The Lincoln times., 1945-04-09

in front of the hugh Pentagon Build
ing. Colonel Boston knew something
of the length of its halls, and the
intricacies of system for getting an
outsider to the place he wanted to go.
So they said goodbye in front of the
building.
"Goin' into a place like this, feel
l may nevah see you again, Nurse
Blake" he said. with smile. "Weu
probably be miles apart in this same
building. But if you can find your
way out by dinner time tonight, I'd
be mighty glad if you'd have dinner
with me-"
"Why-I'd love to-" Laura replied
surprised. Where and when shall
we meet?"
Lobby of the Mayfair" Boston
replied. "Six-thirty, how's that ?"
"Swell. And l hope you get your
transfer"
"Oh, I'll get 1t, all right" snorted
tilS SOlOiiCA'
He held the door open for her.
Laura spent long time waiting,
first in the hall, then in one office
after another, getting closer and
closer to that of Lieutenant Colonel
Wright. of the Nurse Corps.
But when things began to happen,
they happened very fast. Nurse
Wright, whom Laura had known be-
fore, gave her warm and brisk
greeting, apologizing for keeping her
waiting, and asked her to sit down.
81 had hoped to arrange at least
little ceremony for this event. she
said. But I've been too busy"
Laura was bewildered. She had no
IDEA why Nurse Wright should be
talking about ceremony. Before she
could ask any questions, her superior
officer continued.
80 I'll just have to tell you about
your promotion, hand you your new
commission, and let it go at that.
You've done a fine job, and you have
been credit to the Army Nurse
Corps. We know your record we'll
here-your fine work in the hospital
in Port Darwin, your work in New
Guinea, and especially your efforts
beyond and above your regular du-
ties to capture japanese spy. You
certainly deserve the promotion to
captaincy, which l now hand YOU
Laura gasped. Of all the things she
had thought might happen when she
come to Washington, this was the
fartherest from her thoughts.
Lieutenant Colonel Wright was
smiling broadly and holding out her
hand.
Congratulations, she said, and
Laura quickly struggled to her feet.
"You act surprised. You really ought
to have a medal, too, you know"
"Thank you, Colonel Wright, thank
you!" Laura stammered. 81 just nev-
er-"
"No, you never thought of it," the
older officer said, because you have
been thinking so much about getting
away from that speaking assign
ment. l don't blame you, but you
were doing so well, we wanted to
keep you at it as long as you could
stand it. But now-well, guess the
time has mome!"
"You mean" Laura began hope
fully.
when this promtion came
through" Colonel Wright went on,
1--WE figured that was good time to
give you the rest of what you want.
All right-the speaking is ended. You
want real nursing duty. You'll have
it. Above all you want to be flight
nurse. That's what you'll bel"
"a flight nurse!" Laura cried. "Oh,
Colonel, when-how soon!"
you'll report at once to the School
of Air Evacuation at Bowman Field,
Kentucky" the colonel replied. "That
is where flight nurses are trained,
along with medical corpsmen and 9th
ers evacuating the wounded from bat
tie areas by air. You won't need the
full course that most nurses must
take but there's a short refresher
course that will be helpful to you and
get you into perfect condition again
after your months of hotel and train
living"
After she left headquarters Laura
took bus to the heart of Washing !
ton.
She went at once to the Mayfair |
Hotel. AS it was still an hour before |
the time when she was to meet Col
onel Boston there, she found the
waiting room and sat down to write |
to Jerry.
AS she wrote, she felt his special
pleasure over learning about her ap-
pointment as flight nurse. A pilots !
girl should be a flight nurse, of
course.
"It may not be too long before II
see you again, jerry" she wrote. 81
might be out there with you in six
weeks! That is unless you complete |
your fifty combat missions before
then. You must be well over thirty |
missions now! Take it easy-wait for |
me to get out there with you!"