Interview of Katherine “Katie” Kerr on her service in the American Red Cross during WWII" Interviewer: [Inaudible 00:02] interviewing Katie Kerr from the Lansing Unit of the Women’s Overseas Service League. Today is August 14, 1984. Katie Kerr lives at 941 Lilac and may be located by mail at this address. She is in East Lansing; Michigan and the zip code is 48823. The telephone number with the area code given first is (517) 332-6887. Katie, where were you born? Katie Kerr: I was born – I was born in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, which is about 20 miles from here. Uh, I, I graduated from high school in Eaton Rapids, went to Albion College, and then I went to Detroit to [Gray’s 00:55] Hospital where I spent a year learning to be a medical technician and, and received my registration, uh, as a medical technician, registered medical technician. Interviewer: [01:05] What was your maiden name? Katie Kerr: My maiden name was Trimble, T-R-I-M-B-L-E. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: Um, after I, I worked in Detroit for several years, and that was [throat clearing] it was during, um, that period of time that I learned that the war, of course, had started, and I, uh, became aware of Red Cross and Red Cross Girls and some of the activities that they were able to participate in. So, from there, I, um, went to Red Cross headquarters in Detroit and asked for an application and sent my application and references to St. Louis, Missouri. Uh, Red Cross, um, Red Cross Girls were hired out of St. Louis, Missouri’s office, which was the area headquarters. Uh, after – I went there one – and actually went there to St. Louis and was interviewed and, um, came back in the middle of the winter. I remember it was bitterly cold. I was, um, I was told that I – they would be glad to hire me, and I was, um, scheduled to start with them about, um, a month or six weeks before I did because during the war, if you were in an essential job, you had to get a release from that job by proving that you had somebody to pla-, to replace you, and they considered being a medical technician essential. So, I remember the frustration that I experienced trying to find somebody to replace me, and eventually I did. So, I joined Red Cross in Washington, D.C. on March 6, 1944. Interviewer: Nineteen forty-four, right in the heart of the war. Katie Kerr: Nineteen forty-four. And, um, I was hired as a hospital staff aide. Uh, there – a hospital unit, uh, was con-, consisted of, um, the gen-, the field director, the secretary, two recreation workers, and a, uh – it’s not running. It’s just – and a, uh, and a staff aide. So, uh, I trained in Washington D.C. at the American University for, um, I believe it was three weeks, as a staff aide. Uh, it was a, it was an excellent training course. Uh, they had – Red Cross had, um, hired or had, um, rented, whatever it might have been, a part of the American University, and, uh, they had an excellent staff. And so, we – our, our duties as a staff aide were to assist most anybody that you could and also to make out papers for, um, the soldiers who would have, would, um, related disabilities, uh, service-connected disabilities. Uh, I was sent from there to Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago, which was down on the beach, I believe, and it was one of the big, old hotels down there, but it was called Gardiner General Hospital. I was sent there for, uh, training before going overseas. While I was there – about three or four weeks after I was there, I received a telegram saying that they wanted me to come back to Washington and learn to be a hospital recreation worker, which was a step up from where I had been. Interviewer: [04:25] What year is this now? Katie Kerr: I – pardon? Interviewer: What year? Katie Kerr: This is still 1944. Interviewer: Okay. Katie Kerr: This would be April 1944. So, I went – left Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago and went down to Washington D.C. again. Coming into the big, uh, station in Washington was really a thrill, and, uh, finding my way around the big city, I felt quite, uh, as if I’d really grown from my [laughter] small-town background. Uh, I was at, um, I became a hospital recreation worker, and that was a six-week course, a very intensive course, and we covered everything you could possibly imagine in recreation; from crafts to games to dances to, uh, um, giving parties. And we had a very interesting group and some – again, we had excellent instructors. Interviewer: [05:16] Where was your building where you did this? Katie Kerr: It was in the, the American University. This was also – all of Red Cross training was done at the American University, and then we were – Interviewer: In what city? Katie Kerr: In Washington, Washington D.C. Interviewer: D.C. Katie Kerr: Then we were, uh, housed in various hotels around town. Uh, I remember at one, one period of time, I stayed at the Burlington, Burlington Hotel. And one time I stayed on Eye Street, E-Y-E Street, and I do not remember the name of the hotel. But anyway, um, we – our group in the, um, um, the, um, recreation group became very close, and there probably were fifty in the group, and we’d do square dances, and we had, we’d put on parties and – which was all excellent training for what was coming ahead of us. Um, after, um, I had been there for six weeks, we, um, were given our assignment one day. It’s a big day because we were to meet the other girls who was – were going to form our unit. And as I said before, uh, I was assigned to 110th General Hospital, which was, at that time, forming in, um, Camp Campbell, Kentucky. Uh, this one day, we were, we were all to meet our people that we later became such extremely close friends with. Uh, the field director was [Janet Leahy 06:35]. The secretary was [Jane Hauser 06:37] who has now – has since deceased. The other recreation worker was [Florence Friedman 06:43], and I was a recreation worker, and our hospital staff aide was Helen Andrews. The five of us, uh, formed a quick unit, and it’s amazing how quickly you can become close friends and feel like family. And probably within a matter of two or three days, we were close as sisters. And we were, uh, given our papers and our tickets and so forth to go to Camp Campbell, Kentucky. So, we took the train, and several other, um, hospital or Red Cross units were also joining their hospital units. And I remember one was in Louisville, Kentucky, which is where we, uh, stayed overnight in Louisville, Kentucky. And I remember that a Jeep came for them from their hospital and picked them up and what – how thrilling it was and hopefully, we were going to experience – have the same experience watching them driving off in the Jeep with the army doctors taking care of them. We stayed overnight in Louisville, and we unboarded the train and headed for Camp Campbell, Kentucky. Now, it was June, and, um, needless to say, it gets hot down in that part of the country. Uh, we, uh, got on a train and those – and there was absolutely no place to sit down, and all the seats were filled. Uh, so, we stood up and sat on our suitcases, and it’s, it’s rather strange to think now that a, a train would be so filled, full that there wouldn’t be any place to sit down, but [as you all 08:06] – Interviewer: This sounds like Tokyo. [laughter] Katie Kerr: [laughter] As you remem-, well, during the war, it was – all the trains were full. I, I – one experience I remember on the train was that we noticed that – we girls did notice some, some empty seats over – down a ways, and so, we walked down and sure enough, somebody had their belongings on’m, and we sat down there anyway and sat there quite a while and decided well, maybe we better not sit here too long because whoever these seats belonged to we’d better, you know, they’d be coming back and so, we did. We got up and later it developed that the men sitting in these seats were doctors from our unit, so – medical officers from our unit, and one of them even married a real good friend of mine who I lived with. Anyway, it’s, it was interesting to think that these men that we saw early on were later to become friends. We got to, um, our destination, which at that time was Clarksville, uh, Tennessee. Clarksville and, um, well, Camp Campbell apparently is right on the borderline between Tennessee and, uh, Kentucky. Got off the train in a dirty, dusty, um, depot, and apparently – oh, I remember now. On the train, we had met another officer from our – who said he was from the 110th, and he turned out to be the special services officer, and his name was [George Moorehead 09:25]. Well, he knew his way around because he was just coming back from leave or something, and, uh, got a Jeep for us, and so he got us all into camp. And, I don’t – if you’re not familiar with Camp Campbell, which is now called Fort Campbell, Kentucky, it’s a huge, huge military base. Interviewer: Is that spelled camp bell? Katie Kerr: Camp-bell, C-A-M-P-B-E-L-L. And it was a, um, an armored division, an armored training camp where they trained in, uh, tanks and so forth. And they – so, we – I do [not, now at this point 09:56], remember how we got to our billets, but we stayed with nurses – nurses’ area. Interviewer: [10:03] Uh, what was this camp like? Barracks? Or was it… Katie Kerr: It was barracks. Interviewer: …temporary buildings? Katie Kerr: Uh, yes. Um, well, I think most of – all of it was temporary. I, I [inaudible 10:11]. Interviewer: Plain buildings? Katie Kerr: Mm-hm, yes. Just with a… Interviewer: Bathroom, uh, bath facilities were about 8 people? Katie Kerr: Uh, no. We, we lived in the nursing, uh, with the nurses, and they – I don’t remember about the bathrooms, except, uh, it was pretty well – pretty substantial. Interviewer: I see. Katie Kerr: I think it was probably much more permanent than, um, some of – Interviewer: [Inaudible 10:29]. Katie Kerr: Some of the other – some other parts of the hospital were, but it was such a big camp that you rarely walked from one place to the other, and we were – Interviewer: By big, do you mean several miles? Katie Kerr: Yes. Interviewer: As big as Michigan State University campus? Katie Kerr: Yes, yes. It’d be a good, good comparison. Uh, sometimes we did walk, but usually we were able to get transportation. We’d – I think we – I suppose we called somebody and called the motor pool and asked’m for transportation. We, um, we, we lived two to a room, and as I said, these – this was a nursing area, and I – and I’m sure the nurses weren’t all that thrilled to have Red Cross Girls sharing their, um, their… Interviewer: Facilities? Katie Kerr: …facilities, yes. And, uh, but, uh, they were, uh, I, I guess I should mention at this point that there were, uh, we had joined the 110th General Hospital, which was forming and had been at Camp Campbell for quite some time getting, uh, I’ve forgotten the term that they used when you get through – it’s a term they used when you’re getting everything together and getting ready to move out, uh, but there were only 10 of us girls. There were five Red Cross Girls, whose names I mentioned, there were two physiotherapists, and there were three dieticians. So, we were the – there were 10 girls with the 110th General hospital, and there must’ve been 75, uh, officers and probably 500 men, and I’m tellin’ you, that was the life. And because we were – became very special to this hospital group. And we went overseas as just the only – we were the only 10 females and went overseas with this medical unit. Uh, when we got over into England, which was our destination – Interviewer: How did you go, by ship? Katie Kerr: Yeah, yes. I’ll get, uh, that’s another interesting story. But when we got there, then we picked up the nurses; that was the point I wanted to make. So, we, we were – we were the originals with that unit. Uh, we were at Camp Campbell for probably 10 days, uh, and did calisthenics. Every morning, we got up and had to do calisthenics, and some of the medical officers were our trainers, and I can tell you, they weren’t all that happy about having to do it. Um, then, um – Interviewer: [12:36] Katie, did you meet any English people, uh, and talk to them for any given length of time? Katie Kerr: Yes. We had, uh, some, some, uh, opportunity. We had some English women volunteers that would come onto the post, and, um, I think they enjoyed it, uh, because I think they, you know, had an opportunity to eat a little bit better than they were normally, normally had. The food was very strict, tough over there. No, no candy or sugars or anything like that. And, uh, you just felt embarrassed if you wasted a mouthful of food. In fact, I still have trouble seeing people waste food. One woman we got to know, her name was [Erica Winterbotham 13:16], and she lived in a rather, rather nice house in, in, um, I think it was Coberley. It was not too far from the hospital. And one time, she had three of us over there to dinner and had some meat, uh, which she said – apparently, she had – knew somebody who knew somebody, and she was able to get some meat, which was a big deal to have some meat like that. She was a very aristocratic woman, and I think, you know, she was probably a little higher class than some of the other people. She tried to – you know, she has indicated as much. However, I think they all enjoyed their association with us and the ability to come out to the hospital and talk with the patients and help the patients, and they would [mend 14:05] for the patients. Of course, we had the English girls, the young English girls who would come out to the dances and, uh… Interviewer: Dance with the American boys? Katie Kerr: …dance with the American boys, yes. Uh, then we had, um… Interviewer: [14:19] Did they come on their own or were they picked up by [bus 14:21]? Katie Kerr: Oh, no. We, we picked, we picked’m up by bus, and we wanted – Interviewer: And took them home by bus? Katie Kerr: Took them back to the downtown. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: And because we – now, you need to have control over, over, and over – Interviewer: I understand this. Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: There was one – I remember one medical officer who got really involved with somebody in town and, you know, nice, married, nice married man, but he became very involved with this older woman downtown and, you know, just took her, made her his, his wife and she made him her husband, and I often wondered what happened to them after that because he would bring her out to the post and to the parties and the officers’ parties, and [inaudible 14:55]. Interviewer: [14:56] This is an American [audio cut off 14:56]? You were talking about this man who accepted an English lady as a mistress? Katie Kerr: Well, yes. Well, well, that was, that was typical, even the, even the, uh, commanding officer, I think, did that. The commanding officer got himself in trouble because he built a hut for himself out of, um… Interviewer: Army supplies? Katie Kerr: …army supplies, and, uh, he was – it was recognized – you could recognize he was an oddball. What I understand later – that he was court-martialed for doing that. He didn’t add much to the unit. I mean, the unit was, uh, had to more or less do his good work in spite of him. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: We had an adjutant, and the adjutant was a good friend of ours, Colonel [Gould 15:42], who had – and, uh, they had the executive officer, and he also had his nurse girlfriend. Uh, it was, it was impossible, in a way, to not – to form close friendships and pairs and pair off with people. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: I made a, an effort not to go with any married men because I… Interviewer: [laughter] Katie Kerr: …figured, not only did I feel it wasn’t right, I didn’t want to get my – didn’t want to get myself hurt. I didn’t want to fall in love with somebody that was married and discover, you know, I had to separate from him, so I really, uh, made myself that, uh, that rule. However, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t go with married men, they just didn’t tell you that they…[laughter] Interviewer: [You often went with them in groups 16:20]. This was very common. Katie Kerr: Well, uh – Interviewer: Or even to a dance? Katie Kerr: Uh, we went – I went with them not knowing they were married, you know. Interviewer: Mm-hm, right. Katie Kerr: They didn’t know, they didn’t know – they didn’t tell you they were married. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: They just indicated that they weren’t, so, um, that, that’s – but it – I can understand. Uh, some of these men had been, uh, would transfer into our unit and they’d been overseas for two or three years. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: Well, you know, that’s a long time and eventually, time erodes a lot of things and they would, um, you know, become particular friends. And I had – because I had worked for almost, uh, eight years in a hospital before I joined Red Cross – Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: I had made – I knew how easy it was to make platonic friendships. Interviewer: Right. Katie Kerr: You, you make friendships with people not – because you work with them, because you have interests in common. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: So, that was an, uh, interesting… Interviewer: [17:13] Uh, you mentioned that this English lady, I mean, meat was a rarity. What do you mean by a rarity there, uh, Katie? Do you think she would have meat once every two weeks? Katie Kerr: Oh, heavens no. Interviewer: Oh, you mean once a month? Katie Kerr: You wouldn’t have it, period. [laughter] Interviewer: Oh, she wouldn’t have meat, period? Katie Kerr: I don’t think, I don’t think the people could get meat more than once, once a month. I think – Interviewer: Once a month would’ve been – Katie Kerr: [Things were very 17:33] strict – Interviewer: A real treat. And then the meat would’ve been lamb or something of this nature, or chicken? Or fish? Katie Kerr: I think, I think, I think this was beef. Interviewer: Oh, beef. Katie Kerr: I think this was beef. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: Oh, I guess another thing I mentioned with the Red – that we, the recreation workers, did was take ambulatory patients to places like [Stratford-on-Avon 17:48]. I took a number of groups to [Stratford-on-Avon 17:50]. Interviewer: The theater? Katie Kerr: Yes, the theater. And around the city. Interviewer: [17:54] Did you see a Shakespeare play? Katie Kerr: We saw one, one Shakespeare play. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: Oh, and another wonderful thing I did – it was in June in 1945, after the war was over. I went on what was called a leave – went to a leave course at Oxford University. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: At Balliol College at Oxford they had a leave course for a week, and you went there and, um, you were, you had classes on international relations and all, and I was the only American. And, uh, there were people from Australia and New Zealand and Poland and, uh, England, and I made a particularly good friend of an English man, English boy, I suppose he was. I never did figure out how old he was, and we wrote for a long time after the war. I wrote – uh, his name was [Gordon Kenshaw 18:38], and he was, he went, he was, I think he was teaching at the University of London, a brilliant fellow. Um, I went – I was invited to a night – the first night we got there, we had a, um, um, tea at, um, Rhodes House, uh, Rhodes scholars’ house, Rhodes House. And, uh, went over there and I met up with a fellow – two men came – two boys came up and, you know, asked if they could – if I’d like to go with them, and I, I went with them, and it developed that they had been prisoners of war in Germany. And this one handsome, young fellow who was – his name was Duncan Black, had only been, uh, been, uh, only been out of the prison camp for about a week. And he was, he was just so delighted to have somebody to talk to and, and, um, was telling about his, um, his experiences in the camp. And, uh, so, I really enjoyed this, this week at Oxford. I always felt that I could say I’ve been to Oxford [laughter]. Interviewer: [West Virginia University 19:37] Katie Kerr: [Inaudible 19:38] It was Balliol College, and we lived, I, we lived in the quadrant. We each had our, we had our room. I lived in staircase #10, and we ate – our meals were in the great, in the big hall. They called it The Hall and we sat at long tables just like the – of course, it, it was one of the well-known colleges in, in – at the University. Interviewer: [20:02] Mm-hm. Uh, Katie, did you notice any particular casualties over there? Katie Kerr: Uh, I mean… Interviewer: Tell us about some of the memorable [inaudible 20:08]. Katie Kerr: [Inaudible 20:09] Okay. Interviewer: People who were sent – they were sent to England, weren’t they from, uh… Katie Kerr: Yes. Interviewer: Europe? Katie Kerr: Yes. Yes, we would, we would get, uh, we would get them from, I suppose, the evacuation hospital, and then we would, we would – Interviewer: [20:22] From what evacuation hospital? Katie Kerr: From, from any evacuation hospital. Interviewer: In the European theater? Katie Kerr: Yes, mm-hm. And they would come – they had all kinds of things wrong with them, and we’d, we referred to them as Fellow with the Leg and Fellow with the Arm, and, and that’s the way you kind of identified them if you couldn’t remember their name. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: We had – um, I particularly remember the fellas that had frostbite, frostbitten feet. Uh, they put them all in the same ward and they were – you’d look down the ward and you could see – uh, they didn’t cover – they just covered their – from the waist to their – Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: Maybe their knees. And all these feet sticking up on pillows, you know. Interviewer: [laughter] Katie Kerr: All the way down the ward. Uh, and, um, it was really kind of an amazing sight. Um, and they, they, they were frostbitten. They had the frozen feet. Interviewer: [21:06] What was the big push in Europe in, uh, uh, let’s see, this is the second half of 1944? Katie Kerr: Well, uh, we – uh, of course, in December when they had the Battle of the Bulge – before that, we had had a, a unit come over and was fairly close to us, and I think it was the 26th Infantry [inaudible 21:26], 126 men, I bet, fresh from the States, and they were sent right to the Battle of the Bulge. And undoubtedly, a lot of them never made it, um, you know, to – Interviewer: [21:36] What was their morale? Katie Kerr: Oh, fine. Interviewer: What was their attitude? What did they do? Katie Kerr: Oh, um, I don’t remember too much about the morale. That was your job. You just, uh… Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: I don’t remember that people – certainly, people weren’t malingerers. Interviewer: They weren’t crybabies? Katie Kerr: No, no. No, they, um – and they just had done – you know, they were in the army. Interviewer: This was what they had to do, and they did it. Katie Kerr: Yeah. Mm-hm. Yeah, they were very well disciplined, very highly disciplined. One – I remember one particular patient whose name was [Buhl Dodril 22:01], and he was blind. Handsome, young guy and – Interviewer: [22:05] He had been blinded in the war? Katie Kerr: He had been blinded by a concussion in a [inaudible 22:08]. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: And, um, I really tried – you know, spent quite a bit of time with him, and, um, even wrote to him after he came back, and he went to, um, I think it was Valley Forge General Hospital where all the blind fellows went. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: And later her wrote and said, well, he got married and so, um, I suppose he’s happy. I hope he is. And, um, [loud trilling] then another fellow I remember, um, was a, uh, [throat clearing] [loud trilling] about one of the most, uh, ill patients we had. Uh, he had a, uh, some kind of, um, kidney problem, I think. He had been shot in the kidneys. And everybody was pulling for him and they were working on him so hard to get him well enough to send back to the States because his family was desperately waiting for him, and, um – and he was seemingly getting better, and they thought, well, they’ll just wait a little bit longer to send him back so that he’ll really be stronger. And low and behold, he started getting worse and died. And he is about the only patient I can remember that died in our hospital. If they were, um, seriously ill, apparently, they were sent back to the – um, sent back to the United States as soon as possible. Interviewer: [23:22] Katie, how long did you stay overseas? Katie Kerr: Uh, I was over there almost exactly a year. Interviewer: One year. Katie Kerr: One year. We, we, uh, landed on the Fourth of July, and it was the next July when we were to come back. Interviewer: [23:35] You, uh, were there then during V-E Day, weren’t you? Katie Kerr: Uh, yes, and, uh… Interviewer: What was that like? Katie Kerr: Well, it really – I’ll have to say I wasn’t much – it wasn’t very big. [laughter] I – it so happened that I had gone to London to, um, meet a – well, meet Janet who had, who had come back from France and was there for a little [loud trilling] while. And, uh, we, um, we were in London the night of V [loud trilling], uh, V-E Day and expecting great, uh, celebrations, and somehow, we just missed out on everything. We didn’t get in with a group that, um, was celebrating, and, uh, we walked around the streets some, and – but it, um, uh, it was one of those situations where we were separated from our usual group, uh, and we were not invited to any particular parties, and it was really not as exciting a part of, uh – part as you would – event as you would expect it to be. I mean, I’m speaking [inaudible 24:35]. Um, well, anyway, V-E Day happened, and then, of course, we realized that, uh, our unit was going to be going back to the States and regroup and go to the Pacific because the war in Europe – Interviewer: [24:46] So, the Europe, the Eng-, people of England didn’t really whoop it up, did they? Katie Kerr: Well, they probably did. It was just that I, myself, was not… Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: …did not [inaudible 24:54]. Interviewer: And you weren’t out – Katie Kerr: I wasn’t… Interviewer: Where you could see the celebration? Katie Kerr: …I wasn’t, I wasn’t where – I wasn’t with a group that was celebrating. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Katie Kerr: We were in London, and if we’d been back to – back at home, why, of course, we would’ve – you know, it’d been different. I also – I do remember though that I marched in the victory parade through Cheltenham, and that was exciting. They, they had, uh – a week or two later, they had a parade and – Interviewer: [25:13] When was this victory parade? Katie Kerr: Well, it was after V-E Day. Interviewer: After V-E Day. [Inaudible 25:17]. Katie Kerr: Yes. [Inaudible 25:18] yeah, and before we headed for home. Well, we got it all packed up and um, and um, by this time, uh, Janet and, uh, Helen had gone, our five girls, our five Red Cross Girls had broken up, so I should at that point have, have separated and gone over to the continent too but I didn’t. I wanted to stay with this unit, so I came back home. And, uh, of course, we had – um, we were – I’ve forgotten where we went – somewhere for a week or two and got separated from Red Cross and we separated from the unit and went home. And, um, um, while I was home, they dropped the atomic bomb, and the war was over. So, [laughter] so, the end of my career with Red Cross was kind of, um… Interviewer: [Inaudible 26:03]. Katie Kerr: …anticlimactic. Yes, uh, because I never went back. After that, I no longer – I separated from Red Cross and, and – Interviewer: [26:11] When did you separate? What date approximately? Katie Kerr: I don’t remember. Interviewer: Do you know [inaudible 26:14]. Katie Kerr: Well, it was probably September. Interviewer: September after the V-J Day? Katie Kerr: Mm-hm. And then I, um, I came back, I came back home to my mother and dad’s house, home in Eaton Rapids, which – because I didn’t have a home other than that and got a job at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and, uh, and went in the laboratory. Interviewer: [26:34] Did you find any, um, uh, traumatic change in coming back to the States? Katie Kerr: Well, I, I could’ve been. After all, when you’re over there, you’re an American girl in England, with – uh, you were something pretty, pretty special. Well, when I got back here, I was just a plain, old American girl. And after all, by that time, I was well into my 20s and, and, um, I didn’t have a – my boyfriends were all throughout the United States and, uh, so, I more or less I was starting from scratch again. I changed my location, and, and, uh, I got a job at Sparrow Hospital and worked there for a, um, about a year or so and met George Kerr, who was a state policeman. And, um, actually, he came – we had – in the laboratory, we always used the state policemen as professional blood donors, and they got $25 a pint for their blood because that was before the days of the Red Cross blood banks. And George took me out to help me – help him spend part of his $25 and, and I married him. So, um, that was, that was a good ending, at least. [laughter] Interviewer: [laughter] Uh… Katie Kerr: [throat clearing] Interviewer: [27:40]…V-J Day was a very traumatic experience for me, was it for you? Katie Kerr: Um, V-J Day, uh, well… Interviewer: I mean, the dropping of the Hiro-, the dropping of the, uh… Katie Kerr: …no, um… Interviewer: Atom bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Well, you see, I had a concept of the, uh, of the atom. Katie Kerr: Uh-huh. Mm-hm. Interviewer: And the power of it because I had been through a cyclotron at the University of Michigan in 1941. Katie Kerr: Mm-hm. Interviewer: And I remember my mind really whirling. I listened to every word on the radio, and I was aware of the total power that could be released. Katie Kerr: Well, I think many of us, uh, were, were not – did not have that concept. Where I learned about it, I had gone to Detroit to, um – it was during my – the time I was home when I – to visit a friend in Detroit, and I was riding down Woodward Avenue in a street care when, either I heard it on the radio or read in the paper, you know, it was rather an odd way to, to learn about it. But then, of course, that really changed everything. When they dropped the bomb, it, uh, changed everything. Changed many people’s lives. And, of course, if we had – if we had gone, I, I am convinced that if we had tried to invade Japan, the casualties would’ve just ben absolutely terrible. Interviewer: Yes. I can imagine that. Every Japanese would have [throat clearing], uh, committed hari-kari before they would have allowed an American to live, I mean… Katie Kerr: Mm-hm, mm-hm. Interviewer: Thank you, Katie. Then, is that it? Katie Kerr: Um, stop it. One thing I would like to say about Red Cross, uh, I feel that I’ve been fighting a battle with Red Cross ever since I joined in 1944. Red Cross, uh, did a tremendous job over there. And, of course, you probably heard that people sold and bought cigarettes, Red Cross sold cigarettes and so forth and so forth. I will – can categorically say, I never, never sold a pack of cigarettes, but I gave hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them away. I gave away, um, toothpaste and toothbrushes and soap and candy bars and, uh, many, many, many things like that. Also, as I mentioned before, we loaned them, loaned the servicemen money. Uh, I – there’s one particular, uh, explanation, uh, I – a neighbor of mine said that her husband was with Patton’s army, and when they, their child was born, Red Cross did not get the message to her husband that their son was born. And I certainly told her that if the army couldn’t keep up with Patton, I certainly didn’t see how the Red Cross could. I think many people had a very, uh, strange concept that Red Cross had some way to get messages through that nobody else had and after all, we did use the military service wires. Interviewer: [I even 30:32] experienced the Red Cross getting a message through when Mother was dying. Of course, this was in 1949, but the only way we could get a message to my brother, who was up in, uh, pulling American supplies out of Shanghai. Katie Kerr: Mm-hm. Interviewer: And Red Cross got through to him for us. Katie Kerr: Yes. Interviewer: [throat clearing] Katie Kerr: Well, they, they used, they could use the Army, uh, Telex, uh, but they didn’t have any other method [laughter] such as a secret radio signal or something like that. And in signing off, I should sign off with my army – with my Red Cross number, which was 39343, which is the equivalent to the army, um, numbers that everybody learned but never, in all their life, forget. This is Katherine Kerr, Katherine Trimble Kerr, 39343, American Red Cross. Interviewer: Thank you, Katherine. /tl