History Lesson
Courage, commitment of WWII nurses serve as inspiration for future generations

By Beth Ulrich, Ed.D, RN, South Central Editor
November 26, 2001

Dec. 7 marks the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the engagement of the United States into World War II. Until Pearl Harbor, the war wasn't personal. It was happening to other people-not us. In many ways, the events of the last several months mimic the United States post-Pearl Harbor. Terrorism did not begin for the world on Sept. 11, but it did begin in earnest for many Americans.

As we approach the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and especially this year with our military again in harm's way, I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize all the nurses who served in World War II. Nurses who joined the military before Pearl Harbor generally had little expectation that their service would include war. When war came, however, both military and civilian nurses stepped forward and became modern-day heroes of our profession.

One such example was the group of Army, Navy and civilian nurses stationed in the Philippine Islands at what was considered one of the best postings a nurse could get, with its combination of island life and a fairly light workload. All that changed when the Philippines was attacked along with Pearl Harbor. The difference in the Philippines was that the bombing continued and was followed by enemy invasions. For months, the nurses cared for the casualties, forced to move from place to place (including jungles and tunnels) as site after site was destroyed or captured.

The Navy nurses became the first nurse prisoners of war as Manila was captured Jan. 3, 1942. Just before Corregidor fell, a few nurses were evacuated back to the States, but the remainder became POWs when the American forces on Corregidor surrendered May 6, 1942. They remained prisoners, often under the most arduous conditions, until they were liberated in February 1945. They came home to press conferences and parades that quickly faded. It seemed no one was quite sure how to deal with women who had been prisoners of war. It was not until Elizabeth Norman, Ph.D., RN, wrote We Band of Angels (1999; Random House) about these nurses that their stories were fully told. The stories of countless other nurses who served in World War II remain untold to this day.

Today, many nurses and many more young and old Americans remain unaware of the heroics of our World War II colleagues. Most of these nurses are now in their 80s and time is growing short to capture their experiences and wisdom.

As we approach the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, may I suggest that we look around us, find these nurses in our communities, ask them to tell us the stories of their careers, document these stories for future generations and share them with each other.

In this issue of NURSEWEEK, we talk about how nurses can be ambassadors of our profession to recruit others into nursing. There is no finer way to achieve that than to discover and then talk about and honor our collective history and the contributions and successes of nurses across the years. Let's start this week by honoring the nurses of World War II.

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