The focus of this website is the experiences and daily life of civilian women on Oahu during World War II. However, it would be impossible not to note the service of the military nurses on December 7, 1941. On that day there were a total of twenty-nine Navy nurses stationed at Pearl.
The above photo is of the Naval Hospital at Pearl Harbor. Although located near major military installations, the hospital was not hit by any bombs. The roof of the laboratory building was moderately damaged; about one-half of the animal house was destroyed, and a vacant quarters building was set on fire by a crashing Japanese plane. The vacant quarters building was destroyed by the fire, but the blaze was brought under control by fire fighters and did not spread to other buildings.
A pharmacist's mate, who was killed by machine gun fire in the navy yard while returning to the hospital from liberty, was the only casualty suffered by the hospital staff.
There were a number of civilian women who had nursing or first-aid training volunteered to assist the twenty-nine Navy nurses. A total of 114 registered nurses were supplied through the local Red Cross and as many as 26 of these were on duty at one time. About eight or ten nurses who were wives of enlisted men were of "valuable assistance."
Soon after the first attack, ambulance and fire-fighting equipment were dispersed to avoid total destruction in case the hospital was bombed. All battle dressing stations in the wards and the operating suite were set up by 8;15 a.m.
Four operating teams were assigned to the main operating suite. A station for minor injuries was established in a vacant building formerly used as nurses' quarters. Patients in the brig and the locked ward were released. To make more room for casualties, ambulatory patients were transferred to two old frame buildings and five hospital tents in the rear of the hospital. Convalescent patients who "requested that they be returned to duty" were permitted to return as best they could to their commands.
Civilian, including Navy wives, as well as military personnel assisted in the transportation of casualties. Under fire and "with no thought of possible injury to themselves or their automobiles," civilians "spontaneously cooperated in bringing casualties to the hospital promptly."
The first casualties arrived at the hospital within ten minutes after the first attack. Casualties were distributed to the main operating suite or to any one of the twelve wards where empty beds were available. A receiving ward would have caused a "hopeless bottleneck," and was not used. The great majority of patients with burns were sent to the medical wards.
Accurate records for the patients admitted to the hospital could not be kept. Not until the afternoon was it possible to begin recording admission data. Even then the necessary information could not always be obtained. None of the patients wore metal identification tags; and the service, health, and pay records of men were frequently missing. Furthermore, many patients who were unconscious when admitted to the hospital died before they could be identified.
A total of 546 battle casualties and 313 dead were brought to the hospital. Approximately 452 casualties were admitted to the hospital in less than three hours. Of the total admissions, 93 came from battle stations aboard ships, temporary first-aid stations ashore, and several plantation hospitals in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor. A record was not kept of more than 200 men who received first-aid for slight injuries and were returned to duty immediately without being admitted to the hospital. The census of patients in the naval hospital at midnight, 7 December, was 960.
Identification of the dead and preparation of bodies for burial began at about 1100 of the day of attack. This "most unpleasant" work was done by a detail under the supervision of a hospital pathologist of the Medical Corps, who was assisted by an officer of the Dental Corps, and an officer of the Hospital Corps. Identification was slow, difficult, and sometimes impossible. None of the men wore metal identification tags, and the clothing of some of the men was marked with several different names. Some of the bodies were so badly charred or mutilated that they could not be identified from physical features; fingerprints could not be taken from some of the men because their fingers were missing or badly mangled; and only portions of some bodies were brought in.
A systematic procedure for keeping record on the dead was followed. On the Navy form for reporting deaths all available data, including fingerprints and names if possible, were recorded. Each body, whether identified or not, was tagged with a serial number. This serial number was also placed on the Navy form for reporting deaths, the grave marker, the casket, and on the canvas wrapping, if used.
All bodies, except those of identified officers, were placed in plain wooden caskets. "Bodies of officers were placed in standard Navy caskets in order that they might later be disinterred and shipped home if desired." Burials began on 8 December in Oahu Cemetery, Honolulu. Two officers of the Chaplain Corps and two civilian priests from Honolulu rendered proper religious rites at the hospital and at the funeral ceremonies held each afternoon in the Oahu and Halawa Cemeteries. The brief military ceremony held at the burial grounds included a salute fired by a Marine guard and the blowing of taps by a Marine bugler.
SOURCE: Administrative History Section. Administrative Division. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. The United States Navy Medical Department at War, 1941-1945. vol.1, parts 1-2.
Women of World War II Hawaii
3 comments:
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Civilian nurse's aides were also called to Pearl Harbor during the attack.
Absolutely. Thanks for pointing that out. I appreciate it.
My grandmother was a navy wife and a practical nurse. I've been told that she was gone for two days straight helping with the wounded. Which left my father, age 9, alone.
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