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| The view from the deck of the S. S. St. Paul, as it departs New York Pier 61 on May 19, 1917. Chief Nurse Julia C. Stimson described the departure: “It was a glorious day and the sail down the harbor was wonderful. All kinds of boats tooted and blew their whistles at us and people on ferry boats waved and cheered us.” Base Hospital 21, consisting of 28 officers, 65 nurses, and 185 enlisted men, sailed with personnel from Base Hospital #10 from the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Members of neither unit knew their ultimate destination when they departed – there were rumors of Mesopotamia, Russia, England, and the North of France. | |