Evening star., 1941-12-07
Over 5000 Nurses Join Amy
For Active Duty in Year
Maj. julio FIikke,
Veteran of World
War, Heads Corps
Nv JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

Wherever the Army sends It's
troops. Army nurses go along to take
care of the soldiers.
Army nurses today are on around
the clock duty in every Army Hos
nital base. including those in Alaska,
Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico,
the Panama Canal Zone and Iceland.
In Iceland, they are cheer1ully
evolving all sorts of substitutes for
accustomed procedures and refusing
to be dismayed by the rapidly ap-
preaching prospect of % hours OF
darkness out of every "a.
A little over year ago there were
100 Army nurses. Now, there are
6877. Before this fiscal year is over
II Is expected 8.237 will be enrolled.
Each 1. volunteer. drawn from the
Red Cross list of Army and Navy
Reserves.
The Army Is proud OF the fact
that Il has never had to draft
nurse. During the last World War,
2l.4S0 volunteer. registered nurses
served our armed forces. Over
10000 of this number were with our
troops on foreign soil under lncred-
ihlv difficult conditions in most in
stances.
Cupid Often Reduces Ranks.
Army nurses must be graduates OF
class A nursing schools They must
also be in top-notch condition, with
,ut physical impairment of any kind.
Provision is made for age anc dis
ability. Retirement on IS per cent
of their pay is possible at the age
Of so. after 25 years Of service. They
volunteer for one year with the
pledge. that except for "cogent' rea-
sons. their service, if satisfactory,
shall be Of three years duration.
Marriage is accepted as "cogent'
reason. despite the fact that Dan
Cupid sometimes reduces the nurses
ranks with the virulence Of an epi-
demic. The service IS philosophical,
however. with regard to authorized
defectionS on the theory that es-
tahlishment OF happy American
homes is an asset in building good
citizenship and loyalty to country.
The Army's nursing corps func-
tions under the surgeon general. Its
immediate supervision is vested in
Mai. Julia o. Flikke. R. N, whose
Office is on the fourth floor of the
Social Security Building at Fourth
and Independence avenue SW. She
Is the second woman to administer
the details of this highly-important
Army lob of caring for men who
require disqualification. Her imme-
diate predecessor and the first
woman to have this position, was
Mai. Julia c. StimSon, retired.
Four Aides Rank as Captains.
Under Mai. Flikke, at her head
quarters Office here, are four as
sistants with the rank Of captain.
Assistant superintendents OF nurS-
ing on field duty. one for every corps
headquarters area. hold similar rank
Each and every Army ward nurse is
4 second lieutenant. All chief nurses
are first heutenants.
There is nothing of the harassed
feminine executive about Maj
Flikke. She is serene and appar-
entity unhurried. She has sympa-
thetic approach 10, and an infinite
understanding of human frailties
and needs in sickness and In health
Carefully catalogued desk files
provide her with statistics or infor-
nation which NAV be quickly
needed. A combined career of nurs-
ing care and hospital administra-
tion has given her perspective and
the power 10 administer details
without being submerged by them.
But she has that human touch"
which has kept her essentially fem
inine and 'motherly" in the finest,
sense of the word.
OF Norwegian parents who came
70 this country and settled in Wis
consin where they became American
citizens. she entered a nursing school
as Young widow. She chose this
career because she wished to pay
in service to others the debt of graf
itude she felt she owed individual
members Of the nursing profession
Who for 10 years assisted her with
the care of an invalided husband
and mother
Coping with the rapid expansion
Of an Army nursing setup on a
war basis is not a new experience
for her. She is a nursing veteran
of the last World War From her
post as assistant superintendent of
the Augustana Hospital in Chicago,
she went overseas with the Red
Cross unit organized by the inter
nationally known Swiss physician,
DR.. A. J. OchSner. As chief of
nurses at Base Hospital No. II she
served abroad until July. 1919. Her
foreign service with the Army nurs-
ing corps has included duty in the
Philippines and China. She moved
to her present assignment after
IL years continuous duty as chief OF