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Summary: The true sense of female heroism
Review: 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.
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Summary: Nurses are wonderful people.
Review: 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.
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Summary: Proud Heritage
Review: 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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Summary: Determination, Faithfulness and Humility
Review: The book We Band of Angels is a story of 99 army and navy nurses who served in the Philippines during World War 2, and of how they survived things such as Japanese bombing, starvation and internment camps. The book was written by Dr. Elizabeth Norman, an award winning author, who specializes in nursing history. This book most definitely is a worthwhile read. The "Battling Belles of Bataan and Corregidor", as the nurses were called, proved to be heroes because of their survival through almost impossible times during the war, their relentless care for their patients, and, upon their return to the United States, the humility that they showed when being praised for serving their country faithfully. The survival of the nurses is truly amazing. The nurses displayed heroic bravery in the jungle of Bataan when they were being bombed and being hit with pieces of shrapnel. They remained calm and kept on with tending their patients throughout the bombing. The nurses also showed perseverance when they remained in a Japanese internment camp for three years before being released by U.S. forces. Determination was shown when the nurses' food intake per day went below 900 calories. They tried to keep up with their nursing duties and still keep healthy despite the diseases they encountered and the exhaustion they suffered from mal-nutrition. The nurses suffered the same things that all of the other patients and internees at the internment camp did and yet they still tended the sick and injured with unfailing patience and determination. The nurses' loyalty and love for their patients, Japanese or not, was also a heroic display of bravery. The nurses faced gruesome diseases and conditions, such as gas gangrene, calmly and patiently. The nurses were also so faithful to their patients that they almost refused orders to evacuate from the Bataan jungle. The "Battling Belles" showed great regret from leaving their patients when they returned from the Philippines. Some nurses such as Helen "Cassie" Cassiani, regretted it all of their lives. The love, loyalty, faithfulness and patience shown by the nurses is just part of what makes a complete and great hero. The nurses also showed humility when they returned to the United States as they were thanked and praised for their service. In many situations when they were questioned by reporters the nurses said, "... I haven't done anything special." They claimed that they were just fulfilling their duties. When the nurses were questioned in private interviews they kept their answers to a minimum and claimed that the boys fighting were the ones that should be praised. Many times after the nurses returned home they were received by huge crowds and were often given keys to the city. The nurses felt and said that they did not deserve this honor that they were receiving. Instead of boasting and bragging about their accomplishments, the nurses were humble and thankful for being alive and being back home. The army and navy nurses in the book We Band of Angels were heroes. They went above and beyond expectation and duty. Franklin D. Roosevelt, President during World War 2, said that all of the nurses "...served valiantly in foreign lands." The nurses of Bataan and Corregidor set an example for all of the heroes after them which was to serve their country with determination, faithfulness and humility. This book is most definitely worthwhile to read and enjoy.
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Summary: A Great Book about women in WWII
Review: I have alway been a fan of fiction books set in WW2,even though I am not sure why. I recently decided to see if that interst went over to non-fiction so I bought "We Band of Angels" and I was so glad that I did. This was a great book about nurses that served during this time. I don't think that any of them ever thought that they would ever see combat, but when it came they were truly amazing people during one of histories darkest hour. A must read.
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Summary: I'm in awe!
Review: This book captures the spirit of the brave women who "fought" next to our soldiers during World War II. As US Army and Navy nurses, these women were eventually taken as prisoners of war and held for three years before being rescued. This book, written by an author who clearly understands the history of nursing, was such a peice of literature that it transformed by views of women in the miliary. I no longer think less of the sacrifice made by women, but rather hold it in equal regard to that of our heroic men. These women were the first to wear army fatigues during combat and they were the true pioneers of the "feminist" movement. This book is superbly written and should find its place on bookshelves everywhere!
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Summary: Average American Women in Unusual Circumstances
Review: My mother was a WAAC in World War II and I grew up with stories about military women. I am glad to see that there are starting to be books about the exploits of these average American women who just happen to have been in the right place at the right time to become bona fide heroines. In a country in need of heros of either gender, this is an excellent book for high school and college women in need of role models and heroines of their own. These were average women with average dreams who just happened to find themselves in the arms of danger and prevailed. It's too bad that it has taken so long to honor them for what they really did and to give them their due reward.
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Summary: Incredible historian
Review: I was amazed at the tremendous amount of tenacity Mrs. Norman possessed in the years of researching and writing this incredible monument in the history of military nursing. As a retired flight nurse I appreciated the care and concern in preserving our integrity while candidly writing her book. Thank you from all who "proudly served".
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Summary: Nursing Is the Infrastructure
Review: Thank you Elizabeth Norman for We Band of Angels. A superb complex history about nurses and their heroic role in a unique place in war time. In 2002 in the midst of a nursing shortage and national crisis, this book is a must read. Our country has always had these wonderful nursing heroes, we have just failed to adequately sing their praises. Nursing is the infrastructure of the health care system in time of peace and in time of war. Norman's book is a keystone in the body of historical and creative work that is being written around the "band of angels" called the nursing profession. A must read.
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Summary: The Compelling Story of the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor
Review: We Band of Angels, a well-written biography by Dr. Elizabeth Norman, is an account of the American Army and Navy nurses stranded in the Philippines during World War II. The book gives the reader a true meaning of friendship, hope, hardship, and sense of abandonment. The bloody scene of makeshift war hospitals becomes paradisiacal when compared to the disease, starvation, and labor of Santo Tomas and Los Banos Internment Camps in which many were forced. Dr. Norman gave excellent chronicles and great detail to the nurses' will to unite as one, their everyday thoughts and ideas, the inner need to help and heal their patients, and their fight in the toughest battle of all: staying alive.
The women who were sent to the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor Island, and across the bay to Manila, were nurses on the side of the United States. (There are general and detailed maps of the locations mentioned in the beginning of the book.) Although there were 11 Navy nurses and 88 Army nurses, none perished while in the Philippines. They had thoughts and dreams of family, friends, food, and the life that they left behind when they journeyed to war. By using first hand documents (letters, journal entries, photographs, and interviews), Dr. Norman created an effective way for telling the sometimes heart-wrenching stories. The reader was admitted to the nurses' innermost thoughts, allowing him or her to develop a better understanding of the mental and physical states of the women throughout the war. Ruth Straub's diary is used in the beginning of the book. She was one of the "lucky ones" who were rescued by planes and submarines from the hardships of being an Army nurse. Her diary tells the reader of her experiences with hunger, the jungle hospitals, and her feelings of relief and abandonment. Through her letters home, pictures, and stories, Eleanor Garen, also an Army nurse, shares her grief and acquisitions. Helen "Cassie" Cassiani, probably the main focus of all the nurses in the book, had the most intriguing stories and accounts to read. Still alive today, Cassie proved to be a great resource in the book.
Maude Davison and Josie Nesbit, commander and leader of the Army nurses, unified their group by re-enforcing the rules and values the military had merited. Forced into Santo Tomas Internment Camp, Maude and Josie convinced their troops to remain together in order to stay alive. Although this sounds quite simple on paper, Dr. Norman gives the reader a background of the nurses' relationships and how it was a difficult time for some because of special friendships that were made. The simple comradeship that banded them all as one military unit saved their lives. The common respect for one another made it pleasant to read among the dark shadows of war.
The nurses of Bataan were considered heroes upon their arrival home after almost five years at war. The lives that they saved and the torment that they faced made them paladins. They were some of the first women to experience actual combat action and quickly learned what it took to be a war nurse. The "angels", as some soldiers called them, were forced to cope with conditions alien to most. With the help of doctors and Filipinos, the nurses were forced to set up jungle hospitals to accommodate the hundreds of wounded soldiers. When the nurses were forced by officials to evacuate their makeshift hospitals, a sense of unfulfilled duty had spread among them. The strength (mental and physical) and courage it took them to leave the sick and dying and to remain healthy demonstrates true heroic qualities. When the nurses were sent to Malinta Tunnel (an underground network of laterals and hallways that contained a hospital), the lack of sunlight, the constant bombing, the many soldiers to tend to, and the tight quarters were just a few hardships the angels were forced to endure. Their ability to roll with the punches made them an exceptional asset to the fight for an American win. As the book continues, the reader finds him or herself continually pounded by the author's words of praise to the nurses' efforts and accomplishments. Although gratitude and praise are due, the elongated paragraphs re-stating the author's opinions can lead the reader to boredom. The truly heroic parts of the book are when the angels win against all of the odds forced against them, not when Dr. Norman is expressing her acclaim.
Although many of the nurses are now quite old, afflicted with illness, or deceased, their story in wonderfully preserved and their history remembered in this book. The nurses' story of survival is one that many historians have chosen to overlook. This book was a good overall read and should be recommended to any that want to learn about America's true World War II heroes. They risked their lives so that others may have the chance to live. Dr. Norman quotes Shakespeare as to why the title of the book has to do with its' contents: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."
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