>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington, D.C.
>> I'd like now to introduce
Major Jennifer Petersen,
who will lead a panel on
women in military medicine.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Thank you.
>> Major Petersen.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Thank you.
"Girls get your uniforms on!
This is the real thing."
That is the urgent
message a Navy nurse heard
when she answered the phone on a
Sunday morning December 7, 1941.
She put her uniform on
and raced to the hospital.
Just as the attack had
occurred at Pearl Harbor,
the soldiers had
began to arrive.
The attack surprised not only
the nurses stationed in Hawaii
but the whole country.
Caused us to join World War II.
Good morning.
Today I'm honored to be
here to welcome all of you
and our foremembers of America's
greatest generation here
on stage.
These are four nurses that
served in World War II.
They represented part of
over 350,000 women who served
in different women's
units throughout the war.
Today we have with us these
nurses who are going to share
with you their stories.
In the Army Nurse Corps alone,
over 60,000 women served
during World War II.
And just to give you a little
perspective, currently today
in our Army Nurse Corps,
we have 3,400 women.
So nurses at that time just
really tremendously answered the
call to serve, caring
for soldiers
in combat zones throughout
the European
and Mediterranean theaters
from D-Day in North Africa
through campaigns in Italy and
France to V-E Day in Germany.
Two hundred and seventeen
Army nurses lost their lives,
16 under enemy action.
Sixteen hundred nurses
were decorated
for meritorious and
brave services.
More than 14,000 Navy nurses
served stateside and overseas
on hospital ships
and as flight nurses.
These women of the greatest
generation paid their price
for freedom just as all
the veterans who served
at that time, and today we
honor our heroes, our nurses.
It is my pleasure to introduce
to you today the four nurses
who served in different
capacities.
To my far left we have
Captain Anna Busby,
who joined the Army Nurse
Corps in August of 1939.
Ms. Busby eventually
found her way to Hawaii,
and she was present at
Pearl Harbor in 1941
on that fateful day, and she
would remain their to work
through that day that
President Roosevelt called
"the day that'll
live in infamy."
And here next to me, I have
Ms. Martha Blackman Leierer,
and she was a Navy nurse.
She served on the USS
Solace from November
of 1943 to January of 1945.
During her tenure on the
Solace, she cared for marines
and soldiers and sailors
that were being evacuated
from intense areas of fighting.
The 450-bed hospital that
she served on the ship cared
for approximately
10,000 patients,
of which 7,500 were
war casualties during
that 16-month period.
Next to her in the beautiful
turquoise is Ms. Marian
Sebring Elcano.
She was moved by spirit --
the spirit of patriotism
and joined the Army Nurse
Corps in January of 1943.
She served with the
45th Evacuation Hospital
in the European theater.
Her unit landed on the
shores of Normandy shortly
after the first soldiers.
She went ahead and moved
20 times during her time
across Northern France,
the Rhineland,
the Ardennes, and
Central Europe.
And next to me is Colonel
Margaret Bailey, retired.
She joined the Army Nurse
Corps in June of 1944.
She reported to Fort Huachuca,
Arizona, where she worked
in a segregated environment,
caring for soldiers of the 92nd
and 93rd Division prior to
their deployments overseas
and later caring for
German prisoners of war
in a German prisoner of war
camp that was set up in Arizona.
And I must let you know with
great distinction she served,
as she was our first black
woman to be promoted to the rank
of colonel within the
Army Nurse Corps, so --
[ Applause ]
Ladies, welcome.
And thank you for your
tremendous service, sacrifices,
and contribution to
our great nation.
Please, I want to let
you share your stories
with our audience today and
give them a little piece
of what your life was
like during World War II.
We're going to begin
with Captain Anna Busby.
>> Capt. Anna Busby: I will tell
you about the first 24 hours --
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Right up close.
>> Capt. Anna Busby: I will tell
you about the first 24 hours
after the Pearl Harbor attack.
I was a patient that day.
The head nurse on the ward
was running down the porch
at Tripler Hospital in
Hawaii, and I ran after her.
It was unusual for patients
-- for nurses to run.
Here is what we saw.
There was a big fire and
smoke at Hickam Field
on -- at Pearl Harbor.
And in a moment, while we
were looking at all that,
something flashed
before our eyes
and hit the pineapple
cannery oil drum.
That went up into a huge flame.
Well, that frightened us more.
The head nurse ran
back to the office.
Should I tell her name?
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Absolutely.
>> Capt. Anna Busby: Her
name was Madeline Doherty,
and 50 years later, I
found out what had happened
to her from her brother.
She picked up the phone
and called a colonel friend
at Hickam Field, and I
heard her say, "My God,
the Japanese are
bombing Pearl Harbor."
I was in my patient's garb, and
I said, "We will all be needed
on duty, and I will
report to the chief nurse."
This is what I did.
As I went down the stairway --
the maternity ward was
underneath the women's ward.
I said to Verla Thompson,
who was preparing formulas
for the babies, "Tommy,
the Japanese are
bombing Pearl Harbor."
"Oh, Anna, you're
always kidding."
And on I went -- I don't
know whether it's 50 feet
or 100 feet -- to
the nurses' quarters.
When I got there, a nurse
was going on a picnic
with her boyfriend,
and she said, "Anna,
we're going on the
picnic with --
and celebrating my
boyfriend's birthday."
I said, "No one's
going anywhere.
We will all be needed on duty."
In the next few moments, I was
in the chief nurse's office,
and Edna Rockefeller said to me,
"Where do you think you're
going with that red face?
You look like a casualty.
You can't take care
of those patients."
I said, "Wherever you need me."
I was assigned to
the women's ward.
After I took my radio
to my room,
put on another nurse's uniform,
now I was returning back
to the women's ward.
And the corridor upstairs and
downstairs, they were littered
with injured patients.
They were moaning, groaning.
Now, I'm on the ward,
taking care of the patients.
I will tell you that
I was terrified.
I thought, "This is it."
Now, because I was a patient
for several weeks or days
or whatever it was at the
time, I did not hear any rumors
of any kind of what
was going on.
And I dated a lot practically
every night, every day, dancing.
So what happened next?
I'm on duty, and I'm scared.
And somebody was yelling,
"Nurse, run down this hallway!
Somebody is -- there's a
fire in a patient's room."
I ran down the hallway, went
into this patient's room,
and there I saw this beautiful,
Dresden-like patient who was --
oh, I don't know whether
she was in her 70s or 80s.
She was smoking a cigarette
and the handkerchief caught
on fire on that enamel table.
I took the pitcher of
water, put out the fire.
I grabbed the matches
and the cigarette
from the patient's hand.
I threw the cigarettes and the
matches in the dresser drawer,
and I said to the patient,
"You cannot smoke
unless someone stays
with you, and I have no time."
Now, don't forget I
was scared to death.
I went out to the room.
I reported the incident
later on that day
when Dr. Young made rounds,
and the patient was
going to be discharged.
As she was going out the door --
as she was going out the door,
I said to her, "Take
care, and God bless you."
And she said to me,
"I bet you're glad
that I'm going home."
I did not reply.
Now, what I want to tell
you is that the doctors --
the civilian doctors and the
nurses in town came to help.
Not only did they come to help,
but the prostitutes did also.
Would you like to
know what they did?
Well, I'll tell you.
They came in, and they helped
us change those rubber sheets
on the beds because
they were very bloody.
Days later, I looked in on these
wards at what was taking place.
But the infection on my
face was better within --
by December the 25th,
and they wanted
to send me back home
to the mainland.
I said, "Oh, please,
don't send me anywhere.
Let me stay here.
I've been having
such a good time.
And I did have a
very good time."
So there is a lot more that
I can tell you that is --
has been published,
but I can also tell you
that there is a lot that
has not been published,
and there's some things
that I will not tell.
Maybe I will later on.
I don't know.
[ Applause ]
God bless you for
listening, and thank you.
And God bless America.
[ Applause ]
>> Maj. Jennifer Petersen: We're
going to let Martha go next.
Next, we'll hear from Ms.
Martha Blackman Leierer,
who was a Navy nurse.
Real close like a
ice cream cone.
>> Martha Leierer: I served on
the USS Solace hospital ship,
and the medical personnel
consisted of 17 doctors,
two dentists, and 113 nurses
and 160 hospital corpsmen.
I reported aboard November
13, 1943, and I stayed
on until January 1945.
I boarded the ship in San
Francisco on November 11, 1943,
and we left soon after and
headed for New Caledonia.
However, our course was
changed to the Gilbert Islands
and Tarawa, where the
marines landed and were
in a serious fight
with the Japanese.
November 24th, we
picked up 250 casualties.
A large number of Navy
ships, destroyers, cruisers,
and troop ships were there,
the patients who we brought
out to the solace and brought
aboard while we were underway.
Wounds were mostly gunshot,
burns, and broken bones.
USS Relief hospital ship also
arrived to pick up casualties.
Over 3,000 casualties
were reported.
It seems as if I were walking
miles giving out medicine
and looking after the patients.
We had to have blackout and
were continually on the lookout
for enemy planes and ships.
The Solace got underway to
Pearl Harbor to take in --
on more patients or
go to the states.
I lost one patient who had
suffered a gunshot wound
and suddenly died.
He told me that his
sister was a nurse.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: There we go.
>> Martha Leierer:
That was very sad.
We arrived in Pearl Harbor
and evacuated patients.
Admiral Nimitz came
aboard to award medals.
Our ship 60 bags of mail.
Finally, the Solace
needed repairs,
so we took on 500 patients
and headed for San Diego,
arriving there December 23,
and unloaded the patients.
The ship received so
much needed repairs.
On January 15, we headed
back to Pearl Harbor,
and then we headed back
to Marshall Islands,
where we joined a
big convoy of ships.
We took on many patients.
I worked in the medical
and neurology wards,
for we had a dramatic
amputation of the right arm.
He died later that night.
We could hear fighting
on the island.
February the 4th, 5th, and
6th, we had some very sick boys
and had to work long days, which
was very tiring but rewarding
when improvements were shown.
Patients refueled and
headed back out to the --
out to Kwajalein and Eniwetok.
Had lots of bombing
and shooting.
We took on many more patients,
gunshot wounds, and amputations,
received large number of
serious wounds -- wounded.
February the 22nd, 1944, on
board, Dr. Drake and I worked
until 3:30 AM, attending to
wounds, took many more patients,
seriously wounded, and one
amputation requiring penicillin.
We then headed back
to Pearl Harbor.
On our way, one of our convoy
was hit by a Jap destroyer.
At Pearl Harbor, we unloaded
patients and headed back
to combat areas to New Hebrides.
Spent much time making bandages.
We then headed to New Guinea,
where we joined a large
number of Navy ships.
Took on 250 patients and took
them to Brisbane, Australia.
That was on April the 7th.
And then we headed back to
New Guinea, where we took
on a few more patients.
That was April 22.
We then head in for the
Admiralties, where two carriers,
two small cruisers,
destroyers, tankers,
and others were anchored.
On the 30th of April, we took
on many patients, mostly Army.
There were malaria, dengue
fever, gastritis, pneumonia,
and a few surgical cases.
Headed back to New Guinea
and picked up 560 patients.
Total of 600 on board.
Took patients to
Brisbane, Australia.
We then headed back
to New Guinea
and onto the Admiralty Islands,
where we picked up 100 patients,
headed back to New
Guinea, stole a cargo ship
that had been torpedoed
off Hollandia, New Guinea.
Took on more patients and
then headed to Milne Bay.
May 24, we evacuated
113 Army patients.
Took on more patients from
the Navy mobile hospital.
Then headed for Espirito
Santo, where we left May 30.
We headed -- where am I?
We headed to Roi-Namur
in the Marshall Islands.
Gained a day crossing the
International Date Line.
June the 6th, D-Day in Europe.
We landed in France.
Oh, no. D-Day in Europe,
landing in France.
Three sailors drowned.
Recovered only one.
Had a funeral service
on the island.
I was busy giving
medicine to patients.
One very sick patient
had a tonsillectomy.
Many more ships came in during
the night -- five battleships,
four heavy cruisers, six light
cruisers, several destroyers,
three carriers, LSDs,
and others.
The patient with the
tonsillectomy died.
He was allergic to the morphine.
June 10, all ships
pooled out, heading --
headed for the next major
battle, which was in Saipan.
A new ship captain we
received was Dr. Peterson --
Captain Peterson.
June 10, 1944, we evacuated
patients at Roi-Namur.
Headed for Eniwetok.
Arrived June 13 and saw a new
battleship, the USS Bountiful.
June the 15th, we
left and headed
for the Marshall Marianas.
Marines landed on
Saipan June the 15th.
Heavy fighting and
casualties reported.
We were drilled on
abandoned ship stations,
lifeboats, and life jackets.
June the 18th, we arrived
on Saipan, where we caught
up with the USS Bountiful.
Then we proceeded on
beyond the fighting ships,
took on many patients
-- gunshot, shrapnel,
traumatic amputations,
and combat fatigue.
Had to work until 2:30 AM.
June the 19th, we sent 150
patients to the USS Bountiful.
We filled up with 570 patients.
The marines had taken over
a Jap hospital and using it
for first aid station.
There's a big naval battle
going on near the Philippines.
More causalities and deaths.
Very sad. We are
headed for Guadalcanal
to evacuate the patients.
>> Maj. Jennifer Petersen:
Let's give [inaudible] chance.
And then we'll [inaudible].
Okay?
>> Martha Leierer: Yeah.
>> Maj. Jennifer Petersen:
We're going to go ahead
and get a little information
from Mrs. Marian Elcano too,
and we'll continue on.
And maybe we'll have some time
to do some questions also.
Go ahead.
>> Marian Elcano: I enlisted
and joined the Army Nurse Corps.
[ Applause ]
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: You did great.
[ Inaudible Response ]
>> Marian Elcano: I
joined the Army Nurse Corps
in January of '43.
My first assignment was
Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.
And after that, I was assigned
to Camp Gordon, Georgia,
where I joined the
45th Evac Hospital.
We trained to be combat ready
to go to Europe and the -- we --
40 nurses, and there
were 40 nurses
and about 200 enlisted men
in Evacuation Hospital.
So we were carrying
gas [inaudible]
so that we would
recognize the odor
in case the Germans used gas.
No one quite knew what was
going to happen in Europe.
In November, we sailed from
New York and entered --
went to Scotland,
and from Scotland,
we went by train to England.
And we were billeted
out in a little town
called Wotton-under-Edge.
This is in November of '43.
D-Day happened in June of '44.
And in this time period,
we had been doing extensive
training to prepare ourselves.
We went on marches, where
we carried the gas masks
and backpacks and were
really quite able to --
ready to go to Europe.
So when D-Day happened, we
would move to southern part
of England, and we went --
ready to cross the Channel.
We had to wear what they
called impregnated clothing
and keep our gas masks handy
because of possible gas attack,
and it was very uncomfortable,
stiff.
So we landed on the
shores of Omaha on D+10.
And some of our nurses
were quite small,
and since the ship couldn't
go close to the shore,
we had to wade from
there in the water.
And the marines, fortunately,
came out and helped some
of the younger nurses
in because when they --
smaller nurses, I should say.
When they stepped into
the water, they --
water was up to their helmets.
So after we got on shore, we
were there possibly an hour,
and they told us we had
to get off the shore,
that the Germans were going
to come [inaudible] us.
So we moved us up the bluff,
and there was another
evac hospital --
believe it was the 44th
Evac -- already set up.
And they were operating,
receiving patients.
So we relieved them, which they
were glad to have some help
because they'd been
working very hard.
In two days, all our
hospital equipment was landed,
and we set up our hospital in
a French town called Cambe,
C-A-M-B-E, and we started
admitting patients.
So from -- this was in Normandy,
and we saw many patients
who were evacuated very
quickly back to England.
Then we went into
Northern France.
And from Northern
France, we went to the --
into Belgium, and then,
of course, Ardennes,
which was the Battle
of the Bulge.
So I'll kind of go from --
in Belgium, we finally
got into buildings.
We set up our hospital
in a building.
From January to September,
we had been living in tents
and wading in water and mud
and tramping around and --
so it was kind of nice
to get into a building.
However, it had its own
drawbacks because then we had
to move desks and
chairs and things to set
up the hospital, plus blackout.
We had the curtains, the
windows to take care of.
But then we -- this was
friendly territory in Belgium
because they called us
the American liberators.
Then we further into Belgium
to a place called Eupen,
which was no longer friendly.
It was hostile because World
War I, this section of Belgium,
had been German,
and then they --
on the treaty, it
was given to Belgium.
So the people, I think,
considered themselves
more German than Belgium.
The hospital there was set up
in a very large high school
with several buildings with it.
And we saw many patients.
We were there one
month operating,
and one day we heard
these strange sounds,
and we didn't quite
know what they were.
We were used to our own
long-range artillery
because they shot over our
heads, but this was coming
from the other direction.
And so we thought, "No,
it can't be," but it was.
It was the Germans had started
their last-ditch big offensive,
which we call the
Battle of the Bulge.
And they had started it in the
Ardennes, or the Black Forest,
which was approximately 5 to
10 miles from where we were.
So as the day prolonged, we
suddenly got more blasting
and noise, so the
personnel decided
that we should move our
patients to the basement
or the air raid shelters.
So we moved 175 patients
down and set them up.
It was quite crowded but well
worth the trouble because later
that evening, we were
really bombed, and it was --
a lot of it was legitimate
bombing
because we were surrounded
with the Ordnance Company
and a Quartermaster Company,
and they had gasoline dumps.
So one of those was hit,
and it lit up the sky,
so then the Germans could see
their targets, which didn't --
in a way helped us possibly
because we had huge red crosses
on all of our courtyard and
on our roof of our building,
which probably -- the Germans
up to this point had been
pretty much paying attention to.
But the bomb, when it hit,
the blast for the Ordnance
Company went through --
the fragments went through
one of the walls of one
of our buildings,
broke all the windows.
So there -- some personnel had
few cuts from flying grass --
glass, but mostly it
was not too serious.
So the bombing went
on, and as I said,
the noise is probably
very disturbing.
We called some of the
bombs screaming meemies
because they made so much noise.
It was a physiological
thing that the Germans used,
and I must admit it worked.
It really scared you to death
when you heard this noise.
However, we later found out,
when you heard the noise,
that was good because
when the noise stopped,
that meant the bomb is
coming straight down.
You didn't know where
it was going to hit.
So we evacuated these patients.
This happened on the
16th of December.
And by the -- we had evacuated
the 175 patients by the 18th,
and we were going to start,
then, to repair our building.
So some of the corpsmen,
which I can't tell enough
about how wonderful they were,
had gone up to put boards
and things on windows
and sweep up the glass.
Well, we got orders that we
were to move, so we packed
in a hurry and started to move.
It took 62 1/2 trunks
to move our hospital.
We were considered
semi-mobile, but --
so half of them had
started, and we --
they could not go because
the roads were so congested
with American trucks
and troops coming west
and troops going east and,
actually, Germans mixed in.
So we got orders
to go back to Eupen
to our building,
so we went back.
And then they said,
"Well, set up," so we set
up the hospital and waited.
We started receiving
some patients again.
Fortunately, the Germans
never got into Eupen,
which was their objective,
because our American troops,
which were five miles
down the road,
really kept them from moving.
Even though they had
heavy casualties,
they greatly saved our
hospital and the town of Eupen.
So this was the first-day
objective for the Germans,
to capture Eupen, because they
wanted to go onto the river,
where they could get
supplies possibly from our --
where we had stored supplies.
They were going to take ours.
So by now, they're very
much short of supplies,
and so are we, but
they finally retreated.
Then we finally got
orders that we should --
we're going to move back.
So we moved, actually, about
40 miles back into the rear.
First time we did, we retreated.
And we set up again
in a high school,
and this time the
weather was against us.
All the weather got bad,
and the planes couldn't fly,
and we couldn't get our injured
from the front lines
back to the hospitals.
So somebody had the idea to
send to Alaska for sled dogs.
So they arrived, and they
went out and worked one day,
and then two days they
brought wounded back.
And then the third day, the
sun came out, the snow melted,
and it got -- they
could no longer work,
so they had to keep
them another day or two.
So they had jeeps
which they pulled
around to give the
dogs some exercise.
And then they sent
them back to Alaska.
That was kind of fun
when they were there.
They were different.
After that, we waited a
few more days and seemed --
we went back to Eupen.
We got orders to go back
there, the same place.
Well, by this time, most of
the repairs had been done,
so we opened up our
hospital again.
And I don't know.
We were in Eupen
for three months,
which was the longest
time we were anywhere.
After that, we went into
Central Europe, and actually,
we were almost to Berlin
by the end of the war.
Our hospital also -- the doctors
were responsible for going
into Buchenwald and
segregating the diseases.
Much, much tuberculosis,
as you all know,
and starvation, severe
malnutrition.
And once it was cleaned out
and the patients were all
gone, I did go through it.
And I was amazed at the size
of the airway -- no, the air --
gas chamber, gas chamber
where they had killed
all these people.
It's almost impossible
to believe
that they could do
that to one another.
What they did is they went in
one door, and supposedly a lot
of them had no idea what was
going to happen, as you know.
And then they were gassed
and taken out the back door,
and they were dumped
in a big pit.
Well, there were various
torture things in there also,
which I won't mention, but
it's all a very sad thing
that this had to
happen in our world.
After the war, we went
back to Le Havre, France,
and I was sent back
to the United States,
and I was discharged.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Thank you.
[ Applause ]
Colonel Bailey, it's your turn.
It's already on.
[Inaudible]
>> Col. Margaret
Bailey: Very good.
Thank you very much.
Is that okay?
>> Maj. Jennifer Petersen: Yes.
>> Col. Margaret Bailey: Good.
First, I would like to
compliment those nurses
who were there.
They were there on ship,
and they were there the
Battle of the Bulge.
They were there when
the soldiers needed,
and I think they deserve
a great hand of applause.
[ Applause ]
I said that first because
I wanted to be there.
I spent most of my time
with the army of occupation.
However, I did go in June 1944,
so I spent a year doing my
duty, doing World War II.
However, I did spend 27 years
in the Army Nurse Corps,
which I'm very proud of.
[ Applause ]
When the bomb fell in December
1941, I was on Staten Island
in Seaview Hospital, and one
of the patients yelled loudly.
And, of course, all
of us nurses dashed
to see what was happening.
Of course, Pearl Harbor had been
bombed, and it was her hometown.
And then we all felt very
saddened and complimented her.
I thought of going
into the military then
because nurses were going in.
However, as most of you know,
many times it was not possible.
Black nurses applied, but
they were told there was no
regulation that permitted
them to receive us, so --
but they forgot how
powerful women can be.
[ Applause ]
Mrs. [inaudible] was an
outstanding black nurse.
Mrs. Roosevelt, president's
wife, Mrs. Bolton, congresswoman
from Ohio, made a beeline to the
Surgeon General's office to say,
"You're going to
receive these women."
Of course, he said
no for a while,
but they kept making
a path to his office
until finally he said, "I'll
take 50," and I think he said,
"And don't come back again."
He probably -- and
that number will vary.
Some will say 50 or
54, but it was over 50.
And some black nurses did apply.
I didn't apply at that time
because I was watching
the politics,
but I did join in 1944 June.
And I think I was probably
the last of the 50.
Now, I think the Surgeon
General forgot because 51,
52 until it was over 100
were in the Army Nurse Corps.
And I thought, "Well,
thank goodness he forgot."
And then someone came
up with the regulation
that there would be no more
discrimination of the nurses,
that we'd apply, and then
we could go in any hospital.
And we could go overseas.
Well, with that -- if anyone
should look in that file,
I think you have many
requests for me to go overseas,
but there were nurses
who were there first.
And they have the
chance to go first,
so we almost just had to wait.
Therefore, I didn't
get overseas, you know,
during the occupation.
But discrimination
was still very rampant
at that time, and you know that.
Well, they said we could come in
but only take care
of black soldiers.
Well, you had the 97th and the
93rd Division at Fort Huachuca,
and they needed care, and
we gave them good care.
And when the 92nd and the
93rd Division were shipped
out for overseas, they had
all of these black nurses.
Now, what are we
going to do with them?
The prisoner of war camp
was at Florence, Arizona,
so someone had to
take care of them.
So not all of us, but I was one
of the ones who were assigned
to the prisoner of war
camp at Florence, Arizona.
And the only thing there was
the state prison, I believe,
and a very good sunset.
We walked across a field
to go to the theater,
and you had to stop for a moment
because the sunset was so nice.
So I always said those were
the only two nice things there.
While at Florence, Arizona, we
had to tell them that we didn't
like being segregated.
I came in the army to take
care of American soldiers,
but we had to do our duty.
However, they decided one day
to segregate the white nurse --
the white doctors and
nurses and the black nurses
in one room and one in another.
And they posted a German soldier
at the door to direct us,
and I walked up, and I said --
well, I was going to the right.
I was going to eat.
He said, "No, I'm sure
you can't go there."
I stopped for a moment,
and finally it hit me
what was being done,
that we had to go
to the other room.
And to be told by a German
soldier that we were fighting
to direct an officer, I was
pretty mad, and you know --
and so we -- all of us went back
to our rooms, and we just sat.
And I think maybe we
might've shed a tear or two
because this was
very humiliating.
But at dinner time, we decided
something had to be done.
We all went back, and the
dear soldier was standing
at the door, and he said, "No."
And I said, "You move over,"
and I walked right past him,
and we all waked in and ate.
[ Applause ]
I believe -- no, he said -- he
[inaudible] commanding officer.
The commanding officer came
and said to our chief nurse,
"Tell them to go to that room."
She said, "Yes, sir,
put it in writing."
He didn't put it in
writing, and we didn't move.
I believe about --
I think about three
of the white doctors
came in to eat with us.
I should've had their names
because they were very brave.
I must say to you,
after that incident,
of course the papers had it.
Naturally, it was all over the
newspapers, and that was good.
Within a month, the
walls came tumbling down,
and we could eat together.
And within the next month, we
could go to the officers' club,
where we had not been permitted
to go, and that was good.
I have a feeling that that
was the beginning of saying,
"Look, we don't like it.
Please do something about it."
And from that -- I believe I --
we stayed about six months
at the prisoner of war camp.
From there I went to Camp Beale,
California, where I was happy
to take care of integrated
soldiers.
That was very good.
We black nurses still lived
separately, but we took care
of integrated soldiers.
That was a move.
And from that time on, I believe
we went to Halloran Hospital.
You received the soldiers who
were coming from overseas,
and we felt now I'm beginning to
do something that I like doing.
I went to Fort Dix and then to
Percy Jones General Hospital.
While I was at Percy
Jones, someone decided
that black nurses
should all live --
the nurses should
all live together.
Black nurses lived below white
nurses on the lower floor,
and someone said, "We're not
going to have this anymore."
My good friend, Emma
[inaudible] came to me,
who was from the chief nurses'
office and said, "Margaret,
I would like for you to help
me integrate this group."
I said, "I'd be delighted,
Emma,"
and so we decided
how shall we do it.
Well, I said, "Emma perhaps --
there's an empty room on the
second floor across from me.
Why don't you come up?"
And that was the
beginning of integration.
And then I went to a school
in Fort Sam, took a course
in psychiatric nursing.
The supervisor there
was beginning to know
that integration
should be working.
She put -- there
were three of us.
She put one at one end of the
building, one at the other,
and me in a separate building.
And therefore we worked
together, studied together,
and I believe, for me, that
was the end of segregation.
It was a very good, good thing.
From there, I went on
to work in hospitals,
taking care of patients
as everyone did.
I was promoted.
People began to know that
black nurses can perform well.
I was promoted in proper time,
promoted second lieutenant
to a colonel, which
was the highest rank
in the army at that time.
In the meantime,
I'll speak for women.
We got -- we had
a woman general,
which the nurses had
never had before,
and that was a very
great day for us.
I believe it was
General Anna Mae Hays.
And the Women's Army
Corps got a general also.
Those were the two
first female generals,
and we were very proud of that.
I spent -- okay.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Go ahead.
>> Col. Margaret Bailey: I --
spending 27 years
in the military.
I spent about eight
years out of the country,
and I covered 27
countries in travel.
The military was a great place
to be, and I want to say,
in terms of integration,
the military was the first,
and they did the best.
You people in civilian life
didn't do so good, but I give --
I take my hat -- I take
my hat off to the military
because they did a fine job.
And I was sitting --
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Thank you.
Colonel Bailey, we're
going to have to continue
on because we're
getting short on time.
We just have a few minutes left,
and I thought we could
just really briefly --
if I could have the panel
participants tell me just a
little bit about
why they decided
to join the Army Nurse Corps at
that key moment in our history.
And we'll start with Ms. Busby,
and we just have a few
minutes, Ms. Busby.
If you could just tell
me what inspired you
to join the Army Nurse Corps.
>> Capt. Anna Busby:
What inspired me
to join the Army Nurse Corps?
I had met the nurses at
For Jay, Governors Island,
where I was first assigned.
And later on I was
a ship's nurse twice
to the Panama Canal Zone.
And what I was learning
is the many places
where these nurses had served
and how much they had enjoyed
it, so I decided I wanted
to join the Army Nurse Corps.
The -- I enjoyed it very
much, but I told you before
that the -- I will tell you what
happened in the first 24 hours,
which I did not finish telling
you for some reason why.
But here is what
-- let me go back
and tell you what had happened
in those first 24 hours.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: I think, Anna,
we're going to be a little
bit short of time right now
because we only have about
five minutes left on our panel.
So we're going to have to
save that, and hopefully,
you can talk with some of
the audience afterwards.
Okay?
>> Capt. Anna Busby:
Oh, that would be fine.
>> Maj. Jennifer Petersen: Yes.
Okay?
>> Capt. Anna Busby: Fine.
Thank you.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: All right.
And if you could tell
us what inspired you
to join the Navy Nurse Corps.
>> Martha Leierer: Well,
my brother joined the US Marine
Corps, and I thought, "Well,
why don't I join the Navy?"
And I did.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Wonderful.
And Ms. Elcano.
>> Marian Elcano: I had
just graduated in '39
from high school and
in '42 from training.
So the war was starting
in Europe, so I just --
really motivated by --
to help and do my share.
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Mm-hmm.
And Colonel Bailey.
We heard a little
bit, but just share
with us really what
the reasons were
that you decided
to push the limits.
>> Col. Margaret Bailey: When I
came into the Army Nurse Corps,
I thought, "Should I go
into this segregated army?"
Then I thought -- you
know, I'm very ambitious.
I do challenge, and
I said, "If I go in,
they're going to
put me out soon."
But I thought maybe I'd better
go so I can say, "I did my part.
I paid my debts.
So now may I have
what I'm entitled to?"
>> Maj. Jennifer
Petersen: Right on.
[ Applause ]
I have many questions after
listening to their stories
and having the opportunities
to read their oral histories,
which are available if
anybody's interested.
Fabulously interesting stories.
But at this moment, I'd
like to just take a moment
to present each of
our panel guests
with Army Nurse Corps Chief Coin
in recognition of their service
to our nation during World
War II, and this is just --
this coin is given to
soldiers who give duty above
and beyond the necessary.
And I think each of
our women who served
in their various capacities
in World War II did just this.
[ Applause ]
Colonel Bailey.
[Inaudible] That's yours,
and there's yours and yours.
Please -- I hope
at the conclusion
of our panel you
have the opportunity
to speak with these women.
They're fascinating to
listen to and to talk to.
And I'd just like to share
with you a brief wrap-up.
The superintendent of
the Army Nurse Corps,
Colonel Florence
Blanchfield, at that time
in World War II expressed
the feelings of commitment
of US Army nurses and Navy
nurses alike well when she wrote
to the mother of Lieutenant
Ellen Ainsworth, who was killed
by enemy action in
Italy in February 1944.
Colonel Blanchfield states,
"She typifies the very finest
in American womanhood.
Had she not known that
this was going to be --
that this would occur,
that she would die,
she still would've
said, 'I must go.
It is my duty.'
The nurses are like
that in this war.
They fear nothing.
They beg to go forward
as far possible
because they feel they
are so urgently needed."
Thank you, all of you, for
sharing with us today this time.
And have an outstanding day
in our nation's great capital.
And please -- again, thank you
to all the veterans who served
with us today and are
here with us today.
And Godspeed to the
nurses that continue
to serve throughout he world
today, serving our country,
and taking care of
those soldiers
who are serving our
country also.
And Army nurses always
ready, caring, and proud.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.