worked closely with the local Health Department, primarily on the two biggest health issues involving the troops: venereal diseases and typhoid fever, both great menaces in 1917. While working at Camp Lee, Draper lived in a boarding house in Petersburg with his wife and young son. His tenure at Camp Lee was short, and he was soon called to undertake similar work at the port in Newport News, Virginia where troops embarked for the war in Europe. He was primarily brought in to help resolve a management situation involving health service personnel, and with his easy-going manner but competent management skills was able to get things working smoothly, bringing praises from headquarters in Washington. Again, Draper's service in Newport News was shortened when influenza broke out in New England, and he was put in charge of relief efforts there. This outbreak of the flu became global in scope and developed into one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history, giving Draper a great respect for the disease. He at first worked in Boston and sometimes sat in on the staff meetings of Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge when an update on the flu situation was needed. Without the availability of antibiotics at the time, medical personnel found that it was beneficial to get the flu victims out of crowded hospitals, where many of them would die, and into tents where they would get a lot more fresh air. According to Draper, "if we could bed [the patients] down in tents which were furnished by the National Guard, more of them lived. If we got them into bed in the early stages of the disease the chances of living were far better. If they stayed around for two or three days, and finally went to bed, because they couldn't do anything else—they would very likely die." While in Massachusetts, Draper worked out of the State House in Boston, and had several regional directors working under his overall supervision. Members of his staff came from a variety of sources, including the Public Health Service, the Hygienic Laboratory, and the American Red Cross. He assigned different members of his staff to the areas with the greatest need, and during the epidemic he also worked in different locations including Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. One night during his time in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Draper was awakened in the middle of the night by raucous noise