In 1918, during World War I, Walt Disney attempted to enlist for military service but was rejected because he was underage, only sixteen years old. Instead, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered not with camouflage, but with his cartoon drawings!
Disney was first billeted in a chateau in St. Cyr. Later, he transferred to Evacuation Hospital Number 5 near Paris, where his duties included being a driver and mechanic for Red Cross supply trucks and providing taxi service for army officers.
He also served at a Red Cross canteen at Neufchateau in the French countryside. His duties included driving Alice Howell, a Red Cross canteen worker, to various base hospitals to deliver doughnuts and ice cream to patients. The two became friends and a few years later when one of Howell’s colleagues was visiting the Disney studios, he asked about her and renewed their acquaintance by sending her a Mickey Mouse doll the following Christmas.
Credit : American Red Cross
Picture Credit : Google
