It was 1943 and WWII was in full swing. It could not be predicted how long the war would last, so the government, in order to be well prepared, wanted to make sure there was a good supply of nurses. Thus, The United States Cadet Nurse Corps was born.
Recruiters went to all the high schools. They were looking for girls who were about to graduate and who would be willing to go to college for three years to learn to be nurses.
We were given a battery of tests to see who was qualified. There were scientific, mathematical and common sense questions. An example of the latter was, “Which is more sanitary in a rest room, pull down cloth towels or paper towels?” The answer was paper towels, of course. Another question was, “What would you do for a person in shock, raise or lower their head?” Most of us had never seen a person in shock, so we didn’t know.
Girls from all over Minneapolis and Robbinsdale took the test and many qualified from Henry High. We were offered an all expense paid education, room and board at a nurse’s home and $15 spending money per month. Wow, who could resist that!
The first thing they did was measure us for uniforms. We were issued a summer uniform of white and light gray striped seersucker with red trim and a winter uniform of gray wool. There was a gray hat and purse for each season and a winter overcoat. How nice that the Corp’s colors were that of our high school!
The next thing they did was to divide us into three groups, each group to be housed at a different hospital. This included Minneapolis General, Univ. of Minnesota Hospital and Miller Hospital in St. Paul. Every three months we were rotated to one or another so that we could get the specific training each hospital offered.
For instance, at Minneapolis General we worked with patients with contagious diseases, indigents, geriatrics and the mentally ill. I felt right at home there. At University Hospital we had orthopedic training, medical and surgical training and care of about every type of patient. At Miller in St. Paul we cared for private patients, EENT, obstetrics and baby care. Aside from that, we each had to spend two weeks at Glen Lake Sanatorium to learn about tuberculosis care, which we all dreaded for fear of catching it.
Miller Hospital was my “home” hospital. We lived in dormitories with two girls to a room and usually had bunk beds. Our mothers would come and help decorate our rooms with curtains, bedspreads and throw rugs.
Dorm living was a kick with lots of fun and frivolity going on when we weren’t studying. We seldom saw civilian men, as they had all gone to war, so the doctors, interns and orderlies were the only male influence in our lives.
One day in December, close to Christmas, the Cadets at Miller were bussed to General Hospital to be oriented to the contagion department. We had to walk through the rows of beds of contagious patients, then had a short lecture. Seven days later I came down with chicken pox and had to be taken by ambulance back to General Hospital, where other sick personnel were bedded in a basement room. The only good thing about it was I had remembered to bring some mistletoe along, and the interns weren’t shy about using it, even though we were sick!
The highlight of our time spent in the Cadet Nurse Corps was the Induction Ceremony on May 13, 1944. It was held at Northrop Memorial Auditorium and one of the speakers, coming over the radio from Washington D.C. was Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The way they worked that was the Washington part of the program was broadcast across the nation so that nurses in 48 states could be inducted simultaneously. Remember, we had no television back then. All together, there was a representation of 90,000 members of the Corps in the United States and 2,400 Cadet Nurses in Minneapolis and St. Paul alone!
When our training came to a close we could choose to join the army or navy or stay to staff the home hospital. I elected to join the navy, but days before, the quota was filled so I stayed on at Miller. Not long after that, WWII ended, and the Cadet Nurses went their own way, most staying in the nursing field as RNs.
It seems strange to me that since then I have never heard one word about the Cadet Nurse Corps. But if anyone was ready, willing and able to serve, it was us!
Correction/addition — Guess who?
In the March Camden News a photo from the Behind the Victory Flagpole article was accidentally omitted. So here’s the photo of the Mystery Men - the coal men of Camden —which answers some of the questions from the article! Note Carl Thomas is standing in the middle of the group.