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Answering the call: Joan Schweitzer Ostrander shares experiences as a World War II Army nurse
Joan Schweitzer received three years of nurses training offered at St. Joseph's School of Nursing in Chicago, Ill., beginning in 1939.
"It was very, very thorough training and academic work. We learned diseases and their care, all about the human anatomy, drugs and solutions that were given to the ill -- when to give them and when not to. We were expected to know what we were giving our patients and to be sure they would be safe in our hands," Joan explained.
After Joan completed her training in 1943, she worked for a time at private duty, but soon moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., where her parents lived. Her parents' home in Sioux Falls was near the Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Joan laughed and said, "It was the patriotic duty of every young woman in Sioux Falls to go downtown to the local U.S. O. and dance with the soldiers--so, of course, I went." She met a handsome young man from New York who stood out among the hundreds stationed there. He asked her to dance and because her parents took in every soldier they found for a home-cooked meal, Ivan Ostrander became a favorite in the home while visiting with Joan. Her sister especially liked him because he would help with the dishes.
"We never talked engagement. It would have been totally insane. As it turned out, he was sent to combat in the South Pacific and I was sent to Europe. We were worlds apart, but we kept in touch."
"I was told because I'd had rheumatic fever not to even try and get in to the Army. My dad told me if I was not considered for military duty in the more rugged situations, I might be able to serve in the states."
She gave the Army all of her records figuring that was the last of it, but in a few weeks she got a letter from the Pentagon Building telling her that she was a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps.
"I was further informed that I would report to the Davis Monthan Airfield near Tucson, Ariz."
Her first assignment was to a ward at the base hospital. The facility failed to challenge her and she didn't feel very useful. "It was mostly people with minor ailments or ingrown toenails. I asked a nurse if anyone ever got sent overseas. She said, 'No, this is permanent."
Despite Joan's confusion with time, being read the Articles of War, as well as long sessions in close order drill, she learned about military courtesy.
"I finally learned to return a salute from the enlisted men with enough competence they no longer bent over in uncontrollable laughter. However, my commanding officer Lt. Hoyle disapproved of what she saw."
One problem Joan couldn't seem to overcome was learning to tie her necktie in satisfactory military fashion. Stateside nurses were not required to wear dress uniform except for formal get-togethers.
"At our festive Thanksgiving dinner, I couldn't get that tie knotted. I tried to get the attention of one of my barrack mates in the mess hall without attracting the attention of all of the people. Just my luck! I made bone-chilling eye contact with Lt. Hoyle. She rolled her eyes heavenward. I didn't know if she was praying for strength to get through this burden or to be relieved of it."
Following Christmas, the pace of preparation for D-Day quickened.
One day a co-nurse came running into the building and said, "Hey Schweitzer, you've wanted to go overseas and they're over in the mess hall signing people up now."
"I yelled, Yippee, come on guys. A whole bunch of nurses fell in behind me."
The day came when they were to board the train to the 55th General Hospital at Camp Joseph T. Robinson outside Little Rock, Ark., to receive overseas training.
"I was the last one on board because Lt. Hoyle had taken me aside. I was braced for a plea from her to try to avoid disgracing the Army. Instead, she handed me a small package and told me not to open it until the train left the station. When I opened the box, there was a regulation khaki ready-tied tie."
Immediately, they were sent to a basic training camp for those headed overseas. They learned to pitch tents, sleep in the wilderness and dodge bombs.
"We were also taught how to abandon ship. I looked down at that dark, black water and decided if worst came to worst, I'd just go down with the ship. But it didn't happen and we disembarked in Scotland."
Joan was sent to Malvern, England, and the 55th General Hospital. They prepared for D-Day. In those days, nurses wore rayon dresses and caps most of the time.
"It was a beautiful country, but the patients we started receiving were another story. They came in from the beaches of Normandy and off the battlefield. It was not a pretty sight." The first causalities were from the Infantry and the Forward Observers gave the injured first aid, but as the troops moved forward and gained ground, there were lots of paratroopers. These injuries needed more sophisticated care.
"I was just out of nurse's training, but I felt I had been adequately trained. I've never had patients so appreciative. The young men complained very little. They were wonderful."
Joan remembered one young man who had lost an eye in combat. A fabricated plastic eye was made for him. He created his own method of making an impact on unsuspecting strangers. He would shift the plastic eye to the outer corner of his eye socket and approach a bartender with the indignant question, "Just what did you put in this drink?
Because of the desperate need, professional surgeons and specialists were sent to the hospital.
"Some of the soldiers had to be sent back to the states because of their complex injuries, but eventually our hospital became the head hospital in brain surgery. I'm quite proud of that part of our contribution."
Dr. Alexander Fleming came to the hospital and told how he had discovered a new medication. He said it was one hundred percent successful in curing infection.
"It really, really worked." Joan sighed. "We were able to save lives of people who could never have been saved before penicillin. Even infections of the brain and spinal cord were easily cured. It was amazing to us. It was a great, great blessing."
Joan told that penicillin came in cases in crystal form. They would dissolve the crystals, shoot it into the men and they were on their way to recovery.
"Penicillin was a weapon. The Germans knew we had it, but didn't know which ships it came on. This brought about one of the greatest smuggling ventures. Our secret service agents dissolved penicillin in water, doused their clothes in it and sent it from the states perfectly concealed.
"When it got to us, it was put back in water, purified and given to our guys."
All of Joan's time was not spent in the confines of the hospital, though.
"You couldn't date enlisted men and they couldn't date us. The Army was very structured and you were not to fraternize with the officers. You had to look for clever ways to get out of camp. An officer could get out by himself and just happen to meet his date in another building. Then you had to keep a sharp eye out for an MP who enjoyed nothing more than arresting an officer for fraternizing."
Joan was a ward nurse at both the 55th General Hospital and the David Monthan Field Hospital in England. She was transferred to the 55th Field Hospital in Soissons, France. She achieved the rank of first lieutenant.
"There was lots of partying in France--dances and drinking. Army parties were usually given at the Officers' Club, otherwise where we wanted to go as long as we paid for it. There were quite a few big weddings and there were big dances."
"Once, our commanding officer was trying to keep us literate so he got an Army transport from the base and took us to town to see a play. On the way back to the bus, I saw a picture in a store window that I really liked, but the store was closed. I pounded on the door and the storekeeper who lived behind the store came. I told him I was going home and wouldn't be back. He opened the door and let me buy the picture. I still have it."
Joan's service ended in February of 1946. She received the EAME Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, and three Overseas Service Bars.
Pleased with the service she was able to give her country, Joan remembers a description one GI gave of war: "Hours and hours of unbelievable boredom surrounded by minutes of absolute terror."
Joan returned to Sioux Falls and was followed by Ivan Ostrander. Ivan had served as a gunner on a B24 and achieved the rank of Sergeant before his service ended in 1945. He received the American Defense Medal, American Theater Asiatic with four Bronze Stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, one O/S bar, one service strip, Good Conduct Medal and the Victory Medal.
The GI Bill was brand new and gave anybody a year of academic work for every year in the service. Joan and Ivan both received their college degrees from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. They were married in October 1947 and have five children. The couple moved to Nevada in 1984.
Ivan died in 2009 and is buried at the National Cemetery at Fort Scott, Kan..
The couple wrote a book of their memories. It is titled: "Bits and Pieces of Way Back When," and is available on Amazon.com.