GUARDIANS OF FREEDOM
Saluting Those Who Served in the U.S. Army
Mary O'Connor in World War II, Part 1
by Janis Stein

The greatness of this country was built – and continues to be built – on the backs of ordinary people. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States entered a new era, and a young woman born in Iowa answered the call of duty. Before her tour ended during World War II, Mary Kelly tended to a good many of our American boys, nursing them back to health.

Iowan-born and raised, Mary Kelly had one thing on her mind growing up on her family’s farm: She wanted to become a nurse. As Mary made her way through grade school and into high school, her desire turned to need and, at long last upon her high school graduation in 1935, she traveled to Mason City, Iowa, to begin a three-year course in nursing.

Mary ignored the depressed economy as best she could, throwing her energy instead into what would train her for her life’s work. She studied and studied some more, absorbing as much medical knowledge as she could through books and a good deal more through hands-on experience. In three years time, Mary had fulfilled her childhood dream: She had gained the skills necessary to become a nurse. Now she would live it.

Securing a nursing job at Mercy Hospital in Mason City, Mary would spend the next few years applying all she’d learned in training. With private nursing duty came experience, with experience, more knowledge. Though a modest person by nature, Mary couldn’t help but take a bit of pride in knowing she had realized her God-given talents and found her calling early on: Mary was made for nursing.

Mary’s world changed on December 7, 1941 - as did a good many Americans – with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The following day the United States and Britain would declare war on Japan, and life would never be the same again. Mary continued working in private duty, as one by one, her friends and brothers and neighbors went off to fight.

American men and boys - hoards of them - were signing up to protect and preserve. With war, came injury, and skilled nurses became one of America’s precious commodities. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appealed to every American to do their part - to contribute to the war effort in whatever way they could.

In 1943, Mary Kelly, along with nine other nurses employed at Mercy Hospital, enlisted in the United States Army. Many more would follow.

On January 19, 1943, Mary first traveled to the Red Cross Headquarters in Des Moines, and from there she was sent to Fort Carson, Colorado, located near Colorado Springs. Fort Carson was built just one year earlier and, there, Mary would begin six weeks of Basic Training. Three of those weeks were filled with the intensive military training all soldiers endured, but Mary knew she would make it through – she had nursing on her mind.

In the dead of winter, Colorado was cold. The Army nursing unit marched for miles, knowing, along with their nursing skills, they needed to be physically fit for whatever might come their way. Although the physical training was difficult, Mary took one day at a time. She knew others overseas were enduring far greater difficulties.

During Basic Training, soldiers also received their Army-issued clothing. Blue in color, the slacks and tops resembled that of the Navy, but within a few months, additional clothing in khaki color replaced the blue.

Upon completion of Basic Training, Mary traveled to Springfield, Missouri, where she would work at Fort O’Riley General Hospital. Because nurses were in such high demand, Mary entered the Army with a rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and at Fort O’Riley, Mary slid back into her nursing role, working in various departments at the Army hospital. Sections of the hospital were divided into ear, nose and throat, orthopedic and so on. At Fort O’Riley, most patients were confined to their beds, and nurses treated the patients according to the doctor’s orders. Nurses would work in a particular area for two or three weeks before transferring to a new department. The three months of routine work were comforting, and Mary honed the skills she would need to serve in the war effort.

About three months later, Mary was assigned to Fort Leonardwood, Missouri, where the U.S. Army was activating hospitals to be sent overseas. Mary would become a part of the 103rd General Hospital, which included about 300 officers, nurses and enlisted men. Sent by troop train to Boston, Massachusetts, the 103rd General Hospital joined three or four other hospital units before boarding the ship that would transport them overseas. Mary was going to England.

During the eight-day trip, Mary had a bit of time to prepare herself mentally for her own battles that lay ahead. War injuries could be gruesome, but she was confident she could provide quality care and compassion, too, for the many soldiers that would cross her path. And she was not without prayer, for her younger sister, who had enlisted before her, was stationed in the South Pacific, and her three brothers, too, were not without danger – one had joined the Army, and the other two, the Navy. No doubt the Kelly parents back in Iowa were fraught with worry as they tended the family farm: All five of their children were stationed in various parts around the world. World War II was in full swing.

When the ship landed in England, Mary sent up a small prayer of thanksgiving for the trip had been largely uneventful and, now, the real work would begin. The 103rd set up shop in an old deserted English hospital; the one-story unpainted building was one of many buildings in the complex. While the evenly spaced windows allowed for extra light on sunny days, the windows had no screens; during the summer months these open windows would pose their own problems.

The hospital was divided into areas called “spiders.” Each spider contained six rooms, with 20 to 30 patients recuperating in each room. Likewise, each spider specialized in a particular area of medicine. Cardiac patients were housed in one ward, burn patients in another and so on. Usually one nurse was in charge of each spider, and the number of bed patients under her care determined how many enlisted men she’d have to assist her. Though the enlisted men were not nurses, they likely had some training back in the states, which they would heavily rely upon.

Nurses might need assistance in any number of tasks from holding a patient’s leg up to changing dressings. The patients needed to be fed, too, their diets dependent on whether they could only consume liquids or whether they could eat regular food. Cooks at the mess hall would send food over to the various hospital wards. Nurses and enlisted men would then reheat the food on stoves, and the patients, excited they would be eating something other than C-rations, always appreciated the hospital food.

Join in the continuation next month as Mary (Kelly) O’Connor reflects on her Army nursing days during World War II.

© 2008 Stein Expressions, LLC