Interview of Erma Flitsch on her service 
as a nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII


Ruth Stewart:	…at Air Force Village 1 in San Antonio, Texas on February the 16th, 2004. Erma Flitsch is being interviewed by Ruth Stewart, assisted by Mary Anne Rogers for the Women's Overseas Service League, San Antonio Unit.

	[00:22] Erma, start out by telling us where you were born and a little bit about your early life, and then how you got interested in nursing and where that took place, your training.

Erma Flitsch:	Uh, I’m Erma Flitsch and I was born in Wisconsin, and my early years were in Milwaukee. I lived with the family over there as a child. And then I, uh, became interested in nursing due to influence by friends and, uh, people that were in nursing. And then I, uh, went to, uh, Mount Sinai School of Nursing in Milwaukee, which also had a hospital in Chicago, uh. And from there, I worked in that hospital for a number of years and then I decided to join the Air Force, which I did, and my first assignment was Bergstrom at Austin, Texas.

Ruth Stewart:	[1:21] Erma, what year was it that you went to Bergstrom?

Erma Flitsch:	Uh, it was 1955, about that time, and following that, I went to the Philippines to Clark Air Base, which was an interesting assignment and, um, was there until ’58 or fift-, let’s see, ’55, ’56, probably about ’58 or ’59 when I was transferred to Japan after being at Clark. And, following that time, um, then, let’s see, I was at Tachikawa in Japan and, uh, that was also interesting assignment. And, I was on Air Evac duty during that time. Uh, that area, uh, Japan and Korea, the Philippines, Okinawa.

Ruth Stewart:	[2:19] That was throughout the Pacific, then?

Erma Flitsch:	Yes, yes. It was, uh, that I remember, 9th Air Evac that was in that area, and then there was another, uh, group that transferred patients from Tachikawa to the U.S., to Hawaii, and then to the U.S., Travis Air Base. Uh, after Japan, I was assigned to Lackland Air Base, here in San Antonio, Texas, and I was there from probably about ’60 to ’63 or ’64 and, following that time, I was transferred to, uh, Pakistan and, uh, that was an assignment, uh, that was a very small air base near the [Tiger 3:13] Pass and, following that assignment, I was assigned to Andrews Air Base in Washington, D.C. I was there for several years and, following that assignment, uh, then I [forgot 3:33]. Following, uh, Andrews, I was transferred to Germany and, uh, I was at Hahn Air Base in Germany for 3 years. And, following that assignment, I was transferred to March Air Base in, uh, California, at which time, I retired.

Ruth Stewart:	[3:57] What year was that, then?

Erma Flitsch:	Uh, I retired in January of 1977.

Ruth Stewart:	[4:05] In what air force base in California were…

Erma Flitsch:	March Air Base.

Ruth Stewart:	[4:09] M-A-R-C-H?

Erma Flitsch:	Yes. At San Bernardino/Riverside area [inaudible 4:14].

Ruth Stewart:	[4:15] Okay. Let’s go back to the time when you were in the Pacific area and, what was it like for you, serving in that area and going from place to place in the Pacific? How did you live?

Erma Flitsch:	Well, Air Evac duty into Korea was interesting, and we did have to stay there, uh, TDY, for 6 weeks or maybe it was longer, uh, and get the patients prepared for Air Evac to Japan. And, uh, it was cold while I was there, uh, real cold. And, the only other person I remember being there, there, only one nurse was there, was a Special Services worker by the name of Mary Mitchell. And, every GI knew Mary Mitchell during that period of history. And, she had a very interesting, a very worthwhile service club while there. And, she loved the Korean people and she would arrange trips to orphanages and to old Buddhist remains and, uh, she just knew the history very well and she would get buses to transport the GIs to these different locations. And, there’s nothing more generous, as we know, than a GI, no matter what his pay scale is, he always has money for an orphanage or for some poor soul around. And, uh, it was very cold in the wintertime, extremely cold, but, uh, where I lived had an oil burner that was quite warm. Uh, I’d get it, I’d turn it off at night, but I had it on in the daytime or whenever I was in this room. And this was a building occupied by Mary Mitchell, of Special Services, and myself. And, every 3 months, or maybe it was more often, there was another, um, nurse come in TDY to this, to assist in preparing patients for Air Evac. And, most of these patients went on from Tachikawa to the U.S.

Ruth Stewart:	[6:37] These were wounded soldiers?

Erma Flitsch:	Oh yes, yes. [throat clearing] Or, uh, medically [throat clearing] incapacitated. I think a lot of’m were older, uh, service people that had medical conditions – heart attacks and things of that nature.

Ruth Stewart:	[6:57] Your own living when you were there, how did you adjust to, you telling us about how cold it was – how did you dress for that when you were out? What kind of foods did you have? How were they prepared?

Erma Flitsch:	Um, I think I ate most of the time at the officer’s club, which was nearby and, uh, occasionally I would eat just in the dining room of the ma-, of the mess hall, as they called it, of the GIs. They said, no, I could eat down there, too, but most of the time I ate at the officer’s club. And, there was a way of having sandwiches or something in between times or I had ways of, uh, of, I could get down to the dining room of the GIs and, uh, I don’t remember how I managed this financially but they had some adjustment for these 2 people that were there, Mary Mitchell and myself, and every nurse that was there during the ‘50s knew this Mary Mitchell. And, I’m sure she’s long gone. But, um, she was an interesting character and loved her GIs and would plead for buses, she would make herself acquainted with the commander. As soon as he got there, she would make an appointment to visit him and get a bus so, uh, she needed that for the GIs. I, I was at Kimpo Air Base, uh, which was very small at the time, but it was an international airport. Um, winters were very cold there and, uh, summers could be very hot. And, during the time I was there, probably about 1960, uh, President Eisenhower visited there, uh, which brought out all the Korean nationals and they had a big celebration for this occasion. Um…that’s about all…

Ruth Stewart:	[9:11] It was an interesting time for you to be there, then?

Erma Flitsch:	Mm-hm.

Ruth Stewart:	[9:15] Tell us a little more about your role in preparing the, uh, combatants to go to Japan for care there. What did you, as a nurse, do for them?

Erma Flitsch:	Well, on Air Evac, we had to be sure that they had their, everything with them for transfer to Tachikawa Air Base in Japan, and then to continue on to the States. Uh, many of’m were due for retirement and they had to have the medical treatment for whatever they were suffering from. And, uh, they would, we would have to be sure they had, uh, medication with them for this trip, uh, uh, back to the States. And, perhaps, probably 90% or more were due to go back for, uh, retirement or for reassignment due to their illness. So, we had to be sure that they had everything with’m and that they had their, they were leaving permanently. There were very few that were just being transferred to, uh, Japan for other treatment. There was a hospital, uh, run by the army at Seoul, which was very modern and very well-equipped, but it was not a big installation and that took care of the military that were injured over there due to physical traumatic injuries. And, they did not have to be transferred to Japan, and then they could be reassigned, or they would be going back to their units. And, it seemed like there were a lot of army troops while I was over there, uh, assigned to the various bases, uh, in Korea. That’s about it, as far as Korea. So…

Ms. Rogers:	[11:10] Could you talk about your trip to the DMZ [inaudible 11:12]

Erma Flitsch:	Oh, oh, now Mary Mitchell would always arrange for, uh, a bus to go to the DMZ and the DMZ, uh, trip, uh, had to be set up with the base commander and the authorities at the DMZ, the militar-, the U.S. military and the North Korean, uh, military. And, they would have guides up there and we could, there was definitely a dividing line, uh, between the, South Korea and North Korea. And, uh, it was a very tense period and they did have a big conference room they showed us and, um, that was where the conferences were held and what would be allowed and what would not be allowed and, uh, um, it was set up for the, for the, uh, conference, uh, meetings that they would have.

Ruth Stewart:	[12:16] Did you participate in any way as a nurse there?

Erma Flitsch:	No, no. There was no, uh, parti-, this was just merely a trip to show the GIs and myself included what this dividing line was like and it definitely was a dividing line. And, uh…

Ruth Stewart:	[12:34] Describe it to us.

Erma Flitsch:	Well, uh, the, I don’t remember, as there was a fence, but there were guards, North Korean guards, that were on one side and, uh, they would walk back and forth and, of course, the, uh, U.N. forces were on our side, uh, guarding and there was no contact between these guards, none whatsoever. But, we had no conversation with this at all, and, I’m sure it’s still going on much the same way and, uh, I know at the conference tables there was always a big dispute about the, the height of the flags and, uh, whether the U.S. flag, if it was a fraction higher than the, uh, Korean flag and, uh, but it was ultimately settled and was even.

Ruth Stewart:	[13:34] Okay. How did you maintain contact with your family and friends here in the States when you were overseas?

Erma Flitsch:	There was, uh, there was mail service, APO mail service during that time and I don’t know the exact route of mail at that time, but I would suspect it took about 7 days, um, I, I can’t recall, uh, any particular problems and I never made any telephone calls, as I recall. Uh, I’m trying to think of what means – there was a way you could telephone between the bases, oh, it was called WATS line, I think, at the time, and that provided, uh, a way of communicating between Korea and Japan, but I never made any calls, uh, personal calls, but I did make calls to the squadron to tell them what I needed or what the GIs needed and usually the, the medics would say, get such and such, or if we needed something special for a flight, uh, they would let me know and I would go to their orderly room and they would help make the call back to Japan and, uh, it never presented any big problem.

Ruth Stewart:	[15:04] What was your recreation for you, as an individual female, overseas during this period? You must have had some fun someplace.

Erma Flitsch:	At Kimpo, they had various, um, activities for the GI and I remember they had a photogra-, a photography shop and they had supplied them with, uh, ways and means of developing pictures. Now, they were only black and white, but we had a lot of fun developing pric-, pictures of whatever you would snap pictures – and I did not have a car over there, but the GIs would take me into the towns, the little villages, for, uh, just snapping pictures. And there were no rules against snapping pictures there, uh, of the Koreans. And, uh, some of the Koreans on the post would, they’d allow you to snap their pictures and they wanted a picture of the Americans, too, so it was a give-and-take situation. But, there was not a lot of entertainment. We did not have television. Um, there just was not a lot of entertainment. But there was homemade entertainment, like this photography shop and I got involved in that. They also had a ceramic shop and the GI would go there and, uh, do ceramics but, uh, that was about it, as far as what I remember. An-, and they would occasionally get a Jeep and have some reason to go out to the villages and, or go down to, I think they went down to Seoul or, uh, Osan occasionally and I’d ask to go along. And, uh, there was a big army hospital, a MASH unit, nearby and, uh, I did go up there at times. Well, that’s where I would visit patients to see what all they needed to come back with and get their, uh, all their equipment and their foot lockers packed up. I didn’t do it but be sure to have everything in there and they had their duffle bags all packed and it was a big move.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:23] So then, you’re moving around from one, one place to another, which you did fairly often. Um, how did you react to that? Did it work out okay for you?

Erma Flitsch:	Oh yes, it was fine.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:38] Made contact with people each place that you could?

Erma Flitsch:	Mm-hm, mm-hm. There was usually a few people that you would get to know or that knew somebody that I knew someplace else, so, that was never a problem.

Ruth Stewart:	[17:51] Mm-hm. So then when you came back – tell us a little about being at Andrews Air Force Base. That’s always one of those places that we hear from the news some rather grim stories about it.

Erma Flitsch:	Uh, that was a – I enjoyed the assignment. Having been from the Midwest, I enjoyed Andrews more than anything else, uh, any other assignment because it had so much history there. And, uh, um, there was just a lot of things to do in the Washington D.C. area that didn’t cost a lot of money. And, uh, I, uh, visited all the downtown Washington, D.C. – the assignment in itself, uh, was good. It had a big hospital with all, uh, services there for whatever was needed. Plus, there were 3 other large hospitals – there was Walter Reed and Bethesda and NIH and, oh, there was other civilian hospitals and so the physicians were in contact with all those doctors for whatever reason, for whatever contact they had to make with, uh, Walter Reed or Bethesda or NIH, the big ones. George Washington, uh, Hospital.

Ruth Stewart:	[19:21] And then, you did retire in 1977, in…

Erma Flitsch:	Mm-hm. At March.

Ruth Stewart:	[19:28] And what did you do from then on? What was your retirement…

Erma Flitsch:	[Inaudible 19:32].

Ruth Stewart:	[19:32] What was and is your retirement like?

Erma Flitsch:	Oh, I, uh, went ba-, oh, I took care of a relative for a period of time but then I, uh, knew that I wanted to come to Austin, Texas and I moved to Austin and, uh, oh, I did some, I took some classes there but then I worked at Prudential, uh, Insurance Company. They had an HMO at that time, which no longer, uh, is, is, uh, in existence, and I worked for them until I retired from that. And, I worked in claims and that’s, was, I had the knowle-, medical knowledge how to do claims. And, uh, uh, well, there was some learning involved, coding and that sort of thing. And then I retired from there and I had bought a home in north Austin and then, in 19-, oh, in 2000, I moved to Air Force Village and that’s where I am now.

Ruth Stewart:	[20:45] This is a very nice place to be, in terms of the easy, easy living.

Erma Flitsch:	Mm-hm. It’s easy living, yes. You get used to having things done for you.

Ruth Stewart:	[20:55] Well, thank you very much, Erma! We appreciate your taking the time to do this.

Erma Flitsch:	Yes.


/ab