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et recalls many wCoblenz, Germany, for duty with the Third Army. There, also, she had to carry her gas mask with her at all times.She recalled a dinner dance, to which alt the doctors, nurses ana officers were invited.'“That afternoon they had put up a boxing ring for the boys. We later used It as a dance floor. And, as usual, we. carried our gas masks as ordered. But the silly gas mask kept getting in the way. So 1 took it off and laid it on the table.“Welh I was having a good time dancing until I suddenly looked up to see a soldier pointing his big gun at me, telling me 1 was under arrest for not carrying my gas mask. I was all tears and asked to speak to the Officer of the Bay. He told me it was all a put up job — a joke. I told that soldier with the gun ‘I hope I have you as a patient some day.*I never did get him as a patient, but I sure waited for him!’*The routine in Germany was much the same as it was in France, she said. They were quartered in nice hotels in a scenic area.One anecdote she recalled was about a little German girl who came every morning to make up the bed and clean the room.“I felt so sorry for her,” she said. “I found this half box of chocolate candy and gave it to her. What 1 didn’t know is that all the German help was searched before they left the hotel. This poor little thing was searched and accused of stealing the candy. She told them a nurse gave it to her,-so they called me in.I was told, ‘Look, Miss Hunt. We feel the same way you do. But we just can’t do things like this.’ I felt so badly.”She «alled from Brest, France, March 27, 1919, and reached Kokomo on April 10, 1919.Upon her return, Mrs. Wood feit she came back with a larger scope of what nursing meant and what could be done. She joined the Public Health Nursing Association in Indianapolis and Kokomo, handling, for the most part, insurance cases.She did this up until World War II began, at which point she went to the post office to volunteer. “I told them I had experience and I knew I was needed there. They told me I was too old!”To this day, at 87, Mrs. Wood has kept up her membership in the State Nurses Association and is a golden member of the Womens Overseas Service League, American Legion Post 6 and Legion Auxiliary Unit 6, and, of course, Howard County Veterans of World War I Barracks 945, where she is the only woman member.She is constantly amazed by modem technology and the advances inthe medical profession. “Why, I would have to go to school again today before I could ever nurse,” she said, “Progress, progress, But what a wonderful time to live, i am thankful I am living and seeing alt this.”And her sense of humor still remains intact. Commenting on progress, she said, “Airplanes. I never thought they’d get off the ground. But I rode in one and it did.”Her memory is sharp as a tack, though she commented, “It’s amazing that I don’t know WednesdayServed countryBirda R. Hunt (above) is shown while serving as an army nurse during World War I, Birda Wood today (right), age 87, is the only woman veteran of that war from Howard County. {Tribune staff photo)
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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