Interview of Johanna Baskin Balla Butt on her service 
in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII and the Korean War


Ruth Stewart:	Johanna B. Butt is being interviewed today, uh, as a member of the Women's Overseas Service League. She is being interviewed on January 14, 2004, at the army residence community in San Antonio, Texas. She is a member of the San Antonio Unit of the Women's Overseas Service League. The interviewer is Ruth Stewart, assisted by Carol Habgood. [00:36] Johanna, tell us a little bit about your early life.

Johanna Butt:	Well, I was born in Austria and came to this country with my parents when I was 2½. And, uh, I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri; attended high school and a year of college there. And then, [coughing] I became ill. I had pneumonia quite a few times and the doctors said I had to go a warmer climate. So, I couldn’t figure out how to get there because we had no money. And, uh, so I thought, “Well, I’ll just be in nursing school.” You know, they accept you for a minimum amount of money. In fact, it cost $85 at that time to go in. And so I went, uh, I picked Phoenix, Arizona. I picked it from the travel folder and I went to a warm climate [laughing]. And, uh, I finished nursing school there and, at that time, that was, uh, I graduated in ’43, so the war was on.

Ruth Stewart:	1:37] What school was that?

Johanna Butt:	Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, it was a 3-year course. And, uh, so then, I, I had intended to, to be a, a flight nurse, and, uh, you know, on a commercial airline at that time. I thought, well that would be, get me away from the hospital.

Ruth Stewart:	[1:56] And be a stewardess at that time.

Johanna Butt:	Be a stewardess, mm-hm. And, so anyway, so I joined the Army Air Corps and I was, uh, went to basic at Lackland Air Force Base, which, at that time was San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center. And, uh, was sent to Big, Big Spring for my first assignment after basic and, uh, I enjoyed it very much, but I made a mistake. I dated the chief nurse’s boyfriend and got transferred within 24 hours to the ground forces. So, I went to, to, I went to Camp Barkeley and then to Fort Ru-, Camp Rucker, it was at that time, Alabama, where the unit was activated. I was sent to the 123rd Evac Hospital [inaudible 2:45] Mobile.

Ruth Stewart:	[2:47] And that was in the army, not the air force?

Johanna Butt:	Army. When I got transferred to the ground force, yes, it was all the army – the ground force and the air corps were all one. They could transfer you around to each, either one. So, I went overseas. I had applied for flight nurse’s, nursing school at, when I was at Big Spring but, uh, of course, I was transferred to the ground force and I was sent overseas with 123rd Evac. And, uh, when I got there, I’d been there a short time and, um, my application went through for flight nursing school so I went to the personnel tent and I saw it said that the application had been approved, and I said, “Great, I’ll leave, I’m leaving,” and he said, “No, you’re not. You’re in an active unit, this is canceled.” Bam! That was it. So, then I stayed there. I was there for a little better than a ye-, about a year, a little bit over a year. I came home, and I had enough points. We followed, uh, Patton part of the time. We were [inaudible 3:52] and then we followed General Patton. And it was quite interesting. You know, he was a very interesting person to observe. And, I had met him when I was in Phoenix in nursing school, but, uh…

Ruth Stewart:	[4:08] Tell me a little bit about your interaction Patton and your observations.

Johanna Butt:	Well, I’ll tell you, he was a genius in many respects, but he was a [typical 4:17] soldier’s soldier and I thought he was too rough [and all 4:21]. I wasn’t fascinated with him as a man but one time, he came and inspected our hospital. He came in with our chief nurse and, uh, a commanding officer. And I was in the operating tent, and he walked in, you know, blustering and I threw him out. And, of course, the commanding officer and the chief nurse turned green and I thought, “Oh, this is the end of me!” But he turned around and he commended me for doing my job and I felt big. Anyway, so, uh, then I came back when I got out of the service.

Ruth Stewart:	[4:54] Just a minute, this was your, this was in Europe. [inaudible 4:58]

Johanna Butt:	World War II, I was in France and Germany. [inaudible 5:00] We landed at Le Havre.

Ruth Stewart:	[5:03] And how long were you there?

Johanna Butt:	From, uh, we landed in, let’s see, in January of, the beginning of January 1944. I came home in Feb, in February of ’45, no, wait a minute, ’46. ’46.

Ruth Stewart:	[5:21] Okay, so you were there 2 years then?

Johanna Butt:	No, just one year.

Ruth Stewart:	[5:25] ’44?

Johanna Butt:	I came back, I got there in ’45.

Ruth Stewart:	[5:31] After the war? No, it ended in August of ’45.

Johanna Butt:	Yeah. And we got there in December, actually.

Ruth Stewart:	[5:40] Okay.

Johanna Butt:	I’ve got it written down on [inaudible 5:42] And, uh, so anyway, I came back. I was discharged in February of ’46. I thought I was discharged but I was just separated. I found out that much later. Nobody gave us any information. So, then, uh, I decided to go back and get my degree. Well, I got married first and my husband was killed and then I decided to go back and get a degree.

Ruth Stewart:	[6:12] Was he in the service?

Johanna Butt:	Yes, he was in the, in the air, air corps.

Ruth Stewart:	[6:16] And that’s where he met his death?

Johanna Butt:	Yes, over in Germany.

Ruth Stewart:	[6:21] During the war?

Johanna Butt:	No, it was after the war.

Ruth Stewart:	[6:25] But he was still in the service?

Johanna Butt:	Yes, he stayed in the service. And, uh, we got married in Germany. And then he was killed [throat clearing] and I came back and, uh, interestingly, I’d just learned to drive so I brought a car back and I drove it from New York to St. Louis and I didn’t even have a valid driver’s license. I had a student permit and I got picked up on 6 counts by the police. One was that I backed into a light pole and the light bulb fell off and, uh, then I, it was Saturday evening, so I was taking my mother to see some relatives and so – do you want to hear this? – And, uh, so anyway, I was taking my mother to see some relatives and, so I, I was headed the wrong way, so I turned around, made a U-turn and, um, then I parked in front of the house and we went in. Pretty soon, the police came and picked me up. Susan, my cousin, had been feuding with her neighbor and her neighbor called the police. And they took me in and my mother and dad had to sign my bou-, bond. Of course, when the thing came to court, the judge laughed his head off! He thought it was the funniest thing in the world ‘cause I still had my overseas license on there and he said, “You don’t have a Missouri license,” and I said, “Well, Missouri is in the USA, isn’t it? I have a USA license,” so he just was laughing, and it got dismissed. But anyway, so then I went back and got my degree at Washington University in St. Louis. I decided to go back to school.

Ruth Stewart:	[8:09] Bachelor of Science?

Johanna Butt:	Nursing.

Ruth Stewart:	[8:13] In where was that?

Johanna Butt:	Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. And I had a job then; I was working on my master’s and, uh, I was the supervisor at Florence Hospital in St. Louis and, uh, I got a letter from President Truman telling me to get my affairs in order. I didn’t realize that I was still in the reserves, in active reserves. Nobody told us when we were discharged, they just, you know, got rid of us. And, uh, anyway, [laughter] so I joined the regular army. They wouldn’t mess around like that. And I came back into service in 1951. I was stationed at Fort Campbell with the paratroopers and was sent to Japan and, sent down to 382nd General Hospital in Kanaoka Barracks, which is outside of Osaka, it’s about 30 miles outside. And, uh, then, uh, I got orders for Korea twice but my, the commanding officer had me taken off the orders and I stayed there as surgical supervisor, operating supervisor. And, uh, we took all the casualties from Korea, so we were considered a casualty hospital.

Ruth Stewart:	[9:26] And [throat clearing] that was where now?

Johanna Butt:	It was Kanaoka Barracks, 382nd General Hospital in Japan. So then, after that…

Ruth Stewart:	[9:40] So here you’re taking care of casualties from World War II, then?

Johanna Butt:	No, from, uh,

Ruth Stewart:	[9:44] From Korea?

Johanna Butt:	Korea. They went and got’m within 24 hours. And every time the Koreans had a push, we worked 18 hours a day, straight through. Because we had so many casualties. They were really evacuating them out rapidly.

Ruth Stewart:	[10:01] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	Well, then I came back [throat clearing] to the States and then I was sent to Fort Sam Houston and taught the enlisted course section for 2 years.

Ruth Stewart:	[10:14] When was, when was that?

Johanna Butt:	That was in 1954. I was Air Evac, in fact, and, uh, with a patient. And, it really was interesting because they sent me to the wrong hospital and so then I ended up st-, being there waiting for orders, and I bought a car and then they said I had to go by air and I said, “Well, you have to ship my car then,” and they said, “No, we’ll give you TDY,” you know, travel time. So anyway, then I ended up at Fort Same Houston and [throat clearing] I taught the enlisted course section there and, uh, I, uh…

Ruth Stewart:	[10:58] What was it you were teaching [inaudible 11:00] OR techs?

Johanna Butt:	Operating room techs. But I taught some of the dental subjects, too. In fact, someone, I had took theirs to another assis-, uh, assistant chief nurse there. And, uh, you know, you always get a [inaudible 11:15]. Somebody from the surgeon general’s office came down to do so-, an inspection and, uh, of course the headquarters passed the buck and I ended up having to take care of rounds, you know, the post and all that. So, I was talking to her and told her I’d like to get my master’s; next thing I knew, I got orders to go to school for my master’s. I went to Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. I, I was there for a year and sent to Madigan and, uh, after that, I went on the [inaudible 11:51] Seattle, Washington. It was very interesting there. I had, uh, applied for transfer from Madigan because I was allergic to something in the Northwest and it was loca-, Fort Lewis is near Tacoma, Washington. Well, Seattle is only 100-something miles up the road and so, after I had asked for a transfer out of the area, they sent me 100 miles up the road. So there I was again. [laughter] But, in recruiting, I traveled most of the time. I had Washington, Oregon, Montana, and part of Idaho as my territory. There are more cattle than nurses in that area. But, uh, I did very well, and I decided not to take the third year there. That was set, went to Fort Bragg and was educational [inaudible 12:41] and assistant chief nurse there. And, uh, uh, I got married there also but I had known my husband before. I had met him on recruiting.

Ruth Stewart:	[12:51] This was the second marriage?

Johanna Butt:	Yeah, mm-hm.

Ruth Stewart:	[12:53] Okay.

Johanna Butt:	No, it was really his third, but…

Ruth Stewart:	[12:57] Oh, okay.

Johanna Butt:	But anyway, and, uh [throat clearing], and, uh, I had met him in Walla Walla, Washington. We got married at Fort Bragg a couple years later and, uh, so I stayed there for quite some time and I had, I had a recruiting program as part of my duties, too, and so I went to see General Westmoreland and he was terrific about supplying all sorts of, uh, things that we needed plus entertainment for the, the student nurses, the, the directors [inaudible 13:37].

Ruth Stewart:	[13:38] And what was his position at that point?

Johanna Butt:	He was Commander of the Airborne there, I guess.

Ruth Stewart:	[13:47] But he was on the same post that you were at Fort Bragg?

Johanna Butt:	He was at Fort Bragg, yeah. Mm-hm. He was with the Special Service [inaudible 13:53]

Ruth Stewart:	[13:53] Okay. So he was very helpful?

Johanna Butt:	Most helpful. His aide told me I couldn’t see him, but I went right on in anyway and he didn’t throw me out, so, I got what I wanted. And, he was really good. He was all for education, you know, and recruiting and all that. And, of course, the special forces, they put on interesting demonstrations and the Golden Knights put on demonstrations. That impressed the little student nurses who were brought in. And, of course, I got each one of them a nice young lieutenant for a date…

Ruth Stewart:	[14:27] [laughter]

Johanna Butt:	…on Saturday nights so they went to the club and danced, ate and danced, you know? So, it worked out very well! But, uh, then I was, my husband and I were transferred to Puerto Rico and, from there, he went to Vietnam and I volunteered to go to Vietnam, but they turned me down because, uh, there was no vacancy in my [MLS and grade 14:51]. And then, so I was going to be sent to Walter Reed. However, my mothe-, my younger sister died. My mother, she was 80, and she couldn’t cope with it too well, so I asked for transfer to Fort Leonard Wood because my mother was in St. Louis. And, so I got transferred to Fort Leonard Wood and I stayed there 3½ years and retired from there. When I was teaching at Fort Sam, they happened to have, uh, air force and army students because the air force didn’t have their training program for the medics yet. They were working on it. And Wilford Hall hadn’t been built yet, of course. [inaudible 15:30] then that was built, they started it there, as far as I know. They had it several places though, too.

Ruth Stewart:	[15:37] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	But, uh, we had air force nurses that signed with us.

Ruth Stewart:	[15:40] Mm-hm, mm-hm. Let’s go back to your time in Japan. What was it like for you, as a woman, living in Japan?

Johanna Butt:	I didn’t get out too much, really. But it was very interesting and when I could, you know, I traveled all over and I didn’t have to worry. And, of course, one good thing, if you were going with friends, we were all taller than the Japanese then and you could find them easily. But, one time, I was in Kyoto, Japan and they had a riot. And, I was frightened. I got, you know, but I hid in the temple so that nothing happened. There wasn’t too much violence but were beating each other a little bit, you know, that sort of thing? But I…

Ruth Stewart:	[16:27] What caused the riot? Do you, did you ever know?

Johanna Butt:	I don’t know. I don’t un-, I don’t know. At times, they had, periodically they’d have riots. Just like in Puerto Rico, they’d have demonstrations and they demonstrated against the government, you know, and the military. Then I’d have to go in full battle gear to my post. It was the same type of thing in Japan, too. And we had typhoons there that were really severe.

Ruth Stewart:	[16:51] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	And, of course, every time that we had a typhoon, they brought all the dependents into the hospital and put’m in our rooms and moved us out because we were supposed to be on duty, we didn’t need a room.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:02] Yeah.

Johanna Butt:	And, of course, they always put a youngster who wet the bed in my bed [laughter] and I had to fight getting a new mattress, because, you know, by the time they’d been there a few days, that mattress was not so good.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:14] Pretty bad.

Johanna Butt:	Yep.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:16] Were y-, did you live in the hospital?

Johanna Butt:	Yes. See, I lived in quarters all the time until – in fact, when I first went there, there were 4 of us to one room and we were all captains. Can you believe that? And we had one chest of drawers and that was it. And we had a rod that you could hang some clothes on. And had community showers, and that was interesting because every time we’d take a shower, the Jap-, some Japanese workmen would come in and fix something.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:45] [laughter]

Johanna Butt:	They didn’t pay attention to you…

Ruth Stewart:	[17:48] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	They’d nod at you and you’d nod and then that was the end of it. Of course, you know, they take community baths there, too, so…

Ruth Stewart:	[17:56] They’re not as prudish as we are.

Johanna Butt:	No. It, it was fine. Of course, some of the nurses didn’t get used to that.

Ruth Stewart:	[18:03] Mm-hm. And, what was the food like for you there? On post or off post?

Johanna Butt:	Well, on post, it was the same army rations, you know. It was pretty, pretty good. And, uh, but off post, they had wonderful food. But, of course, you know, you had to be careful about eating it. And I know one time, several of us went down to, uh, down to the south, uh, and we ate raw oysters, which we shouldn’t have done. Two of the ladies ended up in the hospital. I managed to stay out and, on my feet, but I should’ve had better sense.

Ruth Stewart:	[18:40] And what about your recreation there?

Johanna Butt:	Well, we had a bowling alley that we could bowl, and, uh, we had a swimming pool and there was a golf course but the first time I went to practice, well, I went to practice one day and, the next day, the whole thing had burned down, so that was the end of golf right there. But we’d take short trips when we had time off. But every time I put in for vacation, the North Koreans would have a push and my vacati-, my leave was canceled. So I never got away on a leave. I had planned to cl, cl, climb Mount Fuji one time and another time I was going to, uh, Hong Kong and Thailand but both of those were canceled.

Ruth Stewart:	[19:24] What about your life then in Europe, western Europe when you were there?

Johanna Butt:	During the war?

Ruth Stewart:	[19:28] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	Oh, that was miserable. We lived in, lived in, uh, tents, hospital tents – 13 of us to a tent. It was cold and snow and ice and mud and, uh, they had, uh, you know, they used to have to escort us to the latrine because some of the troops around the area, w, w, hadn’t seen women for a long time or thought they would never see another one, so they would keep invading our area. But, uh, it was interesting. And I had a talent for building fires. I was a pyromaniac when I was a kid.

Ruth Stewart:	[20:10] [laughter]


Johanna Butt:	And, uh, and then we had a little, uh, you know, those potbellied stoves at home when we first came from Europe and I could keep that fire going always. But that was my job. I built the fires every [laughter], every morning and I didn’t have to do anything else in the tent, because we all had little chores. And, uh, one time when we would [inaudible 20:33], one of the gals hung her rubber girdle up beside the stove and I’d built such a good fire that girdle was dripping, and she really gave me the devil. It was my fault! Can you imagine? But we, the conditions weren’t good. We had [slip trenches 20:49] most of the time. Sometimes we had latrines and when the water truck came by to give you a shower, it seemed like every time I got my hair soaped up good, we ran out of water. That was the kind of life.

Ruth Stewart:	[21:01] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	And sometimes, you know, we didn’t, the supplies would be cut off. We didn’t have rations. One time, we did-, while we were being transferred on a troop train, and the trench stole our rations, so nobody had anything to eat for 3 days. And I wasn’t the type to carry candy bars or anything [inaudible 21:19]. I drank water, period.

Ruth Stewart:	[21:21] Mm.

Johanna Butt:	But, it wasn’t bad. I needed to lose weight anyway ‘cause I ate, I ate everything in sight. When I was going over on the ship, I’ll never forget. We heard all these lies about suppl-, all this news about the supply [lines 21:35] being cut, you know, and this and that. And I though, “Oh, maybe I’ll never eat again!” and so I put down every-, well, of course, I didn’t get seasick. The northern Atlantic is very bad. But, since I didn’t get sick, I’d go to the mess hall twice a day. We had 2 meals a day, and I’d eat somebody else’s portion, too. [laughter] I ate everything in sight. I gained, in those few days, I gained 14 pounds.

Ruth Stewart: 	[22:01] [laughter]

Johanna Butt:	And I couldn’t zip my slacks so [inaudible 22:04] of safety pins so I could get off the boat.

Ruth Stewart:	[22:08] Decently? [laughter]

Johanna Butt:	Yeah, and we had to wade ashore. And that wasn’t good. It was cold.

Ruth Stewart:	[22:13] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	Cold. And they transferred all these trucks to our first encampment and we, we sat there and it was raining and, it was sleeting and snowing. And, you know, there was a rim of ice around your rump where you’d been sitting. It was cold.

Ruth Stewart:	[22:29] Most difficult.

Johanna Butt:	But it was very, actually it was very good really, we were angry. It seemed that the supply of-, the [inaudible 22:37] officer had misread the orders. We were supposed to go by train but, a couple of days after we were set up already, the train that we were supposed to be on came in and crashed through the station. They were all wooden cars, and everybody was maimed and really, many dead, and we had to go down and work at the scene. Then we were thankful he made the mistake. Another time, he got us behind the German lines, but the Germans thought they were surrounded so they kept surrendering to us. We went in by mistake!

Ruth Stewart:	[23:12] That’s a wonderful story! [laughter]

Johanna Butt:	Well, there are more things that happened. Another time, we sped up and turned on all the lights and everything else and, so, my friend and I we found a horse wandering around and so we started riding this horse around and then the, the troops came in and said that it was a minefield that hadn’t been cleared yet and here we’d been riding that horse around! So then we had to go sit quietly ‘til they cleared the field.

Ruth Stewart:	[23:41] What was your other kind of recreation besides riding horses on minefields?

Johanna Butt:	Well, oh, one time the British, uh, the British had captured some police horses and, uh, they told us we could go up there and ride when we had free time. If it, see, whenever they had a battle, they had all these casualties. In between times, we just sat and waited. And, so we went over to the stables and, I’m not much of a rider. I’m the kind that I parted with the company of a horse at least once during a ride. But anyway, so, we went over there, and I told the groomsman, I said – young British soldier – I said, “Why don’t you give me a real slow horse? I don’t ride well,” so he gave me a horse and I looked at it and thought, “That doesn’t look slow at all!” But I got on and the others had started off already. I’m in the rear. [throat clearing] I, I’m not a good rider and I just, I didn’t know, I guess I just kind of panicked and so the horse took off. And he went to the head of the pack and I though, “Oh my God! What am I-?” but, instead of pulling back on the reigns, I kept yelling. It was a German horse, he probably didn’t understand, “Stop!” anyway.

Ruth Stewart:	[24:45] [laughter]

Johanna Butt:	So, I slid off. And I thought, “Oh, I’ll never get back on that animal again,” but he stood right there. He stood there by me and he nudged me with his hooves and I wouldn’t get up and then he got his head down and I thought I better get up or he’ll kill me! So I crawled back up on him, which was a job. And then we’re riding again and I’m still out of control and there’s a creek running across the field. So I thought, “Oh, he’ll stop there.” No, he jumped it and I’m with him. I landed on him but then I slid off after that. So then finally it dawned on me, I should pull back on the reigns. And, when I did, he did everything I wanted and after that, I rode him all the time. So, but, he almost killed me first. [laughter] I had a total of 20 years and 6 months.

Ruth Stewart:	[25:33] And when were you discharged then?

Johanna Butt:	In 1970, the [31st of February 25:37] but I always say 01 March, because that’s when I started retirement.

Ruth Stewart:	[25:44] Of what year?

Johanna Butt:	1970.

Ruth Stewart:	[25:48] ’70, okay. And, since then, what did you do after retiring?

Johanna Butt:	Well, my husband had retired a year before. He insisted that I had to either retire or get rid of him, one or the other, so I made my decision and retired. And then, [coughing] we went down to Tucson, Arizona where we had some, bought some land and built a house. And I was going to go to school the following year and work on my PhD. I wanted to do that in Sociology because I figured I wouldn’t have to go to work, I could just volunteer for that stuff. I didn’t plan on working. And, uh, things didn’t work out. The following year, my mother became an invalid and I brought her down to live with us and, that was a full year, after that, my husband became an invalid. By the time I was finished with both of them, I didn’t feel like tying myself down again to school. I’d been tied down so much. You know, if you have an invalid around the house, it’s 24 hours a day.

Ruth Stewart:	[26:54] Mm-hm. It sure is, yeah.

Johanna Butt:	But anyway, so I decided I’d just play.

Ruth Stewart:	[27:00] Good. Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	And I traveled.

Ruth Stewart:	[27:02] Yeah. Did you join any veteran’s organizations?

Johanna Butt:	Oh yes, I belonged to the, I used to belong to the MOWW and the Retired Officers and I joined WOSL and, uh, what else? [coughing] And then, of course, I played golf a lot.

Ruth Stewart:	[27:19] Mm-hm.

Johanna Butt:	I kept busy in traveling. I would just take at least one trip a month.

Ruth Stewart:	[27:24] Mm-hm, an interesting life all the way through.

Johanna Butt:	Well, I think so. Not always what I wanted but I was interesting.

Ruth Stewart:	[27:32] It obviously was a very interesting life and you certainly put a lot of zest into it all along the way.

Johanna Butt:	Well, I had fun. I tell you what, that I was a misfit in the service at first. I really was. Oh, I didn’t tell you one time at the beginning of an R&R and it was right before [inaudible 27:51] Day and, uh, the official [inaudible 27:52] Day. There was a rumor that the war had ended, and we were flying from [throat clearing] [inaudible 28:02] Paris, Nice, France up to Paris and we were going to, we had orders for the train, but we hitched a ride on the plane, we thought that would be easier. And we landed. The rumor was that the war was over, and the French were out there with champagne and all that. Of course, my luggage was stolen. I turned around, I was at the airport and I turned my back and somebody sn-, took my luggage. But that was okay. We stayed 2 or 3 days and when we came back to the hospital, they said, the commanding officer, chief nurse took us to the commanding officer and said, “You girls are AWOL.” I said, “No, we’re not! The war is over! We’re only in for the duration, that’s all.” Well, you know, that didn’t set too well, things like that.

Ruth Stewart:	[28:44] Yeah. Well, it has been very interesting and appreciate so much still all of this interesting story that you’ve told us and some very, very interesting sidelights of your life in the, both the army and air force, or air force and then army, whichever way it was. All of which was nice. Thank you very much!


/ab