Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-11-05
The Army Nurse Corps.

This article just received from Ser
gcant James d. Grist, at Camp Sewer
Is Of timely interest to hundreds Of
young women who are anxious for ser
vice in keeping with the great bust
ness of the day:
What can I do in the army?" in
quircs a friend of mine. a young lady
who Is anxious to go to war. Il have
been thinking Of trying to go to France
as a canteen worker, and yet / dom
imagine I would like that work. Wha
do you think Of the idea Of my becom'
ing an army nurse? l would like tt
know something about the army
nurse corps, and the system under
which the members of 1t work.
know other girls who want to have ar
active part in fighting the Hun. Be.
sides, 1t is so dull at home now tha'
most of the boys are gone. Won't yol
write something sometime about the
army nurses?"
Those young women. scores OF whon
are at Camp Sewer for the purpose oi
nursing sick soldiers, and also at Other
camps and cantonments in this coun.
try and abroad, are just as much sol
diers and deserve just as much credit
as though they were in the line. Dur
ing the recent influenza epidemic. they
saved the lives of thousands OF SOL
dier lads over the country, because OF
their persistent and untiring efforts
They come from the finest homes in
the land even as the soldiers come
1t is no wonder that the most popular
song with soldiers recuperating from
wounds or illness Is, Il don't Want to
Get Well"
The Army Nurse corps, while moi
exactly comparable to that famous Rus
sian Battalion Of Death" is endur-
ing the stress Of military life in. this
country and overseas, and is helping
no less materially to win the war than
if it were armed with rifles instead OF
physic, patience and tender solicitude
When Uncle Sam Joined those forces
allied against Germany, the personnel
Of the Army Nurse corps numbered
only 373 women soldiers. Each oil
these, however, was veteran nurse
Many had seen service in the Philip
pines, and in Porto Rico and Hawaii
All knew the serious nature of the
work ahead Of them. There are now
something like 10000 young women in
the Army Nurse corps, the develop
When the country went TO war
trained nurses who were In position
to do so, answered the call to service
without hesitancy and became its first
women soldiers. Not once have the
strict requirements for admission been
lowered. A candidate has to be a
graduate Of a recognized nurses train
ing school. and must have had spec
flied amount Of training.
No civilian hospital can give the
sick and wounded Sammy the expert
care and attention an army hospital can
give. Are not the finest doctors in all
the land now in the Army Medical
corps? And the finest nurses In all
the country are there too.
It Is O: interest to show how the tre-
mendous expansion Of the Army Nurse
corps was effected. The American
Red Cross Societ~ was asked to help
in recruiting nurses for the Army
Nurse CORDS. The majority Of women
soldiers now in the service were reach
ed and enrolled by this great humani-
tartan institution. Once they are ad-
mitted in the Army Nurse corps, Of ne
cessity all their connection with the
Red Cross is severed. They must
come directly under the surgeon gen.
eral of the army. The superintend-
ent of the corps, Miss Dora E. Thomp-
son, a woman grown gray in the SER
vice, who is really their generalissimo
the commanding officer or the hospital
or the unit to which they are assigned.
At the present time. about 10000
more women soldiers are needed in the
corps to meet the needs Of the fast
growing armies Of the country. They
will be forthcoming before long, be-
cause hundreds Of young women all
over the land are tremendously inter-
ested in the war and entertain desire
to get into the service, as does the
young woman who wrote me. The
American Red Cross Is exerting every
effort to reach women not now on the
rolls, and who are properly equipped
by training for this noble work. There
is honor a plenty for American girls
who are willing to serve in the Army
Nurse corps.
In order to stay any future shortage
Of nurses. as an adjunct to the corps.
recently there has been organized an
army school Of nursing. This offers to
American girls an opportunity to take
up the profession Of nursing under the
direction Of the army.
Hundreds Of applications for the priv
ilege of training in this school have
poured into the office Of the surgeon
general at Washington. Up to the
present more than ten units Of the
school have been opened at various
and the course Of in
struction has started.
The women's committee Of the
Of national defense not very
long ago organized a campaign to
bring to the attention Of young women
over the country the fact that 1t was
their duty to enter the nurse training
schools, both civilian and military so
that a nurse shortage need never be
feared. This educational drive has been
highly successful and thousands Of girls
have promised to do their share In the