And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II PDF

Rating: (52 reviews) Author: Visit Amazon's Evelyn Monahan Page ISBN : 9781400031290 New from $12.84 Format: PDF

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From Publishers Weekly

Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee, two former military nurses who have co-written previous books about American nurses in World War II Japan and Albania, have collaborated again to produce this popular account of the Army nurses who served in the war against Germany. Based on interviews, correspondence and diaries, as well as on published sources and archival material, this book employs a descriptive, matter of fact style that makes a nice foil to its vivid use of reconstructed dialogue and primary source quotations. Though the book is divided into chapters that recount individual campaigns (e.g. "Chapter 5: Nurses in the Sicilian Campaign," "Chapter 6: The Sinking of the HMHS Newfoundland"), Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee do follow the experiences of several nurses throughout their history, bringing a narrative cohesion to what might have otherwise been a fragmented series of anecdotes. Particularly fascinating are their graphic descriptions of medical conditions, like gangrene and malaria, and of hospital procedures, such as the then-cutting-edge operation of transfusing whole blood into wounded soldiers. Though the extensive background material explaining battles and campaigns can sometimes threaten to swamp the narrative, overall this volume provides a valuable account of an often-neglected historical topic: the frontline experience of the women of the Greatest Generation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Their valor was unrivaled, their patriotism undeniable, but their contribution to the war effort was largely unacknowledged. Long before there were women in the military, flying sorties and commanding tanks as they do today, there were women in combat zones: more than 59,000 voluntarily served their country as U.S. Army nurses during World War II. Yet their story has seldom been told, for no veterans groups nor military bureaucracy ever claimed them. Witness to the abominations of the war's most gruesome battles, from the D-Day invasion of North Africa to the triumphant V-E Day defeat of Nazi Germany, they endured the horrors of the battlefield alongside their GI counterparts, eluding death by sheer luck and split-second timing. Forced to work under primitive conditions with insufficient supplies, they nonetheless tended soldiers' physical and psychological injuries with unflagging grace and unwavering dedication. Battle by battle, in vivid, newsreel-like fashion, the authors dramatically portray the heroic efforts of courageous women who experienced the war at its most horrific and heartrending levels. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (November 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140003129X
• ISBN-13: 978-1400031290
• Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 5.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II PDF

This is an extremely well written and interesting book, covering a part of America's World War II history which has been sadly neglected. Almost half of the 59,000 female nurses who volunteered for the US Armed Forces during WWII served overseas. During the course of the conflict approximately 1600 of these nurses were decorated for their actions, receiving Distinguished Service Medals, Silver and Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts, among other awards. More than 70 of these nurses were captured and 217 died of injuries and illness, 16 as the result of enemy action. The authors spent over a decade tracking down surviving nurses and their friends and families in order to compile this well documented, personal and most entertaining book. Several of the key figures are followed from their recruitment before and during the early stages of the war throughout the entire North African and European campaigns. The rich detail and often tragic first-person accounts of landing with the Allies, particularly in North Africa, and the hard learned lessons of American unpreparedness for war are told with stark straight forwardness by those who participated. The authors have professionally woven in the larger strategic backdrop, along with significant tactical explanations, in a manner that tells the reader how the nurses and their various hospitals fit into the bigger scheme of the war. The nurses come alive through their narration, putting a very human face on horrific living and working conditions as their units keep close to the combatants. The portion of the book dealing with the nurses' struggles on the Anzio beachhead brings into sharp focus their absolute dedication to their profession under the most extreme of circumstances.