Hang on, jim. Keep your eyes shut tight and drink. Theyre moving you back now. Dont give up. Just hang on. The road back is bumpy and maybe the pain blurs your eyes, but listen, the sound of battle grows dim. And now one question cuts clearly through the haze. Which man will you be . The one who gets hurt and dies or the one who gets hurt and lives . When the dizziness stopped and fog cleared, an army nurse was at your side. A woman who meant safety and comfort and home to thousands of men before you. A woman who meant all those things to you. A nurse brought another americans blood to your side to pour new strength into your veins. A nurse handed clamps to the surgeon and counted sponges. She watched you constantly for any telltale change in your breathing or blood pressure. All working for the same purpose, to ease the pain of war, to help save lives. The preparation for the moment that would bring the army nurse to your side began months before back home in the United States. After three years of professional schooling, the nurses were given four weeks of basic training. In those early days, perhaps the nurse wondered why she had to sit through classes and submit to rigid discipline. Often while muscles ached and growne groaned, she may have wondered why it was necessary to take long hikes. There were demands that would require perfect physical health and stamina. The strength to stand up under the riggers of nursing. After four weeks of training, the nurse was ready to serve. She might have found herself stationed in a General Hospital right here at home or perhaps assign today a mobile Hospital Unit overseas. After she arrived, she may have helped to build the very hospital in which she worked. For the Field Hospital or the Evacuation Hospital, like a s circus had to pack up and move on at a moments notice. It meant following everchanging battle lines. Everyone pitched in when a mobile hospital went up, enlisted men, doctors and nurses. Just one small instance where basic training paid off. Those muscles toughened and hardened during the four weeks of basic back home were equal to the job. In the field, the army nurse lived roughly and worked gently. There was no glamour and her life was far from spectacular. She slept under canvas on a g. I. Cot under g. I. Blankets. S a wasted moment might have been a wasted life. She lived a life completely stripped of luxuries and yet she asked for no more luxury than a patients smile when his pain was eased. She ate regular rations, the same as the rest of the army and often at irregular times. The hours were long and the demands neverending and as a result the nurse learned to make use of every moment of her offduty time. She might not have chosen a helmet to wear to her sisters wedding. It was a beauty parlor, laundry, cooking pot, wash basin, all rolled into one. A Little Community in size seven. She spent some of her time writing letters. Not the having a wonderful time, wish you were here kind, but letters filled with all of the drama of her days, with stories of the encourage and spirit of the men over whom she watched. A few moments could be found for prayer. Others for lounging about, talking for home. She may have longed to wear the evening dress sent from home, but probably only had the chance to talk about it. Usually, she wore olive gray. But however she spent her offduty time, she was always eager to return to the hospital where the wounded were fighting for their lives. For first and foremost and at all times she was a nurse, offering professional and skilled care to the sick and wounded. A nurse first, a woman second, and an officer third might well serve as the slogan for every member of the nurses corps. Complete recovery of the patient in war or peace depends not only on the use of drugs, but on the skill on which theyre administered and the care that follows. The nurse must be capable of recognizing at once any symptoms in her patients which demand immediate treatment. If serious consequences are to be avoided, medical treatment must be on hand the moment any symptoms appear. Professionally skilled and capable, in her, theres the tenderness of all women, of mother and sister and friend. Her voice and touch lend encouragement, instill hope. Its the surgeon who saves the mans life. Its the nurse whose tender care helps him to live. The crisis passed, patients begin to sleep again. The pain is just a bad memory. The Field Hospital, a stopover to give them immediate surgical treatment as soon as possible, had done its job. The Evacuation Hospital was another stopover on the trip back through the medical chain. Here facilities for treatment for more complete than those of the Field Hospital and here to the nurse played an increasingly important part in the vital period of treatment and convalescence. After three or four days, the patients were usually well enough for the trip back to the General Hospital. Trains waited for them. Hospital wards on wheels. Each train carried in addition to medical officers and enlisted technicians, four surgical nurses and two medical nurses. All of whom were on duty from 7 00 a. M. To 9 00 p. M. And as far as into the night as they were needed. When speed meant life, evacuation took place by plane. Because of these hospitals, men are alive today who otherwise would have died in the jungles of burma or the beaches of normandy. Each patient was checked before the takeoff and watched over constantly and checked again when the plane landed. While in the air, the flight nurse was in complete charge ready to handle every emergency and doing everything a doctor would have to do except operate. Air evacuation was difficult and required Specialized Skill and training. The flight nurse had to be prepared for the unexpected, for the next moment it might have and often did happen. At the General Hospital in the theater of operation, other skilled teams of surgeons and nurses stood ready to take over where the frontline hospitals left off. Whether a hospital is under canvas in the field or in a city, its routine, like the nurses routine, doesnt vary. And its aim remains fix, to offer the best possible medical care to the sick and wounded. Nurses sterilize the operating equipment. The surgical gowns and gloves. Prepare drugs, laid out the instruments which the doctor needed for his next operation. And kept accurate records of each patients history and progress. While in a civilian hospital, the ratio is usually one nurse to every three beds. In an army hospital, it is always many times that number. To help lift the burden from the nurses shoulders, enlisted technicians trained in special schools, are assigned to work under her direct supervision. One of her biggest jobs is to teach these technicians both in the classroom and in the hospital wards. This means added responsibility for the nurse, for although she has less personal contact with her patients, she has to direct the activities of the personnel assigned to her so that the treatment and wellbeing of her patients is assured. Relaxation and entertainment are an important part of medical treatment. To this General Hospital overseas, came an allstar show and the army nurse shared the fun with her patients to whom the sound of laugher from home often meant more than medicine. [ applause ] later on, she may have spent a few minutes with the star. And there were times when she herself was the star of the show. Like this nurse. The first woman to land in the area. The umpire calls batter up and the game is on. Army versus army, as the nurses play the wacks. This infield will never play in the polo grounds, but one of their patients might. Off duty for a while, some nurses drove through the streets and buildings of ancient cities. Others preferred a round of golf. Or a swim somewhere in the weather was right. Then it was always back to duty. Back to the sick and wounded. Back to the hospital. Around which the life of an army nurse revolves. Those patients scheduled for a trip back home for the final period of convalescence travel on a hospital ship. Now as before, the army nurse stands by ready to minister to every need. Next stop, a hospital. Then a General Hospital in the United States and complete recovery. And this is the end of it have long change of evacuation. The General Hospital back home. Here the army nurse works patiently with her hands, her head and her heart. Here she gently guides men back to the way of life they fought to protect. Although she might have volunteered to serve overseas, although she might chafe as what she considered the inactivity of the hospital, the army nurse soon learned that a battle line was wherever a soldier was stationed. What words of praise can measure up to these women whose very lives are given to nursing sick and wounded men . A million sick and wounded men back to life and health. And yet praise is offered. Long hours of Tireless Service were remembered and recognized. The army nurse, decorated for brave ri and valor, above and beyond the call of duty. And these nurses, imprisoned for three long years by the japanese asked only that they be returned to duty. For they could never forget the faces of american men tortured and killed by the enemy. Wherever transports took our soldiers, they also took the army nurse to work by day, by night, on distant battlefields, to help make shattered bodies whole. To bring smiles to faces twisted with pain. To serve at the side of the american soldier during peace and war. This is the army nurse usa. Ready to serve anywhere, under any circumstances, in time of need. During the past four years, 57,000 graduate registered nurses have served with the medical department of the army. For us, the war is not yet over. Many nurses are skill being sent to overseas theaters to care for american soldiers. These are replacements for nurses who served overseas during the war. And the war is not yet over for many of our patients. More than 300,000 patients are in Army Hospitals throughout this country. Many of whom will be forced to remain there for a long time to come. These men are not asking for much. They have never asked for much. They are the most wonderful patients in the world. But the war has caused them much more than any of us have been asked to give. Army nurses seldom ask for much either. But today, they are asking you to buy a bond. Weeknights this month, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. And tonight public historians talk about the history of africanamerican voting rights, explaining the ways the organizations present and share this history. This discussion was part of the association of the study of africanamerican life and historys annual conference earlier this fall. It starts at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. American history tv on cspan3, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. Coming up this weekend, saturday at 2 00 p. M. Eastern, bestselling authors and Depaul University history professors Kathleen Rooney and miles harvey talk about how they approach their work. Scott hartwig discusses his research on the battle of antedum. And they discuss president nixon, Henry Kissinger and their key policy initiatives. On sunday at 2 00 p. M. , sam nun reflects on the cold war, 75 years later. Exploring the american story