American Red Cross Documents the World War I's Aftermath
YWCA volunteers established “hostess houses” to provide a haven for women and families both on American bases and abroad. The hostess house—at what later became known as the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France—offered shelter to families visiting the graves of troops of the 27th and 30th Divisions who had been slaughtered when attacking the Hindenburg Line. Although many families insisted on repatriation of their dead, of the nearly 84,000 American soldiers who died overseas during World War I, more than 30,000 of the deceased were buried near where they had fallen.
YWCA volunteers established “hostess houses” to provide a haven for women and families both on American bases and abroad. The hostess house—at what later became known as the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France—offered shelter to families visiting the graves of troops of the 27th and 30th Divisions who had been slaughtered when attacking the Hindenburg Line. Although many families insisted on repatriation of their dead, of the nearly 84,000 American soldiers who died overseas during World War I, more than 30,000 of the deceased were buried near where they had fallen.