Page 109 - Anthology

U.S. Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, VA (1827)

I was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1923. There were six children in the family, three boys and three
girls. We lived on a small farm, but I went to school in Lexington. My father was in the car business and
my mother was a housewife.

While in high school, I attended several meetings where we were told about the reasons the United
States was in the war. I knew, at the time, my parents would be against me joining. So, I waited until I
was twenty. I was sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a physical. They discovered that I had a tooth that needed
repair. I had to return to Lexington and have that done before I could join. They didn’t do anything for the
WAVEs. I had the tooth pulled, went back and was accepted.

My parents were not happy that I had joined the Navy. But I was twenty-one, so they did not have to give
me permission to join. I don’t think either one really thought that I would do it. But I did. The Navy
recruiter had told me that women were needed and gave me information to give to my parents. WAVES
did not go overseas. My parents knew I wanted to serve, and knowing I’d stay in the United States made
it easier.

I began my service as a Hospital Apprentice in Bethesda, Maryland. My initial service period was spent
getting the men ready for duty. I received specialized training at the Bethesda Military Hospital for about
three months. After that training I went to a hospital in Bainbridge, Maryland. It was a receiving hospital.

At the time, we were never told in so many words that we were preparing for casualties. Naturally, the
invasion in Normandy was not public knowledge. We were told and we knew about it. But we did not
understand the enormity of what was about to happen. We were all kids. It was at Bainbridge that I
started to learn what the Navy was all about and what I was going to experience.

The hospital at Bainbridge was a receiving hospital for the wounded from the Normandy invasion. It was
the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. Many of them were physically injured. But, most of
them were injured mentally. They did not know what the heck was going on. Remember, these were
kids. They were eighteen and nineteen and having the time of their life, then the war came along. They
did not know what they were getting into and I don’t care what anybody says, I don’t think they were told.