All this hell : U.S. nurses imprisoned by the Japanese / Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Monahan, Evelyn.

Contributor:

Neidel-Greenlee, Rosemary, 1941-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Japanese.

World War, 1939-1945.

Nurses--United States--History--20th century.

Nurses.

World War, 1939-1945--Medical care--United States.

Prisoners of war--Philippines--History--20th century.

Prisoners of war.

Prisoners of war--Japan--History--20th century.

History.

Japan.

Philippines.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 228 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, [2000]

Summary:

More than one hundred U.S. Army and Navy nurses were stationed in Guam and the Philippines at the beginning of World War II. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, five navy nurses on Guam became the first American military women of World War II to be taken prisoner by the Japanese. More than seventy army nurses survived five months of combat conditions in the jungles of Bataan and Corregidor before being captured, only to endure more than three years in prison camps. In all, nearly one hundred nurses became POWs.

Many of these army nurses were considered too vital to the war effort to be evacuated from the Philippines. Though receiving only half the salary of male officers of the same rank, they helped establish outdoor hospitals and treated thousands of casualties despite rapidly decreasing supplies and rations. After their capture, they continued to care for the sick and wounded throughout their internment in the prison camps.

This account of the nurses' imprisonment adds a vital chapter to the history of American personnel in the Pacific theater. Lt. Col. Madeline Ullom, one of the captured nurses, remarked, "Even though women were not supposed to be on the front lines, on the front lines we were. Women were not supposed to be interned either, but it happened to us. People should know what we endured. People should know what we can endure."

When freedom came, the U.S. military ordered the nurses to sign agreements with the government not to discuss their horrific experiences. Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee have conducted numerous interviews with survivors and scoured archives for letters, diaries, and journals to uncover the heroism and sacrifices of these brave women. The authors' dedication to accuracy, combined with their personal expertise in medical care and military culture and discipline, has enabled them to produce a realistic reconstruction of the dramatic experiences of these POWs.

Contents:

1. Pacific Paradise 1

2. Paradise Lost 16

3. Descent into Hell 29

4. The Other Alamo 38

5. From the Frying Pan into the Fire 61

6. The Tunnel and the Rock 67

7. The City of Hell 98

8. Life along the River Styx 112

9. Hunger in the Heart of Hell 125

10. Liberation 154

11. Home at Last 170

Appendix A A Tribute to Major Maude C. Davison, ANC 179

Appendix B Pre-World War II Duty Stations of U.S. Navy Nurses Held as POWs by the Japanese 181

Appendix C Military Nurses Who Were Not Reassigned following the Japanese Attack on the Philippines 182

Appendix D Evacuation of U.S. Military Nurses from Manila, December 1941 183

Appendix E Evacuees from the Philippines to Australia 186

Appendix F POW Army Nurses Personal Statistics 190

Appendix G POW Army Nurses Military Service Statistics 193

Appendix H Military Grades during World War II 196.

Notes:

Maps on lining papers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [210]-216) and index.

ISBN:

0813121485

OCLC:

43286927