Imphal, The Hump and Beyond 
Imphal, The Hump and Beyond
U.S.A.A.F. Combat Cargo Groups of the Second World War
The Nurse, Don't Ever Forget Her
| She comes into the
operating tent slowly, her heavy boots sinking with fatigue into the straw-covered ground.
She adjusts her face mask and takes her position at the table. The attack is in
it’s twenty-second hour, casualties are high. Twenty hours at the table.
She looks down at the boy on the litter. He lies quiet, anesthesia complete,
face shock-pale, the wound terrible. Life or death for the boy, in the next forty minutes,
partly depends on her The surgeon nods, the operation begins. Knife, hemostat, retractors. He swift moving hands pass the instruments. Sponge, suction, syringe. A corpsman steps up and gently wipes her face. Twenty minutes. The Surgeon pauses. "You’d better stop after this one, Nurse. I’ll get someone to relieve you." She looks quickly at the boy’s face. "I’d rather stay, Captain." She is an Army nurse. Not in the headlines often, not spectacular in the performance of duty; yet daily, hourly, working with quiet valor above and beyond the call of duty. On Bataan, Corregidor, Anzio, Normandy. In New Guinea, China, Burma, Iceland, Belgium. Under fire, through mud, dirt, cold. She asks no particular recognition, no honors of war. Enough for her is the smile of a soldier returned to life, the moment some boy leaves a hospital saying, "I won’t ever forget you, Nurse." In the final evaluation of the price we shall have paid for a free world, remember – she has paid with her health, her life, her courage, and her love. Don’t ever forget her. Submitted by Lt. Ruth F. Heckinger, CBI Nurse. |
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| I am looking for former members of the 3rd Combat
Cargo Group, 1st, Combat Cargo Group, 2nd Combat Cargo Group and the 4th Combat
Cargo Group. In fact I would like to hear from anyone who flew over the Hump during
WW II, or flew any Combat Cargo Missions at any time (Berlin Air-Lift, Korea, etc.) Please e-mail comment, suggestions, corrections,etc to: bill@comcar.org Imphal, the Hump and Beyond Copyright © 1999-2001 Bill Bielauskas All rights reserved. Notice to all Viewers: All stories and images within "Imphal, The Hump and Beyond, U.S.A.A.F Combat Cargo Groups of the Second World War", are Copyright ©1999-2001 to the Veteran who submitted the text and/or photographs and to Bill Bielauskas, Webmaster at "Imphal, the Hump and Beyond, U.S.A.A.F. Combat Cargo Groups of the Second World War". All rights reserved. No part of this page, or those connected via links, either text, or images may be used for any purpose other than personal use. Storage, reproduction, modification on a retrieval system or transmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Copyright © holder(s) is prohibited. This includes storage on another Internet Website other than "Imphal, the Hump and Beyond, U.S.A.A.F. Combat Cargo Groups of the Second World War" Bill Bielauskas 10 Cayuga Trail, Wayne, NJ. 07470-4406 |