Oral History – Military Nurses & Others Caring for the Wounded

May Parks Anderson
ENS May (Parks) Anderson, NC USN,
June 1945–Feb. 1946.

“What I remember most are the horrible, hideous burns. I was assigned to a surgical hospital ward, and we had a lot of burn patients. It was a 92-bed ward, but of course they were not all personal care. The far end of it were service men, boys really, mostly who were waiting to be either discharged or sent back to duty ... sure, they had broken bones, and were otherwise injured. Those cases, primarily orthopedic were in another nearby ward, but may have been burned also. So, you see, you never knew what you had to deal with. … My most memorable patient was a young man named Harger from Baton Rouge, Louisana. He had terrible, terrible, heavy, heavy scarring on his arms to the point where his fingers were almost webbed. He was there for months getting his fingers separated so he could bend them. I remember him. There was another one named Coleman who had been injured because a Japanese Kamikaze pilot crashed into the gun turret on his battleship. He had burns and scars on his face so he was also psychologically wounded. I have to say that the surgeons were incredibly good. They made him look good again.”

Interview: May Parks Anderson, interviewed by Kate Scott, Women's Memorial, 22 November 2005, tape and transcript deposited at the Women’s Memorial Foundation, Arlington, VA.

1 LTAnnee (Yazzie) Coots, USA NC, 1965-66.
3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam.

“I was mistaken for Vietnamese. I was really skinny. I weighed 100 lbs and had long hair. [For] example, when we got there and they told us in a couple of days after arriving there in Saigon, they said, ‘We have mail call, the people that just arrived, you have mail in the hospital.’ So, without thinking, you know, I left my I.D. in my quarters. I went out and went to the hospital, but I couldn't get in. They wouldn't let me in without my I.D. … so, the MPs put the gun in front of me like that and clicked their guns and it was the most frightening thing that I had experienced. You think, ‘My God. These are the people that support you, that know that you're here.’”

Interview: Annee Yazzie Coots, interviewed by Kate Scott, Window Rock, AZ, 27 September 2003, tape and transcript deposited at the Women’s Memorial Foundation, Arlington, VA.

Col Linda McHale, USAFR NC,
1974–Present.

“I worked with the Iraqi nurses on a national level … it was one of those times that you realize everything you’ve learned and everything you’ve experienced up to that point was going to be tested.  It was also one of the most difficult things I have done.  It was the first time I was exposed to a very serious, high threat situation.  In preparation for this, I went to Fort Bliss for the most rigorous warrior training I could go through.  Being a nurse, someone who spent her life putting other people together, it was difficult to get into that warrior mentality and learn how to carry a gun.

"I worked with Iraqi nurses so they would have a way of training up … the proposal was to try and get them some kind of identity, some kind of uniform … we were never able to sell to the Iraqi government.  We tried to help them to find a way to put them into a business plan.  They never had an opportunity to make choices, to be proactive.  Those were not words they have ever heard.  We gave them a chance to say we are professional and we can improve ourselves.  We wanted to give them some identity.  They were just shocked, that I as a woman, had been in charge of doctors; and, that I would have men report to me and I would tell them what to do.  It has not been so many years ago, that nurses had the autonomy, respect, and professionalism they have today.  They needed to hear that. We had to show them we had more in common than we had different.  It is a matter of health diplomacy.  Reaching out from every sector. 

"You look back on the life you have had and it has been a privilege.  Being in the military has given me opportunities I never expected to have. You know, a small town country girl from Hazel, Texas to become a Colonel?  Until you leave this country and see what other people have to deal with, you have no idea what you have to give.  We all have something to give.  That’s what it is all about.”

Interview: Col Linda L. O’Riley McHale, USAFR NC, interviewed by Kate Scott, Arlington, VA, 09 February 2006, tape and transcript deposited at the Women’s Memorial Foundation, Arlington, VA.
Cadet Nurse
Betty Rose Shellenberger Mentzer,
Cadet nurse, World War II.

"I was born in a suburb of Altoona, Pennsylvania. ... At the age of 18, I entered the nursing school as a student. This was in 1942. I completed my training in 1945. I entered training immediately after Pearl Harbor and graduated just after VE Day. So, my entire World War II experience was spent in the hospital training to be a military nurse. When I entered my second year in training the Cadet Nurse Act was passed. I grew up during the depression. I saved my money babysitting for 3.50 per week. Nursing school tuition seemed enormous. So, when we heard about [Congresswoman] Frances Bolton and her sponsorship of the act to enlist student nurses ... to be prepared for the return of the soldiers. I believe they expected a lot of psychiatric soliders or at that time we called it shell shock. They wanted us to be exceptionally prepared to treat and care for those returning home.

"In return for tuition, the hospital received a stipend for us in terms of books, room/board, and care. In exchange, we promised we would stay active in nursing. I don't believe there was a time limit on it, but we assumed we would serve indefinitely. The first year we got a $15.00 per month stipend. We thought we were millionaires. Books, board, food, everything was included by that act. We did not even have to deal with income tax. The Bolton Act did not change our quality of care, because discipline at that time was so strict. After the first six months, there were very few drop-outs.

"There were certain times we had to wear the Cadet Nurse Corps uniform, but I wore my white hospital uniform on a day-to-day basis. We made sure to wear the uniform for the movies so we got in free of charge. I chose the Cadet Nurse Corps because I wanted to be a nurse and I wanted to be in the military. I had tunnel vision on this. The Cadet Nurse Corps was in my plan, it was available to me, and there was no question about it. I wanted to go. It was my duty. I was training for a job I wanted to do."

Interview: Betty Rose Shellenberger Mentzer, interviewed by Kate Scott, 25 January 2006, tape and transcript deposited at the Women's Memorial Foundation, Arlington, VA.

Elizabeth Shwab Sanders, ARC,
Hospital Recreation Worker.

"I was assigned to the 57th Station Hospital in North Africa. We arrived there in Oran the day the soldiers came in from the desert after the defeat of Rommel. My first assignment was to dance on the cobblestone streets with those soldiers. Then, I was assigned to the mighty 95th Evacuation Hospital because the Red Cross worker there had been injured. I went to the 95th to take the place of Esther Richards who was wounded when the hospital ship on which she was going across the Mediterranean was bombed. When she recovered from that injury she came back to the 95th Evacuation Hospital and the two of us worked together. We went into Anzio on D+4 and that was when the Germans began to counter-attack and Esther Richards was killed in action there when our hospital was bombed to such an extent that we could not operate anymore. I went in to help them on what they call D+24. After that, I was assigned to the 21st General and finally to the 27th Evacuation Hospital which was getting ready to go from France into Germany. Hospital Recreation Workers’ could not be given the title of Director of the Unit because we did not have degrees in social work. The most important thing was when we were in the hospital and a boy was brought in wounded. We were to persuade him to write to his family. Sometimes, we had to help him write his letter to his family saying that he had been wounded and that he was in the hospital and that he was getting along all right. If we did that, that letter reached his family before the War Department communications came saying that the boy had been wounded. So, they had some reassurance when the terrible news came from the War Department. I am very glad I took part in the service. I think it was the highlight of my life, really, that you lived at the best of your ability during that time. It was satisfying because no matter how hard you try to do things for the men in the hospital, they always end up doing a little more for you."

Interview: Elizabeth Shwab Sanders, interviewed by Virginia Van Zandt Miles, Women’s Memorial, 12 April 1989, tape and transcript deposited in the NSCD Collection at the Women’s Memorial Foundation, Arlington, VA.