nineteen forty five and the last one million man  clearly through the haze which man will you be the one who gets hurt and dies or the one who gets hurt and clears when the dizziness stopped when the fog cleared an army nurse was at your side a woman's home and safety and comfort and home to thousands of men before you are women who made all those things to you a nurse brought another american blood to your side to pour new strength into your veins a nurse handed clamps to the surgeon and counted sponges a nurse prepared and administer the  and watched you constantly for any telltale change in your breathing or blood pressure or working with the same purpose to ease the pain of war to help save lives the preparation for the moment that would bring the army nurse to your side began months before back home in the united states after three years of professional schooling the nurses were given four weeks of basic training in those early days perhaps the nurse wondered why she had to sit through seemingly endless classes and submit to a rigid discipline for a while muscles ached and groaned she may have wondered why it was necessary to take those long hikes groper away through a guest area yet there were demands that would require of her perfect physical health and stamina the strength to stand up under the rigors of combat nursing four weeks of basic training finished the army nurse who was ready to serve wherever the army needed her most she might have found herself stationed in a general hospital right here at home or perhaps assigned to a mobile hospital unit overseas after she arrived she may have helped to build a very hospital in which she worked for the field hospital or the evacuation hospital like a circus had to be able to pack up and move on at a moment's notice its primary function was to offer a media surgical treatment to the wounded and that meant following ever changing battle lines everyone pitched in when i'm only a hospital went up and listed men doctors and nurses just one small instance where basic training paid off those muscles toughened and hardened during the four weeks of basic back home were equal to the job in the field of the army nurse lived roughly and worked gently there was no glamour and her life was far from spectacular she slept under hastily pitched canvas on a g i cut under g blankets she trained her mind to act as an alarm clock because time was important always moment might have meant a wasted life she lived a life completely stripped of luxuries and yet she asked for no more like pureed than a patient smile when his pain was eased she ate regular g i rations the same as the rest of the army and often at irregular times the were long and the demands never ending and as a result the nurse learned to make use of every moment of her off duty time she might out of chosen a g i helmet to wear to a kid sister is wearing but it made up for its lack of style by its versatility it was a beauty parlor laundry cooking pot it was mason all rolled up into one little community in size seven she spent some of her time writing letters not the having a wonderful time wish you were here kind but letters filled with all the drama of her days with stories of the courage and spirit of the men over whom she watched a few moments could always be found for prayer others for lounging about talking at home she may have longed to wear the evening dress sent from home but probably only had the chance to talk about it usually she wore olive drab or better grey her uniform at all times was very badge of but however she spent her off duty time she was always eager to return to the hospital where the wounded were fighting for their lives for first and foremost and at all times she was a nurse offering professional and skilled care to the sick and wounded a nurse first a woman second and an officer third might well serve as the slogan for every member of the nurses core complete recovery of the patient in war or peace depends not only upon the use of drugs but on the skill with which they are administered and the care that follows the nurse must be capable of recognizing at once any symptoms in her patients which demand immediate treatment because they are serious consequences are to be avoided medical treatment must be on hand the moment any symptoms appear professionally skilled and capable in her there is the tenderness of all women of mother and sister and friend her voice and touch lend encouragement instill hope it's the surgeon who saves a man's life is the nurse who is tender care helps him to live the crisis past patients begin to sleep again the pain is just a bad memory the field hospital a stopover to give them immediate surgical treatment as soon as possible after they were wounded had done its job evacuation hospital was another stopover on the trip back through the medical chain care facilities for treatment were more complete than those of the field hospital and here too the nurse played an increasingly important part in the vital period of treatment and convalescence after three or four days the patients were usually well enough for the trip back to the general hospital  trains waited for them hospital wards on wheels each train carried in addition to medical officers and enlisted technicians four surgical nurses and two medical nurses all of whom were on duty from seven am to nine pm and as far into the night as they were needed when speed meant life evacuation took place by plane because of these flying hospitals men are alive today who otherwise would have died in the jungles of burma or on the beaches of normandy each patient was thoroughly checked before the takeoff then watched over constantly and checked again when the plane landed while in the air the flight nurse was in complete charge ready to handle every emergency and doing everything a doctor would have to do except operate air evacuation was difficult and required specialized skill and training the flight nurse had to be prepared for the unexpected for the next moment it might have and often did happen at the general hospital in the theater of operation other skilled teams of surgeons and nurses stood ready to take over where the frontline hospitals left off whether a hospital is under canvas out in the field or in a solid structure in a city it's routine like the nurses routine doesn't vary and its principle aim remains fixed prepared drugs laid out the instruments which the doctor needed for his next operation and kept accurate records of each patients history and progress while in a civilian hospital the ratio is usually one knows to every three beds in an army hospital it is always many times that number to help lift a very little from the nurses shoulders and listed technicians trained in special schools are assigned to work under her direct supervision one of her biggest jobs is to teach these technicians both in the classroom and in the hospital wards this means added responsibility for the nurse there although she has less personal contact with her patients she has to direct the activities of the personnel assigned to her so that the treatment and well being of her patients is assured relaxation and entertainment are an important part of medical treatment to this general hospital overseas came an all star show and the ar shared the fun with their patients to whom the sound of laughter from home often meant more than medicine later on she may have spent a few minutes with a star and there were times when she herself was the star of the show like this nurse the first woman to land on  batter up and the game is on army versus army as the nurses play the lax infield will never play in the polo grounds but one of their patients might off duty for a while some nurses strolled through the streets and buildings of ancient cities others preferred a round of golf or a swim somewhere if the weather was right then it was always back to duty back to the second wounded back to the hospital around which the life of an army nurse revolves those patients scheduled for a trip back home for the final period of convalescence travel on a hospital ship as fully equipped as a stationary hospital now as before the army nurse stands by ready to minister to every ne then a general hospital in the united states and complete recovery and this is the end of the long chain of evacuation the general hospital back home here the army nurse works patiently with her hands  and her heart here she gently guide men back to the way of life they fought to protect although she might have volunteered to serve overseas although she might change said what she considered the inactivity of working at a hospital in united states or alaska or panama or the army nurse soon learned that our battle line was wherever a soldier was stationed but words of praise can measure up to these women whose very lives are given to nursing second wounded men are millions sick and wounded men back to life and health and yet praises offered long hours of tireless service were remembered and recognized the army nurse decorated for bravery and valor above and beyond the call of duty and these nurses impress and for three long years by the japanese asked only that they may return to duty for they could never forget the faces of american men tortured and killed by the enemy wherever transports took our soldiers they also took the army nurse to work by day by night on distant battlefields to help make shattered bodies home to bring smiles to faces twisted with pain to serve as a sign of the american soldier during peace and war this is the army nurse usa ready to serve anywhere under any circumstances in time of need during the past four years fifty seven thousand graduates registered nurses have served with the medical part of the army for us the war is not yet over many nurses are still being center oversees centers to care for america soldiers these are replacements for nurses who served overseas during the war and the war is not yet over for many of our patients more than three hundred thousand patients are in army hospitals throughout this country many of whom will be forced to remain there for a long time to come these men are not asking for money they have never asked they are the most wonderful patients in the world