The book tells the stories as told by from twenty-one nurses who served in World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The woman came from all corners of the country and served both stateside, in Alaska, in Canada, Japan, Italy, the Azores and other locations. They all retired to Florida, which is where I met the nurses.
The picture of First Lt. Hazel ( Stickey) Murphy, ANC, and was chosen as the cover photo for the book. Murphy joined the Navy, April 27, 1942. Check out her picture serving in New Guinea:
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In May of 1999 while covering the Memorial Day celebration at Bay Pines VA Medical Center and National Cemetery as a correspondent for the Seminole Beacon, a weekly local paper, I was pleased to meet Pearl Harbor survivors, a World War I veteran and the nurses of Jane A. Delano Post 122. I snapped a photograph of Joan Arcand, the group's Post Commander and a veteran of the Korean War. When she learned I was a nurse -- turned reporter -- she invited me to attend one of their monthly meetings.
I did. The stories they told fascinated me. Their mother hadn't even had the right to votes, but here were these young women taking off for parts unknown.
For the next year, I wrote about the nurses whenever I could. For the next six years, I listened to their stories. And from the first meeting, I talked to them about recording their experiences. Whatever they could remember would be important for history.
For women.
For nurses.
For the country's sake.
They shook their heads and humbly said they hadn't done anything special.
After a couple of talks with my husband about whether or not I really should undertake the job of writing these nurses' stories, I was privy to introduce Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidal-Greenlee at the St. Petersburg Times Reading Festival ( then held on the Eckerd College campus). These women were the authors of the book, All This Hell:U.S. Nurses Imprisoned by the Japanese. After hearing them speak, I had the answer to my question.
I am proud to have known these woman, several of whom have passed away since that day in 1999, and I will not forget them or their courage. Writing their stories was an honor and I'm happy to share their memories and experiences, so others will remember their courage and sacrifices. Many of these women had not shared their stories with their families, their brothers, sisters or their children. The letters and phone calls I received after the book was published amazed me.
One family, whose mother had passed away before the book came out, went on a cruise. The one sibling who knew about the book bought copies and set them on each family members stateroom bed for them to see when they boarded the ship. None of those sibling knew all their mother had been through and wouldn't have if the women hadn't allowed me the privilege to share their stories in a book.
The nurses whose stories I tell in Answering the Call : Nurses of Post 122, took to land, sea and the air, placing their patents' welfare before their own. Post 122 nurses set out to ease the suffering of the wounded and to comfort the dying -- just as military nurses do today -- and as they have done throughout history.
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