"At age 106, Alice Darrow can clearly recall her days as a nurse during World War II, part of a pioneering group that dodged bullets as they hauled packs full of medical supplies and treated the burns and gunshot wounds of troops. Some nurses were killed by enemy fire. Others spent years as prisoners of war. Most returned home to quiet lives, receiving little recognition."
"Darrow sat with patients, even after-hours. One of them had arrived at her hospital on California's Mare Island with a bullet lodged in his heart. He was not expected to survive surgery, yet he would change her life. To them, you're everything because you're taking care of them, she said, sitting at her home in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Danville."
"The coalition knows of five World War II nurses who are still living including Elsie Chin Yuen Seetoo, 107, who became the first Chinese American nurse to join the Army Nurse Corps. They fear time is running out to honor the trailblazers. It's high time we honor the nurses who stepped up and did their part to defend our freedom, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, said in a statement."
Alice Darrow, 106, remembers serving as a World War II nurse who dodged bullets, carried medical supplies, and treated severe burns and gunshot wounds. Some nurses were killed or held as prisoners of war, while most returned home with little public recognition. A coalition of retired military nurses and supporters is campaigning to award the Congressional Gold Medal to all nurses who served in WWII, noting that other women’s wartime groups have already received the honor. Only a handful of WWII nurses remain alive, including Elsie Chin Yuen Seetoo, prompting urgency to honor their service.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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