Evening star., 1942-08-30
a Navy Nurses Tell
Of Guam Capture
On Arrival Here
Travelled 10000 Miles
After Six Months
In jap Prison Camps
Ry the Associated Press.


tured by the Japanese on the island
OF Guam December 10 came home
to belated Christmas yesterday
after travelling 10000 miles over four
oceans and spending six months in
enemy prisons and detention houses.
They brought with them not only
a great enthusiasm to be back in
the United States again-and to get
at the long delayed Christmas pres
ents which the Navy had held here
for them-but also the first stories
to be told in this country of the
japanese capture of the distant and
lightly fortified Pacific outpost.
Chief Nurse Marion B. Olds. Is,
of Washington. graduate of
George Washington University
Training School, who acted as
spokesman for the group, said that
the Japs began bombing the island
few minutes after their early
morning December attack on Pearl
Harbor. When the first explosions
thundered over the island, word had
just reached Agana, Guam, that
war mad started.
Two-Day Bombing.
The bombings continued for two
days. The enemy met none but
nti-aircraft ground resistance, Miss
Olds said, because the Marines had
no planes with which to defend the
outpost. At SIS am on the third
day, the occupation forces moved in
and the flag of Japan replaced the
Stars and Stripes. The occupation
was orderly. Miss Olds said, as the
enemy groups-"we heard variously
there were six or seven thousand of
them"-spread over the little island.
/. The other nurses with Miss Olds
were Doris M Yetter, a native of
Philadelphia; Leona Jackson. 80, a
native of Union, Ohio, and Lorraine
Christensen, 30, native of May
field, Utah. A fifth nurse who was
on duty on Guam, Miss Virginia j.
Forgerty, 81, a native of Akron, Ohio,
was married while en- route to the
United States from Japan to Fred
erick Mann, former Vice Consul at
Osaki, Japan.
Struck by Jap Sailor.
Mrs. Mann has received an honor
able discharge from the Navy She
was the only one of the nurses, Miss
Olds related, who suffered any in
dignity at the hands of the japanese.
While on duty in the hospital at
Guam after the enemy occupation,
she was struck by Japanese sailor
when she failed to understand an
order.
Miss Olds said that after the
japanese took over the island the
nurses were permitted to live "in
their own quarters"
I'VE used our own food" she said,
land some of the Japanese officers,
about IA, think, ate at the hospital.
The men of the Japanese forces had
brought their food, which was rice
The officers were fairly courteous,
but they went through our houses
anytime they felt like it and they
took whatever they wanted"
She said one of the curious rules
that I'VE should bow to them"
Treated Well in Prison.
All Americans were removed from
Guam January 10 in former Japa-
nese passenger ship, the Argentina
Maru. They were taken to the
island of Shikoku, in Southern
Japan, and placed in prison at
zentsuji. There were about 400
persons in the prison there, the
chief nurse reported, and not all
were Americans. She did not iden-
tify the other nationalities.
At the prison, Miss Olds said, I'VE
were treated fairly we'll"
I'VE had good food,' she con-
tinued, but we had to sleep on the
floor and there we're only little char
coal fires to keep us warm. The
food consisted chiefly of soup and
rice and bread with fish OCCASION
ally"
The nurses were held at the
prison until March II and all lost
weight on the diet to which they
were not accustomed From Zent-
sui they were taken to detention
house in Kobe, where they stayed
until Jun 16, when they were taken
to Yokohama and put aboard a
refugee ship for this country. They
arrived in New York on the Grips
holm.
Witnessed Doolittle Raid.
They were in Kobe during Brig.
| Gen. James Doolittle's bombing
raid on Japan.
"All I saw was a plane 60 over
the house." Miss Olds said. And
of course We heard the bombings.
1t sounded awfully good"
Miss Olds. daughter of DR.. and
Mrs. w. j. Olds, was born here
February 13, 1897. She attended
public schools in Virginia, high
school in Front Royal, Va. She
served in various naval hospitals
and went to Guam In January. 1910