During World War II approximately 59,000 women served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps; among them, 32,500 served overseas. U.S. army nurses served in all theaters of the war, including the major campaigns of North Africa, Italy, France, and the Pacific, as well as the minor theaters of China, Burma, India, the U.S.S.R., Iran, Alaska, Iceland, Panama, and the South Atlantic. Army nurses served closer to the front lines than ever before, landing with the troops or only days after the first assaults. Initially nurses were deployed without military training, but beginning in July 1943 nurses completed a four-week training program in military life. Nurse anesthetists and psychiatric nurses were in great demand throughout the war and underwent additional specialized training.
When Pearl Harbor was bombed, the Army Nurse Corps included fewer than 1,000 nurses, but within six months 12,000 women joined the corps. Many of the nurses who served in the war signed up through the Cadet Nurse Corps. Established in 1943, the Corps offered free nursing education in exchange for military or civilian nursing service for the duration of the war. By the end of the war almost 170,000 nurses had joined the Corps. In January 1945, however, because the Army was experiencing a shortage of medical personnel, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed drafting nurses. The Nurses Selective Service Act passed the House of Representatives and was within a single vote of passing in the Senate when Germany surrendered. With the need for nurses alleviated, the measure was never employed.
Despite the need for nurses, the Army limited the number of African American nurses. Those who were accepted endured segregated hospitals and living quarters, and were often assigned to less desirable duties. In all, approximately 500 African American nurses served in Liberia, Burma, the Southwest Pacific, England, and the United States. In addition, the Army Nurse Corps did not accept professional male nurses. Male nurses drafted into the military were utilized as corpsmen with less responsibility and rank or in nonmedical units.
The chain of medical evacuation proved successful in the campaigns of North Africa, and thereafter was used in all theaters. After receiving initial first aid provided by medics in the field, casualties came by litter bearers and ambulances to field hospitals. Approximately 18 nurses worked in each field hospital, which held between 75 and 150 patients. Nurses triaged patients and those deemed strong enough were sent to evacuation hospitals; those needing immediate care were sent to surgery. Casualties who were unable to be moved were either stabilized for treatment or sent to shock wards. The next step in the chain was the evacuation hospital, where 53 nurses treated up to 750 patients who were operated on and were recovering from surgery. Both field and evacuation hospitals closely followed the combat troops; thus, the nurses set up the hospitals in tents, moved on short notice, and worked under hostile conditions.
U.S. Army nurses march to a waiting troop ship carrying medical equipment and their few personal belongings, 1942.
Casualties were moved from evacuation hospitals to station and general hospitals via trains, ships, or aircraft. On hospital trains, a single nurse worked on each car with up to 32 patients. Nurses also worked on hospital ships that were supposed to be safe from attack but nonetheless were bombed in three separate incidents. Approximately 500 Army flight nurses served in war for the first time and underwent special training that emphasized crash procedures, field survival, and the effects of high altitude on patients. Transport planes were subject to enemy attack because they also carried cargo; 17 flight nurses died, most in crashes due to poor weather or landing fields.
The next step in the chain of evacuation was the station hospital, where the critically wounded received specialized treatment. The last step was the general hospital, where those needing more specific diagnosis, laboratory tests, or long periods of recuperation or therapy were treated. Once recovered, patients were then reclassified and sent either back to the field or to the United States. Both station and general hospitals were semipermanent locations, usually with running water and electricity.
During the war, 201 Army nurses died , 16 because of direct enemy action; 83 Army nurses were held as prisoners of war in various locations, of those, 66 were held by the Japanese for almost 3 years in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the Philippines. More than 1,600 Army nurses received medals, citations, and commendations for their service. Until 1944 the nurses served with relative rank, but in June 1944 the Army granted nurses officers’ commissions, full retirement benefits, dependants’ allowances, and equal pay.
