The Jewish Welfare Board activities presented new and additional problems during the course of the year. The Army and the Navy Posts, as well as the hospitals for disabled veterans, and the soldier's homes, required special attention during the Summer months.

The Fort Sheridan Army Post is now the main recruiting station in the Middle West. It attracts men from all over the country, and after proper training which may last a month to a year, they are distributed among the various camps. There are a comparitively large number of Jewish boys who join the Army, either because of the opportunities it offers, or on account of economic or domestic difficulties they may have, and it is primarily with the latter that this department has a great deal to do for they invariably get into some difficulty with the authorities, who appreciate the cooperation of civil agencies, and thus the Chaplain and the Commanding Officers have on many occasions offered to reinstate Jewish boys have been committed to prison sentence for desertion, provided they make an effort to make good. Every time our representative visited 2Fort Sheridan guard house, he has been asked to make that offer to the Jewish men. On Pesach, three boys were paroled in order to attend services at Waukegan.

During the Summer, most of the men were transferred to Camp Custer, leaving only about 100 men to attend to the building; also 132 prisoners remained in camp prison. Our chief activities at Camp Custer were during the month of August, with the Students Military Training Corps men. There were about 4,000 men at camp, with about 80 Jewish men. Our representative visited the camp twice, and with the cooperation of the Chaplain, succeeded in reaching most of the Jewish boys. Services were conducted by the Rabbis from nearby towns, and these were very well attended. The Great Lakes Naval Station presented similar problems, except that there was a much smaller number of Jewish boys in the Navy. The Chaplain of the station instructed a stenographer to keep track of all the Jewish boys, and we have been told that for over two months not a single Jewish man joined the Navy.

The Radio School did not reopen until the late Fall. We find that the Jewish boys joining the Navy are of a much higher type than those joining the Army. They usually pass the required entrance examination into the Radio School. Both the Army and the Navy men were visited by our representative once a week during the Summer. Some of the boys attended services and dances and other social functions at the Center in Waukegan. The men in the hospitals and veterans' soldiers homes usually attempt to leave these institutions during the Summer months, and whoever was capable of working, applied at the office for help in finding work. Our representative found much help through the Employment Department of the Social Service Bureau, in these cases. In many instances, he received cooperation through the Red Cross and other similar agencies in finding employment for the men. the Red Cross and the American Legion were the chief cooperating agencies in the Federal Bonus and Compensation Claims. Several cooperating agencies, such as the Gimel Doled Club and Sholem Alechem Club of Milwaukee, gave dinners and entertainments on Armistice day. A number of parties have likewise been given during the Chanukah holidays.

Our representative, in visiting the hospitals, makes an effort to see as many of the boys individually as he possibly can, and discusses with them personal problems, such as compensation, employment, hospitalization, rehabilitation and domestic affairs; he also distributes stamps, cigarettes, shaving necessities, and various small items of wearing apparel. This part of the work brings him in contact with the American Red Cross, the United States Veteran Bureau and the United States Naturalization Bureau, all of them extending the heartiest cooperation to the work of the Welfare Board.

Every one of the boys in the institutions and posts visited, is advised that the office of the Jewish Welfare Board is at the Jewish Peoples Institute and that it is open to them; that they are welcome to come in and consult with the Jewish Welfare Board representative whenever they so wish. Boys from Speedway, Milwaukee, Fort Sheridan, and even Marion Indiana, have taken advantage of this invitation, and have always been made to feel that the Jewish Welfare Board is willing and ready to extend a helping hand.

The District which this office represents comprises the following institutions: