Letters Home

This book is the story of just one newly graduated nurse told in her own words in her letters home saved by her parents and friends. All these collected letters, oppressed memories, and commentary, which spell out the details and background for Letters Home. It is one of the few stories of nurses in the Pacific area. In the centuries greatest war, one nurse, one boxful of letters, photos, drawings and documents - and a broken leg at the age of 19, came together here in a warm, honest, sometimes graphic description about a time in history that is slipping from our collective memory. Battles are forever documented, troops heroism is scribed and caught on news clips and film, but the role of nurses has not until recently been well recorded. Nurses too are part of "The Greatest Operation" facing unknown places, unknown dangers, extreme physical discomfort and physical exhaustion. They served alongside America's finest troops, cared for them when they were sick and injured. They mourned for those who could not make it home. Finally recognized by the opening of the Women Memorial in Washington DC, October 1997, are women who served and are serving in the uniform of the United States are being honored and remembered for their service in the many branches of the Armed Forces. This book gives a glimpse into the Southwest Pacific area in WWII through the eyes of one nurse who saw and recorded how it was.