So io He
Cedar Rapid*. Iowa
FEB I 31944
'ArmyNurses WinAir Medals for Heroism \
tvacuatiqj theater
contained more Iku SO percent ! former airline DMlfMH, I he* made. bihI continue to make excellent air evacuation larrke nurse,, for ill u,re trained nunts Pefore volunteering.
There ^ much tor even the be;i nurse lo learn at Bowman field however. One of their many ' courses is in extricating them-selves sod their wounded Irom every possible crash emergency, he in a desert, in water, or on a frceiing mountain range.
Many .no rejected in the final
days of their framing; and sent
da*.
vie/ nurses, rjbw in combat action In every ""'
W»SHIMJTOK/INSI - *. m«t-*cor»t«l women „( Si5 * TSto .™, wor^a war Al arc tn« army air forces' valiant air The air evacuation sorvi
r been ... .o find. Comparatively
Many oNrieM yfung Florence Their full story has ne Nightingales of Ihe air now wear teM u (, *till dil'KUii
the coveted AC Medal, betoken- w, tr>eir name*. Comparative..-1
in? fheir many hours of thine un- itv 0( them have returned lo tiwi
der haiardous conditions. It ¦- the AAFJ recuperatioi> and retfuvn-
s*me medal awarded lo pilots, button center at Atlantic City,
bombardier.', navigators and Run- Whcn ">eir story i> ,old ,l will ~
ners after they have undergone a - virtually matchless sag* of ior«-
certain number of combat mis- |U<ie and mercy under extreme
*i°n'' pressure. ,
At least one of the nurse, a F Wounded men have diodiu tM£
former alrllnci hoateaa, ha) re- arm.. Shell-shocked boy* hava
ceived a Cluster for her All decided that *•"""«* "Jm% «Mon™.s
Medal. She received it at a South moihm. miiaculoush ^me -----,.<,.*<* or
"•",!! SSSf-SSJ5S ?53?.1w5( «s-5«8£
Air General Millard F. Harmon— while troops marched, saluted and cheered her In an almost unprecc-dcritcd ceremony.
It Days ll Cast. The nurse nu'fered a fractured
islered. 1
I by th«
t V. Close.
a host • "
Illy would Be
ini;<*...'. TI..'
pill rot QM
i for every
then*
.. . and desert?, and while then'1 planes were under attack. The' know how to dr.
WOUnd>. admliii.tr. drUD SVhlC*
¦¦.- from tlie latest SUll spine and three brok. ¦ n« morphine. Their heavy kl«,
her plane, fiUod with wounded, conta.n scalpels, to us crashed on a Pacify coral reef. >¦ . ,in flight surgeon:
six day,i and nights sh* dragged ti Bboard. And sWmach pumps. herself from wounded man 1" ,Dd h>d pa,,!,
om Dead t« Ul tag,
uwnded man. adnv
them. When (he lot was rescued.
¦he ^(*nt 70 days in a cast In a
Pacific hospital.
Some ol the* atrial nurses have been shot down In (fa rating Inferno* of their attacked and stricken planet, other* h»ve died In rrashea. It *••* announced B| HWlf a. bal MOT, 8 (hat IJ were missing in line of duly In Italy. Tliere II bit planes took eft. heavy m llh erltl-cally wounded men. and were never heard from aialn.
Some Idea of the scope of Ihis brand new arm of Hie American woman's war effort may be sained from the revelation In Gen. Arnold's last annual report that "more than I25.O0G" wounded men have been flown from battlefront airdromes to safer and better-equipped hospitals. All receive treatment enroule. supplied by hard-working nurses, often in blood-stained coverall flying sWlU.
Theirs Is a very rtn| war. far from the cloistered silence audi safely of hospital work far bebir*:; the lines. Their ward* are the thundering, unpadded fuselages of Illter-filled cargo planes. They are always on call. They share 'he^ dangers and discomforts of the wounded, but they manage to' keep smiiir^B and maintain morale and efficiency.
Wounded sokUan have ditvi IB have had to leave ihelr dead ami , the crcmptd aisle of Ihe plane to attend Ihe needs of the Men whose Uvea they have served have hunj; on to their hands, and told them nu them. Thev have light* ets of the armless, led the waj lor the blinded, comforted all.
; Surgeon Con. David N W Grant formed the nurses wjne o' ihe air evaluation service in October. 19*2 U is difficult for a giil to win her wings- 1" the flr't place, she must be a fult-fledsed army nurse between 2' and 3J. She must volunteer to" the we*k. She mu>i have workeC ¦n AAF hospiwl. She mu# undergo a physical check-up al
¦ combal pilot goes thivueh. Shi then must take an 8-week courst in aerial first aid al Bowman field near l»ui*vi!le. K;.. and prove to the satisfaction of strict in-¦trucio>s—some of them veterans of air evacuation ¦¦¦ she cnu keep her iyilsj about her. and attend efficiently lo all of her duties, while ,i
Thr lir.t iroup of 50 Eirls ten! «ul of the eeuntry—U lo the Faclftr and :S lo Africa— i
of the crop. Grant foresaw two yean, ago Uiai there would be a critical shortage Of doctors of all kinds, especially air-borpe doctors. All • world l'i* nursei. haadet veleran U. Col. Nol now art attending t h ordinal" performed by Highl I training program trainins; of 13 nurs-i five doctors trained..
Today they help) k
wounded, sometime* under lire,
lake off into skies iO which enc-
fightdrs are active..
unload them, pick them up a/ii'l and fly aenai an ocean with tlfcn'. sund by while fhey undeVgo trcalment al fiener.il hospitals in this country, and the them to hospitals nearer their home towns.
Salary Not Hich.
COmy:
Most of 'hem are second Iktiten-lid ihe base pay for a second $1,800 a year. A majority «f them gave up much better-paying |obs in civilian life tapec*ally the private nurses and ¦Iruaa hccle»e»— to volunteer for this work.
Then' dancer of being attacked
by enemy lighten and flak while
their errands of mercy lies Im
I we maintain f-:*..*
hospital ships—as siieii.
