1LT Eileen E. Paine Oral History

title:

1LT Eileen E. Paine Oral History

creator:

Paine, Eileen Ella (Bradley) (1922 May 5 -

subject:

Army Nurse Corps

description:

Eileen (Bradley) Paine was born on May 5, 1922 in Kearney, Nebraska. She graduated from nurses training in 1943. Along with a few of her classmates, she decided to join the Army Nurse Corps at the Kearney Air Base. She had a boyfriend in the Army at that time, her uncle had served in the Navy in World War I, and her parents didn't have any sons so, according to Eileen, they seemed proud of her when she joined. She enlisted in April 1944 and served during the remainder of World War II, until December 1945. She was ordered to report to Camp Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado for basic training, where they learned about gas masks and identifying planes, did calisthenics, and worked in a German POW camp hospital ward. A lot of the Germans could speak English and she found they were often homesick. She was then transferred to Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming in June 1944. She was assigned to the nursery part time, and part time with other patients. She then joined the 180th General Hospital outside Boston, Massachusetts for a few weeks and went overseas in October 1944, sailing on the USS West Point to England. After arriving in England, they boarded an English ship to cross the channel and landed on Omaha Beach in France. They then went by truck to Carentan, France and took over the tent hospital from the 50th General Hospital Group. They looked over nasopharyngeal patients: those who had the flu and the cold and who were generally sent back to the front lines once they were well. Towards the end of her time there, she also remembers taking care of some German soldiers who had trench foot. Eileen and her fellow nurses worked 12-hour shifts and lived 6 nurses to a tent. The tents had stoves and bunks, and they sometimes had issues with rats and mice. It was cold and wet while she was there. She took some trips in France and Switzerland during her time off. Her then-boyfriend (and future husband) was in anti-aircraft and had gone to England prior and stayed there for a year, going to France on D-Day just after the infantry. They met once in Paris, but mostly kept in touch via letters and phone calls. Later, after they decided to get married, she was able to spend some time with her husband when their respective commanding officers gave permission for them to travel. Since he was a Sergeant and she was a Lieutenant, she needed special permission to get married. They decided to get married and submitted their discharge papers, eventually marrying in a courtroom in Paris, France on VJ Day in August 1945. After Carentan, France, Eileen was moved to Frankfurt, Germany to work at Hitler’s Hospital, getting there a few days before VE Day to prepare the hospital for American POWs. Her unit was planning to head to Asia, but she received her discharge papers prior. She was discharged as a First Lieutenant in December 1945. She took some time to have her son and then took a job as a surgical nurse in Kearney, Nebraska. She was awarded two overseas service bars, EAME Theater Camp Medal, and a World War II Victory Medal. A partial transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Rosenkotter, Judy

date:

2003-11-06

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

718; 2004.718

source:

OHP

language:

English

relation:

197715

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944-1945

rights:

Unrestricted