Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

If there were a popularity contest in the AAF, these
competent, courageous girls would win it hands down
Fr.rc.nr nurses nt a 9th Troop Carrier h~lse in r':ngbnd had
been alerted for a month, Across the field \\"~lSa stocknclc
filled \lith pacltrooJ!ers rcadv for an order to scramblc
into the C--f-:-s, That afternoon a car witl: a four-star
insigne bad been seen on the field, But rc,trietious h:rd
been on, then off a dozen times and I'light ?'lIlSC Frances
Sandstrom thought surely she would have time to enjoy the
lonclv luxurv of a soap\' shampoo, She went to the ShO\HT
room, turned on the water, soaked her lr.ur-i--nud the invasion
hcgan,
Lieutenant Sundstrom dressed h urricd!v. pmhed her drip-
I)iug h.rir into a knittcd CI cap ane! r.m out to the flight
line to join the ot lur nurses,
"It never fail,," she cxpluiuccl hreathlcssll', "If J \\':Ish m v
h.rir, something .ilwnvs happens'"
Tile Sbtrains thundered down the rIm\\:II', IO:lcleci witl:
paratroopers. i\ursc Suncistrom watched them 'go, too excited
to feel the w.rtcr trickling out of her cap and dO\\'I1 her neck,
""'c stood there until they were all gone, then we
\Iaited for them to come back," she said, "Vvc knew most
of tIll' crcws, as \\T Jr:rd been restricted to the h:1se so long,
I guess we nurses were like a cheering section at 0::00 when
thcv began coming hack, As soon as we could sec the
number of a pl.u ic we'd yell, 'There's Jack, , , there's ~ like
. , . there's [inunv, hooray!' and we kept it np until e\'en'
plane \\'as s.ifclv hack.
";'\e'.:t trip thcv hooked up the gliders and took off ag:lin
\I'ith airhornc infun trv. "'c knew the first surp n:«: \\'as O\Tr.
that the Ccrrnuns would he npeeting them, And be-lieve
me, this trip \\T really sweated them out. ,\ftcr a Jong time
they st.utcd coming hack, hut this time it \\'as different.
Thc pl.mcs \HTC shot up, Some of the erC'\\'S were wounded.
and some of the C--tlS had ragged holes in their \\'ings, \\e
waited on the line, counting each one-and finally, again
thcv :lll got hack,"
The nurscs had not long to wait and jnst w.rtcl: the sLies.
however. 1-:'.:acrl, , four cla\'S later. fi\'e nurses from that ba:«,
flew to Franec,' On D-p'lns-9 l\urse Sand-tr.un made the
first of her n];I11\' trips to l\orm:1!1c!l'.
"\\'e took off that Illorning and flew over the :\'or11lanch'
beach and landed. "'c \\Tre the first plane to land on the
first steel 111:lt strip put down bv our adv.uuc engineers,
'lhcv had jnst finished the job when our C--f-:- c.uuc in,
"""reeked gliders were scattered all OHT the coun t rvsiclc.
The troops were fighting only three miles a\\'~l\' and \\T could
hell' Lmd mines espJoding around us. I \\'as told to st.rv
insiclc the plane, since all Ccrnmn snipcr« h.rd not been
cleared ont and were taking occl,ion:!l shots ;lero"s the bnding
mat.
"About sundown \\T went b.ick to the bc.icl: .md picked
up our patients, 16 litters ;1I1d tin) .unbul.itorv cases, This
\\'as ;1 elcrring station where men \\'(Te hrought ill am Im-
1:1I1C'('S from where thcv had hecn wounded.
"I h:«l mv first eont,:IC't with ncxv iuv.rsiuu clsn:J1hcs "lien
the lO:l(]ing' tClIllS brolli.,:ht mv P:ltiClItS :1l>o:lrcl, .\Tost of
thcm were b.ullv wounded. Thcv \\'lTC dirtv. right out of
the foxholes. 1\ l.mv of them \\TIT suffering, but I h:lCl not
one m nrm ur of complaint from :111\' of th ciu . It \\'as hot :md
clustv hut tlicv were calm and asked for nothing except
w.itcr. F~lChtime J g:I\T a ru.m ;1 drink he smiled, or tried
10. :1I1cltlurukcd mc ~lS if I h:lel done something vcrv heroic
:Inel \\onclerfnl."
I ,ielltcn:l1l1 S:l1ldstrom's pbne bllcleel at a holeling ,tation
OCTOBER,1944
in l':ngbnd and her paticnt ,
were taken off bv an unloadiug
tc.uu. \\'atcl;ing her men
taken off the plane, she sal\'
tlwt the~' were lwndled gcnthand
assured them that the
ncx t hop would Janel them in
a general hospital.
"The men all looked back
from their litters and said
gooellnT," she said. "The biggest
thrill I C\Tr got was when
one corporal, badlv \\'ounelecl.
]ookedmc in tlic LTCand s:licl.
'\,mse, J w.int \'(;U to know
how much I apj)reeiate tlu.
I'vc never h.ul such considcr.ition
before.' "
A'or is the corporal alone
in his gratitnele. ~ len in C\Tn
tl'Cltcr know these women h;'
nnw. Scvcntv-two hours after
U, S, forces'LlIldcd on 'J ':If:I-
\\a, flight n urxcs were there
too, helping to evacuate tlu:
wounclcd from that hloodv
bc.rchlrcad to hospitals in I r:i,
"--'
...~.. ". 1
.
Her plane loaded wit h
wounded m ilit.uv pcr-ouncl.
Lr. Bernice I Lmington dim]"
.iho.uc] wit l: her parachute.
:111 ve-t for t rip f rnm Cnac1al,
(';111:11 to Un i t rd States,
waii and the fincst medical care a m.m could get.
The\' were at BOllg:lilllille, .rt Sicilv, Snlcruo, ,\IlI,io, The
Bmlna front-and the south of France. :'\;UllC ;In~' big puxh;
Hight nurses \HTC on the sccnc within a matter of hours
after our troops moved in, Thl'\' \HTe the first \\hite women
on .\ lunch, CuacbJcanal and the other South P:leific islands
since war hegan; they were the first U. S. Arrnv nurses to
reach China.
'lhcv get around in a global \\':1~', hut th:lfs oulv part of
the storv. They also hale had to IX1\' a price for choosing
th is duty-the soldier's price, SCleral of them have gi\Tn
llicir li\'es in this service since w.rr hcg:]]], othcTs lla\e been
shot c10\\'I1. 'I'hir tccn landed in cncmv-lu-kl terri ton' and
spent months escaping, ;\ fe\\' h:I\T h:id to "hit the' silk,"
.\ 1:111\'others hale had br uslu« with the cncmv-c-uud too
close' for comfort. thcv wil! .rclm it. Nurses fl\'ing Southwest
l':lcifie routes have often arrilcd at a ficlel to find it on Condition
Recl. Others have spent n];II1\' 10m; homs in Cuad.ilcanal's
fo'.:ho]cs during 1Jo11lhings-l:; r~lids in 5 J 2 h ou rx
\\:1S the experienc-e of onc nnr-,c.
To the South PilCihc l\'l'nt somc of thc first flight nurses
gr:lClu:ltec1 from B(l\\nLln Fic'ld's School of .\ir 1'\:lcu:ltion,
This \\'as c.nlv I 9-f::, 1\ len who were in tli.it tlic.itcr c.in aeId
some chapter's of their 0\\'11 about the valor of these \IOmCn,
Thcv sa\\' thcm put up with c\Trdhing men h.icl to f:Jcescorching
suns. torrential rain-, s\\':rrms of mosCjuitocs cvcrvwhcrc.
the prescnee of iu.rl.ui.t and dengue fC'lLT, in.rdcqu.rtc
qu.utcr». clio«: out of mcss kits \\'hile sLlllding ankle deep
in mud,
If womc» ever hncl a ch:lIlcc to pr(}\c the\' con]cl take the
rough with the smooth. tllis \\,;IS it, Tl urc \\'l'll' no qu.utcr-,
for them on Cuaduk-an.tl at first, so the O\crniglrt stop on
the long trip from ]\,'cw Calcdoni.m hc.rclqu.irt cr-, \\';JS gener:I1I\'
Lspiritu S:lIlto. Up at 0100, takeoff at 0300, .miv.r!
at Henderson Field at 0';'30 to pick up hltt1c easlJ:J1tics scnt
c](l\\n from the ficrce fighting lip ~C'\\' BriLlin \\;1\', "-hcn
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