of the space as well as the stupefying repetition that would be entailed. But within the outlines of the various programs, the major actions and attitudes have been given in sufficient detail so that the living experience can be felt.

 

A few words about the material, the sources, and the styling of this book are necessary. The basic decision of whether AFS existed for the war or the war for the AFS, I was told early in the project, would affect all aspects of the work. This seemed no more than a variant of the chicken-or-the-egg poser, and since AFS is the reason for my account the other question is immaterial.

The past 35 years of AFS activity is the subject of this history. So many years offer so much material that many interesting details have had to be omitted---either as repetitious or as inappropriate. The second category includes details of misbehavior (diverting though they occasionally were), of administration (as it is, there may be too much of this), of the voyages (consistently unique, as you would expect from such a group), and of many other activities that to some embattled individualist might seem worthy of blazoning in a particular and vivid red. Neither is there discussion of some very interesting background material (such as the Indian independence movement, French politics, or pacifism), which had much to do with the emotional atmosphere of certain groups at certain times but little to do with AFS activity.

What then is left? The experiences of the ambulance drivers and of the students are what matter: set within the framework of the war or the program, the general activity of the larger group and, when it was recorded, the outstanding activities of individuals. So much has been written that it is amazing that anything could have escaped notice. But among so many individualists it is unavoidable that some should have refused to tell what they did.

The sources for this history are, so far as the AFS is concerned, as purely contemporaneous as possible: memory plays tricks and stories at third hand usually are very unsatisfactory. There may be some exaggeration, but so far as possible every statement has been checked against other records for accuracy.

Much wonderful material had to be omitted entirely. The published Bulletins and AFS Letters offered more that was good than could be used. Many delightful letters and frequent passages in the various platoon and company diaries would have made interesting additions had space allowed. And there was F. R. Childs' reported observation that AFS was "about as efficient as the Children's Crusade." The record speaks for itself, and Childs helped to make that record.

So, no one will be pleased. Those who are not mentioned will, and quite rightly, be sure that they should have been. Those who have been named will know that it should have been for another reason. Those who are not quoted will be sure that they put the matter better than those who are, who in turn will know that their best points have been maliciously cut out. Finally there will be those who look for patient-mileage records, the serious comparison of the magnificent Dodge with all other ambulances, or a statistical evaluation of the scholarship programs. This material does not exist and could not be manufactured. All these are matters for regret. I hope that compensation will be found in the frequency with which "I did that, too" can be said of the experiences mentioned and "bravo" for the records of outstanding achievements.

Much that is unusual by way of styling the manuscript has been done for reasons of space---such as the great use of abbreviations, the reduction of first names to initials, and the abundant use of numerals. Within quotations, a consistency of style in regards to punctuation, spelling, and dating has been imposed, although omissions and additions have been scrupulously marked. The customary italicization of foreign words has been replaced by the more old-fashioned quotation marks---and by these only on first or special uses of the word in question. AFS developed a very special language during the Second War, one that involved words from many languages (a sentence including Arabic, Polish, Urdu, Italian, and New Zealand slang is not difficult to imagine). When one of these words is given an English termination (e.g. shuftying), normal styling is beyond the bounds of possibility.

 

The pleasant part of a foreword is the opportunity to acknowledge with thanks the kind assistance that has made the task possible. First thanks are due to two without whose efforts no history could have been written: Stephen Galatti and William Wightman Phillips. The largest part of the following pages would not have happened without the activity of our Director General, for whose boundless patience and perfect memory no praise is sufficient and no thanks are adequate. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Bill Phillips for his prodigious work collecting the .early records, assuring the creation of the later records, and organizing the whole enormous mass of materials. Personally, I will always be grateful for the friendliness he has shown in sharing his knowledge and frequently guiding my pen away from error.

To J. P. Brinton III, D. M. Hinrichs, C. B. Ives, and Colonel and Mrs. R. S. Richmond I am indebted both for the loan of private papers and the gracious gift of their advice whenever it was needed. I am grateful to J. W. Bell, Jr., M. W. Binford, C. H. Coster, L. M. De Maine, W. K. Du Val, G. H. Edgell, F. W. Hoeing, J. B. Lippincott, Jr., J. E. Nettleton, A. W. Olmsted, E. D. Ripley, A. D. Shoup, Jr., J. U. Wisotzkey, J. C. Wyllie, and C. F. Zeigler for their assistance and encouragement along the way. For the priceless loan of private papers I am glad to thank T. Barbour II, T. Dolan IV, C. P. Edwards, W. T. C. Hannah, A. G. Johnson, R. W. Johnston, R. Mann, H. F. Nomer, R. E. Paddock, D. M. Smith, D. Spencer, R. Thomsen, J. F. Upson, P. B. Warren, and W. A. Whitehead. I would like to add special thanks to Dorothy Field, editor of AFS Letters, and to Sachiye Mizuki, who freely gave much precious time.

And my many thanks to those who wrote the letters and kept the records quoted in the following pages: J. Addoms, L. M. Allen, T. M. Allen, R. M. Applewhite, R. F. Ashmun, D. G. Atwood, R. F. Babcock, T. Barbour II, L. B. Barretto, T. Barton, W. J. Bell, Jr., J. Belmont, M. W. Belsbaw, S. Benson, L. L. Biddle, Jr., J. G. Birkett, R. F. Blair, V. Y. Bowditch, E. O. Bowles, W. D. Brewer, J. H. Brewster, D. G. Briggs, H. S. Brod, J. P. Brown, W. B. Brown, R. A. Burdick, E. H. Cady, M. Cary, W. B. Chamberlin III, H. P. Chandler, O. Chatfield-Taylor, F. B. Cliffe, S. E. Cole, T. O. Cole, C. H. Coster, D. B. Cowles, T W. S. Craven, L. B. Cuddy, Jr., C. C. Curtis, E. C. Custer, A. Y. Davis, E. H. Davis, L. M. De Maine, T. N. De Pew, T. Dolan IV, W. K. Du Val. N. C. Eddy, C. P. Edwards, C. W. Edwards, D. N. Elberfeld, J. M. Evans, J. K. S. Fearnley, N. D. Fenn, J. B. Ferguson, C. M. Field, E. A. Fiero, J. From, S. Galatti, A. C. Geer, P. Gilbert, Jr., N. M. Gilliam, P. C. T. Glenn, T. O. Greenough, R. A. Grey, T. Hale, M. G. Hall, R. T. Hamilton, F. P. Hamlin, G. R. Hammond, W. T. C. Hannah, M. G. Hastings, L. Hill, D. M. Hinrichs, J. N. Hobbs, J. C. Hodel, F. W. Hoeing, K. G. Holland, G. E. Holton, J. P. Horton, A. Howe, Jr., D. Hyatt, C. B. Ives, S. K. Jacobs, E. Jacobsen, P. C. Jarrell, C. N. Jefferys, A. T. Jeffress, C. F. Jenkins, N. O. Jenkins, G. S. Jenkins, A. G. Johnson, R. W. Johnston, D. C. Jones, R. E. Kennedy, F. Kern, Jr., G. F. J. King, R. B. Kohnstamm, H. Larner, C. P. Larrowe, R. J. Latham, J. A. Lester, Jr., M. E. Long, W. B. Lovelace, A. T. Mackay, R. Mann, G. R. Marsh, W. L. Marsh, A. R. Martin, D. L. McCollester, A. McElwain, G. F. McKay, W. P. Meleney, H. P. Metcalf, C. J. Milne IV, R. M. Mitchell, D. W. Moor, C. Morley, Jr., P. U. Muir, T. E. Munce, J. F. Murray, J. E. Nettleton, J. L. Nierenberg, H. F. Nomer, N. Noyes, J. T. Ogden, R. E. Paddock, H. Parker, A. P. Parsell, Jr., J. R. Patrick, R. E. Paulson, B. C. Payne, J. de J. Pemberton, Jr., C. E. Perkins, W. H. Perry, W. W. Phillips, H. L. Pierce, R. S. Pierrepont, A. Randall, R. S. Richmond, W. 1. Riegelman, E. D. Ripley, R. A. Schroth, F. N. Scott, L. Semple 111, T. W. Shepard, E. H. Sieber, R. F. Skillings, C. S. Snead, E. M. Spavin, D. Spencer, K. P. Stephens, A. M. P. Stratton, A. R. Stuyvesant, R. B. Taylor, G. E. Tener, E. W. Thomas II, R. Thomsen, R. C. Tripp, J. R. Ullman, R. C. Vivian, F. W. Wackernagel, L. Warren, P. B. Warren, W. D. Watson, L. V. White, R. B. Whiteside, H. B. Willis, C. M. Wright, D. M. Wright, J. C. Wyllie, R. L. Yancey, and C. F. Zeigler.