It is easy to lionize such wartime valor, but Norman's real point is that, whatever the setting, a nurse is always engaged in a kind of combat. Surgeons and physicians perform their tasks, then depart. It is the nurse who remains at the bedside, changing the bloody dressing, washing the injured body. When Beth Norman began this book in 1989, many of the former nurses who had been caught in enemy territory were either unable or unwilling to discuss their experiences. Nonetheless, Norman threw herself into the task with abandon, did her homework, pursued all interviews, testimony, diaries and letters, and has robustly compensated for any lag-time by writing a book by which all others will now be judged.
Angels is a metaphor for grit, wisdom, bravery, and caring.
The incredible story of Bataan's Angels has long demanded a competent telling, and Norman has done so with profound skill, honesty, love and humor. One cannot help but be impressed by their courage in the worst of circumstances. Author Elizabeth Norman has done an incredible piece of research in collecting diaries and letters and locating the women to interview. Their story is not widely known. But with the publication of Norman's highly detailed book, younger generations of American will learn more of their remarkable ordeal.