1LT Malinda Elizabeth Frank Oral History

title:

1LT Malinda Elizabeth Frank Oral History

creator:

Frank, Malinda E. (Loewen) (1919 September 12 - )

subject:

Army Nurse Corps

description:

Malinda E. Frank (formerly Loewen) was born on September 12, 1919 in Kansas and grew up with her parents, two sisters, and two brothers. She went to high school in the nearby Hillsborough, staying with her grandparents during the week and her parents over the weekend. She felt women could only pursue teaching or nursing after high school, so she worked to become a nurse despite protest from her parents. She attended Tabor College for two years, then went to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas for nurses training. Pearl Harbor was attacked during her last month in the program, and when the Red Cross put out a recruitment call for nurses, Frank signed up. She completed the last month of her nursing program before being sent to the station hospital at Camp Philips in Salina, Kansas in 1942. From there, she was sent in a group of around twenty nurses to join the 187th General Hospital in Longview, Texas and to go through a week or so of training to prepare to be sent overseas. They shipped out from Fort Dix, New Jersey and landed in Blackpool, England before being sent by train down to their hospital near Salisbury, England. The hospital was one of eight set up in anticipation of D-Day injuries, and their hospital had been designated to primarily work with amputees. As troops moved further into Europe towards Germany the hospital became less busy, so she was sent on detached service to a hospital in Tidworth. There, she worked with and on German prisoners of war who were being held there. She remembers feeling alienated by men she worked with, and that it was common that if a surgeon asked you to a dance and you said no, you wouldn’t be in his operating room anymore. She didn’t think it was fair, but they could easily understand the situation. She met her husband while still serving stateside, and although at first she wanted to wait a little longer, they agreed to marry before he was sent overseas. After V-E Day, Frank was pregnant, so she was slated to come back to the United States rather than going to continental Europe or the Pacific. When she returned, her parents were incredibly proud of her service. She initially returned to Kansas, and when her son was born and husband returned, they moved to New Jersey. She was discharged in 1945, having reached the rank of 1st lieutenant. For her service, Frank was awarded an American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Frank, Lizzy

date:

2011-10-06

type:

Audio

format:

CD

identifier:

1132; 2011.1132

source:

Connelly School of the Holy Child | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

639312

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1942-45

rights:

Unrestricted