Chaplain Leo AND HIS MESSAGE FIELDS Four Years of Service HAPLAIN ALBERT LEO, six times cited for heroism in the French army, honored as one of the bravest of the brave even among the Alpine Chasseurs, with whom he served during most of the war, later a chaplain with the Ninth Division in the Second Battle of the Marne, has recently come to this country to tell the story of the fiery trial of French Protestants in the formerly invaded regions. The experiences of these people, living for years in the face of the cannon blast, helpless victims of the foe’s cruelty and caprice, were comparable only to those of their predecessors, the Huguenots, in the period of persecution which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. No one is better fitted to tell this thrilling story from its begin¬ ning than Chaplain Leo, who saw and suffered with his fellow Protes¬ tants from the first Marne to Sedan, gave them the ministrations of religion in the intervals of battle and march, and traversed the dev¬ astated area from the Somme to Alsace while the German armies were at the height of their terrible power. Severely Wounded in Action Wounded in several places by shell fragments in the great French drive for the heart of the then occupied region at the Chemin des Dames in April, 1917, his life was despaired of, but, with the help of his vigorous constitution, he recovered after a year’s invalidism from his wounds and the succeeding complications of incipient gan¬ grene, inflammation of the lungs and pleurisy. When returning strength enabled him to satisfy his desire to return to the firing line, he showed in the last months of the war the same “absolute contempt of danger and entire self-sacrifice” which the chief of the 66th divi¬ sion had noted officially in his first citation. Chaplain Leo comes to the United States with a commission from the entire body of French Protestantism to cooperate with the Inter- church Committee for Christian Relief in France and Belgium, which is conducting a campaign in this country for funds with which to re¬ store the ruined Protestant churches in the former war zone and extend temporary help to their struggling pastors and congregations. The committee, after a careful survey of the loss and the needs of the present and the immediate future, estimates that the total sum required will be $3,000,000. Ministered to Alpine Chasseurs At the outbreak of the war, Chaplain Leo was pastor of the Re¬ formed church at Arachon, near Bordeaux, which he had been serv¬ ing for two years. Like thousands of French clergymen of all creeds, he was mobilized as a private soldier early in August, 1914, and went to the front as an assistant on a Red Cross train. Happening to come in contact in Alsace with some of the Alpine Chasseurs, whom the Germans called “Blue Devils” on account of their reckless courage, he became fascinated by the possibilities for religious work among these rough but sterling men. In August, 1915, he was transferred to the Red Cross section of the 68th battalion of the chasseurs, and began a period of service with them during which he was repeatedly decorated for courage, and became one of the most popular men of the command. His sixth citation said of him: “His bravery is considered a habit.” Later he accepted a chaplaincy, and held that rank at the close of the war. His Story of War’s Ruin Chaplain Leo is in this country to tell American Protestants a story which they cannot comprehend alone even with the aid of imagination, for in this case fact is stranger than fiction. In a wide belt of France, he has reported to the Interchurch Committee for Christian Relief in France and Belgium, the country is swept as bare as the top of a table. No living thing grows there and it is even dan¬ gerous to plow or hoe the land, because of the number of unexploded shells concealed beneath the surface. In that region many of the churches are in ruins. The refugee congregations are worshipping where they can, bereft of worldly goods and ministered to by a scant number of pastors, some of whom are infirm from wounds. Chaplain Leo tells his story with the simple earnestness of a sol¬ dier, and the Interchurch Committee believes that Americans will hear and heed it. He summarized his plea thus in a recent address: “While the war was raging most fiercely I heard that the Ger¬ mans were driving heavy attacks near Soissons. Our troops were tired out, outnumbered. Then suddenly the rumor spread: ‘The American Marines are here!’ ” Hope and courage were renewed. We had a great force backing us. So it is with our churches. The people have been thrown out of their cities, the churches have been destroyed, but now the news that the American churches are ready to help has already brought hope and life to the discouraged.” Do You Know That In the German invasion of France and Belgium many of the Protestant churches within the zone of military operations were pounded to dust heaps, reduced to mere piles of stones or left roofless? One hundred French Protestant pastors and theological students were killed in the war and several times that number were wounded? Refugees returning to their former villages and cities are without funds to supply their own bare necessities and helpless, therefore, to support pastors even if pastors can be found ? The French can not raise this money unassisted? There is no help left except in America, to which these refugees look as a land of bounty and gen¬ erosity ? As the result of a request from all the Protestant organizations in France and Belgium to all the Protestant Churches in America, the Interchurch Com¬ mittee for Christian Relief in France and Belgium is undertaking to raise $3,000,000 to heal the material wounds so grievously suffered. Its Executive Committee is constituted as follows: Rev. John Y. Aitceiison Prof. Jean C. Bracq Rev. Arthur J. Brown Rev. W. I. Chamberlain Rev. Francis E. Clark Rev. Chas. S. Clelanii Plev. Henry S. Coffin Mrs. James C. Colgate Rt. Rev. J. H. Darlington Rev. Wm. H. Foulkes Rev. James I. Good William A. Harbison Rev. William I. Haven Director of the Campaign, George O. Tamblyn Advisor, C. S. Ward Treasurer, Alfred R. Kimball Headquarters: 289 Fourth Ave., New York City How the $3,000,000 Will Be Spent 1. Rebuilding of destroyed church property 2 . Support of pastors and leaders 3 . Support of Protestant orphanages , hospitals and theological seminaries 4. Christian evangelization 5 . Relief of Protestant refugees; restoring them to their homes. Rev. Hubert C. Herring Rev. William S. Holt Mrs. Frank B. Kelly Rev. Frederick Lynch Rev. C. S. Macfarland Paul G. McIntire Rev. Frank M. North Rev. W. W. Pinson Rev. R. C. Reed Edmond E. Robert Wm. Jay Schieffelin Rev. Charles J. Smith