“During the world’s reconstruction period we can conscientiously help, and act positively,
showing the world the sincerity and consistency of our [Christian] profession.”
On January 25, 1919, only twenty-one days after Orie volunteered at the
Lancaster meeting of the Mennonite Relief Commission for War Sufferers,
Elta, A. N. Wolf, and Elta’s friend Martha Martin stood on Pier 62 in
New York Harbor and watched the USS Pensacola disappear over the
Atlantic horizon. Orie was on his way to Beirut, Syria (now Lebanon),
along with eight other Mennonite volunteers who were serving at the call
of the commission. It would be fifteen months before he returned home.
No one could know that this was the first of more than sixty transatlantic
crossings for Orie.
Conditions in Beirut
On February 19, after twenty-six days on the Atlantic, the Pensacola
dropped anchor in the port of Beirut. Until the five tons of relief supplies
were unloaded, the volunteers had time to explore the city. Orie made
note of camel caravans; emaciated children barely dressed, some crying
of hunger; soldiers in uniform from many nations; and some well-dressed
Syrians. Orie had never imagined he would see “such a mixed up motly”
collection of people in a single city. And, of course, now the foreign North
American Mennonites were added to the mix.
Thoughts about Future Service
On March 16, the Mennonite workers in Beirut had front-row seats in
a memorial service for the million or more Armenians massacred by the
Turks in the recent war. They found themselves in “rather stately company”
among French and English officers and Red Cross personnel. The
ceremony was conducted in Armenian, except for an English-language
description of the horrors suffered by the victims and an expression of
gratitude for the civil and military assistance of the Allied nations.
A Mission to Russia?
In Beirut, Orie was now in charge of Red Cross warehouses and all
goods received and shipped. He was part of the network of support for
five thousand orphans in the city. While the work was going well, Orie
was dismayed by the long silence of Aaron Loucks and William Derstine,
who had not kept the Beirut volunteers apprised of their progress in
Constantinople. On their way home they suddenly appeared in Beirut, as
though it were an afterthought. The two had been entirely unsuccessful
in Constantinople. Although the NER had assured them of assistance,
the New York office had not prepared the way with the Constantinople
office. There would be no Mennonite relief unit. Orie was disappointed,
but not surprised; he had “felt it coming.”
Orie Promoted
On May 23, Orie received by letter his formal appointment as quartermaster
to the stores of Beirut District. Major James Nichol, deputy commissioner
for Syria, signed the order. The new title was a military designation
for the chief base supply officer, having the rank of captain or major.
Quartermaster Miller would now buy all supplies foreign or domestic,
sign all shipping orders, and oversee weekly expenditures of $3,000 to
$5,000 for supplies from the local markets. He was quite confident that
by making these purchases personally, he could save the agency money. To
Elta he wrote that he did not share this “dope” with everyone, but only
with her, since she was interested in everything he did.
Commanding Officer and Director of Beirut District
Orie had challenges of a different sort; he was now buying all food supplies
for the mess hall at the American College, two hospitals, and an
orphanage, about 150 people in all. With frugality ever in mind, he could
save more money by buying supplies in larger quantities. He was also
learning to know “nearly all the biggest wholesale merchants of Beirut,”
some of whom were very wealthy. While his success was pleasing his
Beirut superiors, he knew he was failing others. Elta’s parents “wanted
and deserved a different kind of son-in-law.” Any decision he and Elta
would make that deviated from the past four years “will not be just as
they wished.” He was “very, very sorry about this . . . but I want to do
right at any cost.” In an echo of his floundering for direction at Goshen
College, he lamented, “It is so hard to know just in what direction one’s
duty lies.”
Something of a Celebrity
At home, Orie found himself something of a celebrity. In the next sixteen
weeks, he spoke eighteen times to audiences from Akron to Middlebury,
Indiana, and from from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Ocean Grove, New
Jersey. His diaries, letters, and articles for the church press had made his
a household name. He also had opportunity to speak to other audiences,
but when invited by the NER to speak to other groups, Orie said, as he
would so often in the future, that his first obligation was to the congregations
“of our own church.”
Orie was never eloquent. He gained a hearing not for the manner of his
speaking, but for his message. In time, he developed his own vocabulary,
which his first biographer called “Orieisms” and “Millerese.” Sometimes
his language was cryptic; at other times, he wrote endless sentences.
Having earned an English major at Goshen College did not prevent Orie
from inventing his own unorthodox semantics.62 (For a sampling, see
Appendix A.)
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