William Howard Russell 1850. Initially sent by editor John Delane to Malta to cover British support for the Ottoman Empire against Russia in 1854, Russell despised the term "war correspondent" but his coverage of the conflict brought him international renown, and Florence Nightingale later credited her entry into wartime nursing to his reports. The Crimean medical care, shelter and protection of all ranks by Mary Seacole was also publicised by Russell and by other contemporary journalists, rescuing her from bankruptcy. Russell was described by one of the soldiers on the frontlines thus: "a vulgar low Irishman, [who] sings a good song, drinks anyone's
William Howard Brett Association's Library War Service. Between 1917 and 1920, the ALA supplied "books and magazines to U.S. troops in America and France". Always the librarian and war supporter, Brett started a chapter of the Library War Service in Ohio and proceeded to collect funds and books in service to this war effort. Before his untimely death by a drunk driver, William Howard Brett was preparing to deliver a set of books and magazines dedicated to the soldiers fighting in World War I in France. This donation and other U. S. librarians' volunteer service later established what we now know as the