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Omane. 'By Lon I McKown 'tribune staff writer irda Wood was the only Howard untyrnurse in Prance during rid Wfar l-In fact. she is the only man veteran of that war from county.orn Bird a R, Hunt on Aug. 19,2, sh^ is a 1912 graduate of Ko-mo Hijgh School. When the United ates entered the war, she offered r services as a nurse, took the th of office at Indianapolis City spital on Sept. 17, 1917, and was ached to Lilly Base Hospital No.■ ‘Following Special instruction in w York, Base Hospital 32 set sail r France aboard the George ashington, formerly a German :ury liner.Mrs. Wood, remembers the as-nments of the nurses, doctors d enlisted men to lifeboats. “By e time they got to my group, all ey had left were rafts. That made all feel real secure,” she ughed, addling, “Fortunately, ere was no occasion to use them.” The other crisis aboard the orge, as it became known, wase sighting of a submarine, she id. “The ship took a sharp turn ickly 1— threw us off balance — d it turned out to be a school of rpolsest”There were turbulent seas and orms during the trip over, but rs. Wood remembers telling hermpanions that seasickness was I in the mind. She later ate her ords when, coming back home oard a fruit ship, “I was sick to y stomach.”The hospital unit was stationed at nirexeville, France. There, ac-rding to Mrs. Wood, working con* tions were very pleasant. The unit as based at a French resort, here “the hotels and scenery were ry nice and the people were very nd.”She remembers when convoys of ounded arrived, with every possi-e kind of Injury. She particularly members one group of soldiers ho had been stationed in a sector here gas was used.“As they got off the trains at the spital, the patients couldn't see nd had to be led, hand-in-hand, by fellow soldier: It just broke my art to see these young men in uch terrible condition.”Besides allied soldiers, she also eated several German prisoners. The treatment of prisoners was e same as it was for our boys. The nly difference was that they were eated last and, if there was a food hortage, they were given the least mount of food,” she said.There were no routine days, Mrs. ood said. “You were called on uty. You worked ail day, and allnight if necessary, until you fin* ished. Then, we’d usually get a day off for rest.”Apparently there were recreational facilities available to the hospital unit — tennis courts for the nurses, plots were they could plant small gardens. Mrs. Wood also spent a day teaching French children how to chew gum. “I wasted two packs or so trying to teach them,” she laughed.But the short periods of relaxation were shadowed by the' cumbersome work of war. Mrs. Wood spent a great deal of time trying to encourage her patients, telling them it would not be long until they were back home.The wounded seemed to be all grouped together, so that she could no longer distinguish the differences between an amputee and a blind man. But one of the lingering memories she has is of a battle fatigue patient.‘1Short periods of relaxation were shadowed by the cumbersome work of“There was one little boy, so young and disturbed. The others called him yellow. I felt so sorry for him. He just couldn’t cope. They finally sent him back to the states.” But there were many others who were sent back to the front, she said.Another constant reminder of the war in the resort area of Contrexe-ville was the gas mask. “While on detached service with the field hospital, we had to carry a gas mask with us at all times,” she said.“I remember one evening a fellow nurse and I were preparing to retire for the evening when we thought we heard people yelling, 'Gas? gas?’ We promptly put on our masks and looked out the window. We finally realized they were hollering ‘Glass! glass!’ because a glass factory was on fire.”Mrs. Wood was transferred, upon request to further assist the war effort, to Evacuation Hospital No. 2 in
Newspaper Details
Kokomo Tribune
Kokomo, Indiana, US
Thu, Aug 23, 1979
Page 39
Full Page
Clipped by
Kokomo-Howard C.
IN, USA 12 Nov 2020
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