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Title: We Band of Angels : The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese by Elizabeth M. Norman ISBN: 0-671-78718-7 Publisher: Atria Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (53 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The true sense of female heroism
Comment: Elizabeth M. Norman wrote the book 'We Band of Angels', a biography about a group of army and navy nurses that survived the terrors and suffering of war and internment camps. The novel begins with the army nurses living in paradise in the Philippine Islands when the first bombs fall. Soon thousands of injured and dying need medical attention from the nurses whom have no experience with war and emergencies to that extreme. Later in the book, these same nurses have to adapt to war in the jungle, and before long have to surrender to the Japanese. These Japanese take the nurses along with several navy nurses to a civilian internment camp where they are almost starved to death. This is an important book to read because it shows the heroism in young women through tragic experiences, and knowing this, can show us how to survive through emotional and physical trauma. Elizabeth M. Norman was trying to show us that heroism can be shown in different ways, whether it is with dedication, or adapting to change or even surviving with each other in new and different situations.
The numerous nurses in the story go through this emotional and physical trauma that teaches us how to survive it. The women at first have no idea how to deal with war, and how to live on the minimal resources. They become stressed because they start running low on emergency supplies for the constant flow of patients and the nurses struggled to help everyone. The fact that they want to help everyone, shows that they are dedicated to their work, and are willing to put the load on their shoulders to make sure their patients are taken care of. A little later in the book, the nurses are forced to leave all of their patients in the hospital to flee for safety. The nurses, after they leave, have a heavy guilt in their heart, showing how much they truly cared for their patients and didn't want them to be hurt. Another example of their determined spirit was in the internment camp. They used their work to keep from dying, it kept them busy and their minds off of their diseases and starvation. This dedication to their work was part of the heroism that helped them survive.
Another part of their survival was their sense of staying together. They didn't want to lose each other, their friendships, and their support. The nurses always listened to their superiors and their comrades. This shows that they didn't want to jeopardize the relationship, and start drifting apart. Also in the internment camp Maude Davison, the head nurse, was determined that they to stick together. She told her nurses that the key to survival was to stay and live as a group. This indeed helped, and possibly was the key to their survival. The nurses used the group for protection, and support. When one nurse was sick, the others helped the best they could. In the end the group did help save each of them because all of them were still alive in the end of camp.
The nurses on Bataan were smart. They learned quickly and were able to adapt to the new changes they had to make. When the bombs first fell on the hospitals, the nurses quickly had to get used to the constant flow of patients with broken limbs, and gruesome smells. The nurses did this willingly, and worked hard, even though at the beginning they had a little trouble. They became stressed and some couldn't hack it and had to take multiple breaks, but they all adapted eventually, and learned the ways of war. Then again when they moved to the jungle new problems arose, and new changes had to be made. Bugs were a big problem and there was a limited amount of food and supplies to go around. The nurses once again willingly changed their ways in order to stretch supplies and keep the bugs away. Another change that had to be made was when they moved to the internment camp. They had to survive on less than 1,000 calories a day, and with deadly tropical diseases. They had to make this change in order to make it out alive. They used their work to keep busy, and they used each other for companionship. Before too long, the nurses, with their ability to adapt, were able to survive through all the changes.
The nurses were indeed heroes and throughout the story Elizabeth M. Norman portrays this. In many aspects she tells the true story of the women, and is able to reveal the heroism of the nurses on Bataan. These women are courageous, determined, and able to adapt to the changing world. Though they may not be the most recognized war veterans, they are definitely shown as true heroes in this book. The book shows a new type of hero, a hero that has problems, and a hero that is realistic. Elizabeth M. Norman tells us the story of female heroes, with strength and the ability to live.
Rating: 5
Summary: Nurses are wonderful people.
Comment: As author of a book about nurses of WWII, I found this book to be like a meeting with old friends. My book, No Time for Fear: Voices of American Military Nurses in World War II, contains a lengthy chapter with oral histories of many of these same brave army and navy nurses. Dr. Norman filled in some blanks, and wrote the complete story. These were ordinary nurses with a sense of adventure in 1941 who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They showed the world what American women are really made of. One correction to some of the comments in other reader reviews: Other American military nurses were captured by the enemy. Six navy nurses were captured when the Japanese took over on Guam early in the war. They were put on a ship, sent to Japan, and then were soon released on a Dutch ship, to be returned. One Army Air Corps flight nurse was on a plane that crash-landed in Germany during the war. She sustained a head injury and was captured along with the crew. All were put into prisoner-of-war-camps. She was the only female in the camp and was released after a few months. What did all of these wonderful, brave nurses do when captured and imprisoned? They continued to be nurses, caring for others in the camps, ignoring their own problems. Nurses are wonderful people.
Rating: 5
Summary: Proud Heritage
Comment: I first read this book a few years ago as a young lieutenant in the Air Force. Now, during a time of war, I have read it again. It has renewed my sense of duty, reaffirmed my commitment to serve, and given me pride in my chosen profession, just as it did the first time I read it. In today's military where there seem to be few heroes in nursing, it's comforting to know that these courageous women are our heritage. This book captures not only an amazing story, but the very essence of what lies inside every military nurse: courage, honor, fear, tenacity, survival, and integrity.
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Title: Women at War: The Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam by Elizabeth Norman ISBN: 0812213173 Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: And If I Perish : Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II by EVELYN MONAHAN, ROSEMARY NEIDEL-GREENLEE ISBN: 0375415149 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Home Before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam by Lynda Van Devanter, Lynda Van Devanter ISBN: 1558492984 Publisher: Univ. of Massachusetts Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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Title: No Time for Fear: Voices of American Military Nurses in World War II by Diane Burke Fessler, Dianne Burke Fessler ISBN: 087013440X Publisher: Michigan State Univ Pr Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Prisoners in Paradise: American Women in the Wartime South Pacific by Theresa Kaminski ISBN: 0700610030 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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