Interview of Anna Lisa Moline on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII


Marjorie Brown:	[0:01] What is your name?

Anna Moline:	 My name is Anna Lisa Moline.

Marjorie Brown:	[0:06] When did you join the Denver Unit of WOSL? 

Anna Moline:	 I joined it in, uh, May, eh, April of 1986. 

Marjorie Brown:	[0:18] Uh, what branch of the service were you in?

Anna Moline:	 I was in the Army Nurse Corps.

Marjorie Brown:	[0:24] Uh, what made you decide to come in the Army Nurse Corps?

Anna Moline:	Uh, I was w-, uh, working as Assistant Superintendent in, uh, for the Department of Hospitals in New York City, uh, in charge of a 300-bed pediatric building. Well I had been there, uh, a-, since training off and on, uh, and one of my friends joined the, uh, Army Nurse Corps in, uh, early in 1941. She was on this – a, a boat that went down, uh, uh, the first, uh, uh, boat, uh, uh, with nursing personnel that went over in 19, uh, of ’41 I believe, uh, and it was, uh, shipwrecked off the coast of Ireland, and I was so, uh, enthusiastic about her valor that I [chuckle] joined the Army Nurse Corps. And then also, the American Red Cross had a big rally at the Commodore Hotel early in 1941. The period, uh, prior to World War I when there was an emergency, uh, uh, status, the army, uh, no, the Red Cross was then recruiting, uh, nurses for the Army Nurse Corps. Uh, it was a beautiful ceremony. Flags were furled, and, uh, uh, they, uh, the discussion was held relative to the need for army nurses, and I joined immediately. This was in April 1941. 

Marjorie Brown:	[1:55] What did you do before you came in the army?

Anna Moline:	Before I was in the army, I was, um, uh, first I was supervisor of met-, at Metropolitan Hospital, and then I attended schools evenings. No, I was evening supervisor. I attended schools mor-, uh, school morning at new yor-, mornings at New York University. And in 1940, I received my BS, BS degree in nursing education. Uh, after that, I, uh, continued. Uh, I went for a small time, uh, to Greenpoint Hospital, which was supposed to be the garden [chuckle] spot of the earth in New York City. Uh, it was an Italian district full of crime. [laughter] Uh, then I went back to New Yor-, uh, to Metropolitan Hospital, and when I, uh, joined the army, I was a s-, I was n-, I was titled as Assistant Superintendent of the Pediatric Building.

Marjorie Brown:	[2:59] Uh, what did you do in the service?

Anna Moline:	Uh, first I was assigned to, um, [Pine 3:04] Camp a – to – as assistant chief nurse to Beatrice Quinn, a beautiful Lieutenant Colonel Army Nurse Corps. There I was only there for about a year, and then I was transferred to Fort Hamilton as chief nurse, and at Fort Hamilton, uh, after about 8 months, I said I would like to go overseas. And I was assigned to the 3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group. Uh, and about, um, oh, November of 19, uh, 42. [No 3:44].

Marjorie Brown:	[3:46] Uh, where did that, where did that surgical group go?

Anna Moline:	The 3rd Auxiliary r-, uh, uh, Auxiliary Surgical Group, uh, was, um, s-, uh, initiated or set up at Fort, um, uh, San Antonio. Uh, let's see. Fort, uh, w-, what's the name of the hospital in San Antonio? F-, uh – after that, uh, we in November – no, early in December/latter part of November of 1942, we were activated at, uh, uh, Fort Dix, which is actually Fort, uh, um, what is Fort Dix – [background noise] 

	New York City, and we left, departed on the Queen Mary on December 7th, exactly 1 year after war was declared in 1942. And on the Queen Mary, uh, we were unescorted, uh, eh, because of the size of the vessel [throat clearing] and, um, because we were unescorted, uh, the, um, uh, vessel had to crisscross, keep crisscrossing to keep out of the line of fire, uh, of the army. And between that and the storm, uh, storms at sea, we had 40,000, eh, 4,000 sick, sick troops. [background speaker] Uh, when we arrived in, um, uh, Scotland, uh, there was a rumor that, uh, the Queen Mary had been, uh, sunk w-, because we were several days late getting into, uh, the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Uh, actually, we had been hit one night. There was all this, uh, rushing and screaming and, uh, pounding as we lay in our berths [tapping] uh, for the – because of the size of the Queen Mary, they were able to repair the, uh, the vessel, the ship, and it, uh, went on to the Firth of Forth. After that, we were rushed in the dark of night to Oxford, England, by train, and we were stationed there, uh, uh, to be assigned out as needed. 

Marjorie Brown:	[6:05] Uh, where were – where were your other assignments when you were in the service?

Anna Moline:	Eh, over then, uh, I was with the 3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group and, and I had to go down to, uh, Truro in Cornwall because we had a hospital set up there to take care of air-raid casualties, uh, from across the channel. After that, uh, I was assigned to the 3rd, uh, 30th General Hospital, uh, and there, uh, when I, uh, was assigned to the 30th General Hospital, I went to Hull to set up a hospital in a bombed out Catholic school. We scrubbed and cleaned debris, and uh, eh, because it was partially demor-, uh, uh, [chuckle] d-, destroyed. We lived in a  house next to, uh, the school, the Catholic school, which was also practically destroyed. Uh, after I had been in Hull for about, um, eh, 4 months, I was called by, uh, eh, eh, s-, uh, Central Office, which was in London, uh, and asked if I was, uh, willing to go to, uh, an area where the only, uh, transportation we would have would be by, uh, air. And they asked if my uniforms were in good condition, condition, if my health was good. I said yes. So they, uh, called me back and said, uh, would another girl like – nurse like to go with me. So a friend of mine, Hilda Nevin, and I received orders. Uh, we did not know where we were going. Uh, uh, it was, uh, absolutely secret. We went down to London.

	And then they in the dark of night also again they put us on the sleeper and we went to Land’s End. From Land’s End, we left, uh, one morning. We were told then that we were going to Russia on a, um, mission that was set up, uh, during the conference between Churchill, um, uh, Stalin, and, and Roosevelt relative to the shuttle bombing that was to occur, uh, over Poland from – by the 8th Air Force and, and by – over, um, Romania, uh, by – from planes stationed in Italy. Um, of course, we were quite excited about this. Um, we left then on a bomber, uh, plane, uh, for Russia, uh – no. W-, uh, for – we left one night, leaving Land’s End on a, um, oh, n-, not a bomber plane – carrier and, uh, we landed in Casa Blanca the next morning. Uh, with the birds singing and spring [laughter] in the air. We were thrilled after the long, uh, dark days in England. We stayed in, uh, we then went to – on to Tehran, uh, stopping in, um, in, uh, Tripoli for lunch, I remember for tea. And then we drove o-, we, uh, flew on to, um, Tehran. At Tehran, uh, the nurses were assigned to relieve in the hospital. And, uh, we wa-, we were waiting there for about, uh, 3 weeks before we could get into Russia because, uh, as you know, the Russians were in control, and every time that, uh, the pilots would go into Russia with supplies, they would demand another visa. 

	So they ran c-, uh, short of visas. We had to wait for visas. And about the, um, last of May, we finally did, uh, receive orders. And we flew over, um, that gorgeous, uh, uh, land, uh, eh, from, uh, Tehran into, uh, [Inaudible 10:16], Kiev, over the Caspian Sea, and uh, the, uh, Ukraine, the, eh, beautiful land, which is similar to our prairies, uh, in South Dakota where I was born, where I was reared. [chuckle] We were stationed, um, I mean we set up, uh, a hospital unit, a hospital unit there with a complete operating room. Uh, eh, we also had, uh, to, to set up hospitals at 2 other bases, one at [Myrhorod 10:54] and one at [Inaudible 10:55]. Now [Myrhorod 10:57] and [Inaudible 10:57] were fighter bases, and Poltava was a, uh, bomber base. We awaited for casualties, uh, the missions to begin, but, uh, because the, um, bombing was delayed – the bombing of England was delayed, the missions were delayed, but finally there was a mission from Italy across Romania, and we were ready, uh, for any casualties that might, uh, be on the planes. And, of course, there was great excitement because this was considered, uh, quite a, um, historical [effect 11:41], that we would have the shuttle, uh, bombing occur and us be stationed in Russia. Uh, of course, we did receive casualties, uh, uh, from the planes as they came in. 

	Uh, pilots that were shot and, and wounded, uh, in the, in the bomber bases, uh, bomber, bomber [what] [inaudible 12:04] of their planes, in the bomber, um, pits of their plane. [background speaker] [throat clearing] Then, um, we continued, uh, they, they would, uh, the, uh, pilots of the planes – the planes would refuel in Russia and return again to their base in, in Italy and bomb as they went back. This was so that they would not have to carry, uh, a larger load of bombs t-, to, uh, uh, to make the trip back and, uh, over Romania and into, uh, Russia and back again. So this was, uh, one of the prime purposes, uh, of the, uh, this, uh, plan, uh, was that they would refuel and go back. Now there were several trips made between, uh, England and, uh, between Italy and, uh, Romania – over Romania into Russia. But about, uh, on the 21st of June, uh, the 8th Air Force, uh, made a raid over Poland. Well by that time, the Germans were quite aware of where we were, and they followed us, uh, in – they followed the planes in. 

	About, uh, 11:00 at night, we heard a, a air raid siren, but I – we had heard so many air raid sirens in England that we didn’t pay too much attention to it, but about midnight the bombings started, and we were bombed the whole night in the trenches. Fortunately, the Russians had built, uh, trenches that were about 3 feet wide, in which we could bring the patients from the hospital, and, and we were there, uh, until dawn being, uh, bombs falling all around. I am sure that the Germans [inaudible 14:05] [laughter] knew where we were because, uh, the, the flares were as light as day, but they did not bomb us in the trenches. They knew that there were women there. However, they bombed Russians not more than about 2 blocks away, and the earth from the bombing flew over our heads, hit our heads and our helmets. 

Marjorie Brown:	[14:31] When you came in the service, what was the biggest adjustment you had to make?

Anna Moline:	Adjustments? [laughter] My mother said that this was good for me because I complained that we didn’t have na-, uh, tablecloths on the – [laughter] in the mess. Uh, this was a, a, a somewhat rough li-, uh, living was, uh, rather hard. The mess in, in, uh, eh, in Russia, we, uh, after our bombing, we were on the ground. We didn’t even have a wooden floor, uh, wooden floors in our tents. Uh, the aunts would get into our bedrooms l-, our leather slippers that we used to, um, uh, walk to the, um, latrine. Uh, the latrine, [laughter] uh, setups were not always very, uh, delicate situations. [laughter] And, uh, in, uh, in England, the food was not, uh, good. Eh, eh, it was at the heighth of the war. The English people had little food. For breakfast one morning, the first morning, [inaudible 15:48] us – some heated, uh, tomatoes over a, a, a piece of bread. 

Marjorie Brown:	[Inaudible 16:00].

Anna Moline:	Not because of myself but because of my 70 nurses. We never had, uh, other foods. Of course, we never had eggs or butter nor milk during the whole period. This I missed. However, when I was at Hull, this – w-, we were taking care of, uh, men from, um, navy, so once in a while, we would – they would give us an egg. [chuckle] This was a luxury. Actually, I adjusted quite well to the rough living.

Marjorie Brown:	[16:31] When you went in the service, did you plan to make it a career?

Anna Moline:	Yes, I had hoped to, uh, but when I came out, they were discharging everyone. I had been in 6 years, and they were discharging everyone who was not regular army. However, uh, Lieutenant Colonel Danielson who – with whom I had served, uh, eh, on my last assignment, uh, in her office a, a, at Versailles, uh, out of Paris, knew me. I had worked with her about 6 months before we came home. I came home with her. She called after I had, uh, eh, eh, made my application to the Veterans Administration and asked me to return, uh, excuse me, to Walter Reed or later, she said, I could be assigned wherever I wished because they were needing nurses then again in the army. Uh, but because I was 35 years, uh, old at the time I entered, first entered, I thought I would be overage as, as a – and afraid that I would not be, uh, kept in the regular army if I returned. And this proved to be a fact because one of my friends who went in was separated. And you can only, uh, well follow one path in this world, and I chose the VA.

Marjorie Brown:	Okay. [17:55] After you got out of the service, um, you went into – w-, you went into VA nursing is that right?

Anna Moline:	No, I really came back as Assistant, um, Superintendent at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, but, uh, because of my, uh, chest condition, I became ill, and I really could not tolerate, uh, that climate, uh, and, uh, eh, I, I still had a lot of stress from my army experience. So I, uh, went down to Washington to see Colonel Danielson, and she encouraged me to apply to the, uh, uh, for the Veterans Administration, uh, trying to get out, uh, leave, uh, p-, uh, Pittsburgh [inaudible 18:43] smoky section, and, um, I was accepted in the Veterans Administration. 

Marjorie Brown:	[18:53] Uh, what prompted you to join WOSL?

Anna Moline:	I love [laughter] the army and my life in it, and I have known some beautiful women in the service. Rita Geis, uh, Lieutenant Colonel Danielson, Lieutenant Colonel Beatrice Quinn, and I thought it would be a refreshing thing to, uh, reach – to have associations with, uh, women who had formerly been in the Army Nurse Corps.

Marjorie Brown:	Okay. That’s just great. I thank you very much.


/lo