The Secret Rescue (36 page)

26. To test their skills
Hayes, interview.

27. medical evacuation
Futrell,
Development of Aeromedical Evacuation,
1–50; “Jonathan Letterman,” Civil War Trust, http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/jonathan-letterman.html.

28. Schimmoler
Mary C. Smolenski, Donald G. Smith, Jr., and James S. Nanney,
A Fit, Fighting Force: The Air Force Nursing Services Chronology
(Washington, DC: Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, 2005), 24; Barbara Brooks Tomblin,
G.I. Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corps in World War II
(Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996), 80.

29. “hardly makes for… entertaining fare”
“Movie Review: Parachute Nurse (1942),”
New York Times,
July 27, 1942.

30. United States’ strategy
Futrell,
Development of Aeromedical Evacuation,
70–71.

31. 38th Medical Air Ambulance Squadron
Peter Dorland and James Nanney,
Dust Off: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam
(Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1982), 8.

32. By the summer
Futrell,
Development of Aeromedical Evacuation,
72; “Winged Angels,” February 7, 2011.

33. designated responsibility
Futrell,
Development of Aeromedical Evacuation,
72–80.

34. Before the Second World War
“Air Force History Overview,” U.S. Air Force, http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/overview.asp.

35. so alarmed… Roosevelt
Futrell,
Development of Aeromedical Evacuation,
54; Message of President Roosevelt to the Congress, January 12, 1939.

36. In June 1941
“Air Force History Overview.”

37. By 1945
Ibid.

38. MAETS
Futrell,
Development of Aeromedical Evacuation,
78–80; Sarnecky,
A History of the U.S. Army Corps,
252–255.

39. 7,043 available nurses
Sarnecky,
A History of the U.S. Army Corps,
175.

40. “I ask for my boys”
“The Time Is Now!”
American Journal of Nursing,
August 1942, 924.

41. Five hundred nurses
History of the School of Air Evacuation.

42. Hall
“Lt. Burton A. Hall Killed,”
The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi,
November 1944, 11; World War II Flight Nurses Association,
The Story of Air Evacuation 1942–1989,
17.

43. Gardiner
World War II Flight Nurses Association,
The Story of Air Evacuation 1942–1989
, 17; Feller and Moore,
Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps,
17.

44. Bataan
Feller and Moore,
Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps
, 6; “History of the Army Nurse Corps: World War II.”

45. To help ensure
History of the School of Air Evacuation.

46. “taken aloft”
Sarnecky,
A History of the U.S. Army Corps,
252.

47. port of embarkation
Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview.

Chapter 2

1. Camp Kilmer
“A Historical Sketch of Camp Kilmer,” National Archives Records Administration, Northeast Region (NYC), http://www.archives.gov/nyc//files/03/94/91/f039491/public/camp-kilmer.pdf.

2. soot
Hayes, interview.

3. During their six-day stay
Ibid.; Grace H. Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History,” Roll A0323, AFHRA.

4. “I wrote my boyfriend today”
Agnes Jensen Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

5. “Many fellows took advantage”
Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

6. like Jens and Rutkowski
Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th; Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

7. Close to midnight
Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

8. nightly dim-out
“Aurora of Lights Dims Out in City for the Duration,”
New York Times,
April 29, 1942.

9. U-boat attacks
A. Timothy Warnock,
The Battle Against the U-boat in the American Theater: December 7, 1941 to September 2, 1945
(Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1992), 7; Nathan Miller,
War at Sea: A Naval History of World War II
(New York: Scribner, 1995), 291–295.

10. Casablanca Conference
“Mr. Churchill’s Speech in Parliament on Feb. 11, 1943,”
Bulletin of International News
20, no. 4 (February 20, 1943), 152–154; A. Timothy Warnock,
Air Power Versus U-boats: Confronting Hitler’s Submarine Menace in the European Theater
(Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1999), 9.

11. “Pistol Packin’ Mama”
Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

12. coffee and doughnuts
Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview.

13. staterooms
Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

14. in the brig
Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

15. medics bunked
Hayes, interview.

16. next twenty-four hours
Ibid.; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

17. lines to the pier
Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

18. Navy airplanes and blimps
Hayes, interview.

19. including Rutkowski
Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

20. convoy entered the open sea
Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

21. poker games
Hayes, interview.

22. To avoid sleeping
Ibid.

23. sweated in their fatigues
Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

24. olive-drab bags
Hayes, interview.

25. Bay of Bizerte
Ibid.; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

26. movie featuring… Alice Faye
Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

27. [description of attack]
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943,” Roll A0323, AFHRA; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

28. torpedo fired by a submarine
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943.”

29. luck ran out
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Atlantic Battle Won
(Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 263; “1700 on Transport Picked Up at Sea,”
New York Times,
July 1, 1944; “Grace Line Gets $6,875,000: WSA to Pay for Santa Elena and Santa Clara,”
New York Times,
October 12, 1944; Cynthia Toman,
An Officer and a Lady: Canadian Military Nursing and the Second World War
(Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007), 77. The July 1, 1944,
New York Times
article reported that three men died, whereas the October 12, 1944, article reported that four men died.

30.
Santa Elena
arrived
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

31. five other ships
Hayes, interview.

32. stood in awe
Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

33. Bizerte’s strategic location
“Bizerte,”
Britannica Online Encyclopedia;
“To Bizerte with the II Corps,” U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1990, CMH Pub. 100-6.

34. handful of men
Hayes, interview.

35. McKnight and the others boarded
Ibid.; “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

36. temporary desert campsite
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

37. only women at the camp
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

38. sick tent
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

39. “Still being rookies”
Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

40. One of the flight surgeons
“[807th] War Diary for September 1943.”

41. Jens crawled into
Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.