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Summary: What is courageous about these women, and the author herself
Review: With so much pressure on historians to be dry and quiet, it is thrilling to read a really great, action-packed story full of real heroes (not heroines in the classic sense who faint and wring their tiny hands at the first sign of chaos) and honest to God danger. These women are representative of our gender today as much as they were when sunning themselves on the beaches of the Phillipines, or quieting the screams of men who were wounded and dying, while slowly decaying themselves. Because honor is timeless, and because readers know the truth when they read it and feel the passion of characters who do things we are not sure but hope that we would do in similar situations, I predict that Elizabeth Norman's book will be a huge success. It is not just the story of nurses in war, it is the story of women throughout history.
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Summary: Brave Women Caught Up in the Drama and Danger of War
Review: (From the book's flap copy) WE BAND OF ANGELS is the story of women searching for adventure, caught up in the drama and danger of war. On December 8, 1941, the same day the Japanese Imperial Navy launched its surprise attack across the International Dateline on Pearl harbor in Hawaii, it also struck American bases in the Far East, chief among them, the Philippines. That raid led to the first major land battle for America in World War II and, in the end, to the largest defeat and surrender of American forces. Caught up in all of this were ninety-nine Army and Navy nurses -- the first unit of American women ever sent into the middle of a battle. The 'Angels of Bataan and Corregidor' -- as the newspapers called them -- became the only group of American women captured and imprisoned by an enemy. And the story of their trials on a bloody battlefield, their desperate flight to avoid capture and their ultimate surrender, imprisonment, liberation and homecoming is a story of endurance, professionalism and raw pluck. Along the way they helped build and staff hospitals in the middle of a malaria-invested jungle on the peninsula of Bataan; then, short of supplies and medicine, they worked round the clock in the operating rooms and open-air wards, dealing with gaping wounds and gangrenous limbs, ministering to the wounded, the sick, the dying. A few fell in love, only to lose their men to the enemy. Finally, on the tiny island of Corregidor in Manila Bay, the Japanese took them prisoner. For three long years in an internment camp -- years marked by loneliness and starvation -- they kept to their mission and stuck together. In the end it was this loyalty, this sense of purpose, womanhood and honor that both challenged and saved them. Through interviews with survivors and through unpublished letters, diaries and journals, Elizabeth Norman vividly recreates that time, telling the story in richly drawn portraits and in a dramatic narrative delivered in the voices women who were there -- a group that was 'liberated,' self-possessed, curious and intrepid long before American society encouraged such behavior in women.
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Summary: From the perspective of a woman veteran of 22 years service.
Review: Just read a new book "We Band of Angels" and it is quite high on my recommended reading list for any of you interested in military women's stories. It is heartwarming and at the same time heartbreaking. Told in a style that puts the reader directly into the lives of these valiant nurses - it takes you on a journey through the horrors of World War Two in the Pacific - as if you were there. The author draws you into the Malinta Tunnel underground hospital on Corregidor and describes the almost superhuman endurance of the military nurses working there to save their patients - and she does it with balanced style. She reveals their triumphs and their humor, along with the dreary and miserable conditions under which they worked. When the Japanese capture the nurses and send them to Santo Tomas internment camp you journey with them through their three years as prisoners and their ultimate liberation. The author, Dr Elizabeth Norman, has done a remarkable job - using interviews, diaries, letters, and a wealth of research - in telling this story that has been hidden by history. America seems to forget that women are veterans too - Dr Norman has helped remind them.Barbara A. Wilson, Capt. USAF (Ret)
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Summary: I'm in awe!
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: Nursing Is the Infrastructure
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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Summary: A Nurse Becomes a Hero
Review: The book, We Band of Angels by Elizabeth M. Norman, portrays the lives of nurses in the military during World War 2 in the Philippines. In the book, the war nurses prove to be convincing heroes because they displayed courage, determination, and intelligence. These are all qualities that a hero would possess. The story of these heroes proves to be a worthwhile reading.
One of the heroic qualities that were displayed throughout the book was courage. Courage within the nurses was needed to maintain organization during the chaos of war. The Philippines was a gruesome place to be during the war. The nurses set up hospitals in the wilderness of the jungle to be closer to the soldiers fighting on the front line. Although the Japanese were bombing all around the hospitals, the women tuned out the noise of the bombs in order to take care of their patients. As the enemy got closer, they were ordered to leave the hospital but refused. The nurses said that they would not leave their patients unattended because they needed their care. Even though the nurses were not forced to stay, they gathered enough courage to stand their ground and stay with the men. The nurses did this because they could not bear the weight of leaving men to die. This proved to the people who thought that women should not be in war that they would not back down from their duty. This also showed the wounded soldiers that the women had confidence in them and would nurse them back to health. Later on, the hospital was forced to surrender to the enemy. Japanese soldiers watched the nurses day and night. During one night, a Japanese soldier tried to force a nurse to kiss him. Although the nurse was petrified she demonstrated courage by refusing the soldier regardless of the consequences. By committing this act, she sent a message to the Japanese that these women belonged here and had enough courage to stand up to them.
Determination was another heroic quality displayed throughout the book. In order to survive each day without knowing what lay ahead, the nurses had determination to get through every situation. Since the nurses in Santo Tomas were broke, Josie Nesbit, one of the head nurses, was concerned that some of the nurses might sell themselves to wealthy men in the camp for money. She gathered the older nurses and asked them to try to raise the morality of the group. She was determined to not let anyone regret coming to the Philippines for paradise and ending up with the "wasteland of war." Her determination was the backbone of the morality of the group of nurses. This scene is important because it shows that the nurses were there for more than just pleasure and that even women can remain steady and not be fragile during a rough situation. This scene describes the character of Josie Nesbit. She was always trying to cheer up the girls and was always a leader. She was a determined to not let the girls change the image of an American soldier. In this scene she demonstrates that women can be just as strong and determined as men.
Another heroic quality that the nurses displayed was intelligence. Intelligence was important because the nurses needed to decide how to help an injured soldier and they needed to make quick decisions. The nurses were running low on malaria vaccines in one of the jungle hospitals. For the past two weeks, they had been giving themselves a certain amount of the vaccine for malaria each day. If the nurses did not receive the vaccine, they would become ill. In order to save the lives of men, they divided the amount of vaccine that they were receiving so that they would be able to have some for the men. The nurses risked illness by doing so but they knew that they would not be as ill as some of the soldiers. If the nurses had not found out the right amount of vaccine needed, most of the men with malaria in the hospital would have died. In essence, they saved lives with their quick, intelligent actions. This scene is an example of conflict/resolution. The nurses started out with the conflict of not having enough vaccines and resolved it by lowering the amount of vaccine per person while still keeping people healthy. This example of intelligence is significant because the role of the nurses was to save lives and they did so by thinking quickly. Also, the nurses proved to the male doctors and soldiers that women are not just delicate but are also smart and useful in a time of need. Although the nurses faced many hardships, they conquered each one with great heroism. The nurses demonstrated many aspects of a hero but mainly the qualities of courage, determination, and intelligence. The book successfully portrayed a woman in the role of a hero while keeping you interested with great stories of the war.
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Summary: We Band Of Angels
Review: Elizabeth Norman's historical account of nurses trapped on Bataan in World War II, We Band of Angels, was a moving and informative story of the heroic deeds performed by women in the military. It is a very interesting book and is recommended for more advanced readers who enjoy war stories.
This story takes place a few months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered WWII. The Japanese soon capture Corregidor, a small island in the Philippines, and General MacArthur's weakened troops are forced to surrender due to severe supply shortages. Before the war, some young American women looking for excitement joined the army as nurses, hoping its promises would fulfill their dreams of finding adventure. "Women who wanted adventure and romance - self possessed, ambitious and unattached women - signed up...(p2 of pictures)." Little did they know just how much adventure they would find and what heroes they would prove to be. A hero is someone who possesses the ability to do great things. They are usually intelligent, have some type of extraordinary ability, and usually channel these attributes towards helping others. Ancient Greek heores were emphasized as being more physically strong than mentally strong. There is also a fallen hero, like Roy Hobbs in The Natural, who had the qualities needed to be a hero, except for a character flaw that led him to a downfall. The nurses on Bataan possessed many of these characteristics and can be characterized as heroes.
While the United States was unprepared for what the war would bring, the army officers on Bataan, being so isolated from allied forces, were easy prey for the vicious Japanese military. Though incredibly surprised by the attack and ill equipped for the turmoil that was to come, the officers and nurses on Bataan were ready to keep fighting for as long as they could survive. Every nurse, the "Angels" as they called themselves, thrust her fear aside and bravely continued to serve the sick and wounded, despite the fact that in many cases they were so ill they could barely stand themselves. Still, unable to get much needed food and medical supplies, the medical officers on Bataan had to give in to the enemy. Some nurses, supposedly picked at random, were allowed to escape the horrors that would come and made it back to America. The others were forced into army internment camps where many men lost their lives in mass shootings and others were brutally punished for minor acts. Though for a while conditions under Japanese command seemed to improve, the Japanese shortly resumed their harsh control. The camps' inhabitants suffered immensely from various diseases and conditions. Most were malnourished, as food was in short supply, and the condition of patients already suffering from diseases became steadily worse, most of them dying. Even through the heartbreaking deaths, terror, and unimaginable living conditions, the people (especially the nurses) never gave up hope. They seemed to be able to maintain faith in their country and that one day they would be rescued. One nurse said, "If you gave up hope, you would have just folded up and died (p. 165)." And, after suffering, but surviving, terrible conditions for about three years, the rescue finally came. Around Christmas, 1945, American tanks burst through the iron gates of the internment camp, reinstating hope in all. Still, the Japanese would not surrender to the Americans until after they held a group of people hostage. This climax is well depicted by the author, with a lot of suspense. The Japanese could not long withstand the American army and the inhabitants of the camp were soon liberated. The "Angels" in this story can definitely be viewed as heroes. Elizabeth Norman depicts their heroism by describing many qualities and feelings they had. One quality of a hero that they surely possessed is the ability to put others before themselves. Of course, it is the job of a nurse to care for others, but the nurses on Bataan unquestionably did beyond what they were required, or even expected. These courageous women risked and sacrificed their lives to ensure the safety of others around them; often putting aside personal needs just to protect their patients and colleagues. When one nurse became ill with malaria, "she set herself on a cot in the middle of her ward and directed the work of her staff from there. (p. 51)" The nurses were very reluctant to withdraw from their work - they persevered and finished the job, no matter what it took. "Many nurses were sick with malaria and dengue (p. 140)," said Madeline Ullom, one of the nurses. Still, they still kept on fighting. The women stayed determined to survive during even the most difficult moments, and fought to the end, a typical characteristic possessed by heroes.
Another trait of heroism these women demonstrated was courage. Though the nurses were non-combatant members of the army, they did much fighting of their own. They showed much bravery in "battle," and in the face of the enemy. The nurses did their best to keep calm when treating the thousands of casualties entering the hospital each day, and never lost their wit. The army nurses realized that they had to take risks to protect themselves and their patients. "Soon the women began to forage for food...they waited for the guards to pass, then two or three of them would...return with as many cans of tomatoes and sacks of flour as they could hide...(p. 138)." They came up with plans, though risky, to steal food for their starving patients and themselves. They kept busy to maintain their sanity and help them to cope with their loss of freedom when under Japanese command. As she entered the internment camp, one nurse "Filled up her day with projects and reading and exercises (p.158)," another said, "The secret to being a survivor is to keep busy (p. 166)." The women were intelligent, further proving their heroism.
This is truly an account of the courage, strength, and hope possessed by the heroes in the book. Though the story is non-fiction story, it is very interesting and at times what the nurses went through is unbelievable. The author shows that though the nurses viewed themselves as ordinary people, in a time of crisis they were able to gather strength, saving lives to find a hero in themselves.
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