G.I. NIGHTINGALE

by Theresa-1st Lt. A.N.C. Archard ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 25, 1945

Most of this is so good that it seems captious to take exception to the rather slow getting-under-way, the casual and somewhat amateurish style of the introductory part dealing with the early haphazard preparation of the Army nurses for overseas assignment, but this is a warning -- don't be put off by the poor start. Once Lt. Archard finds herself aboard ship, bound for the invasion of North Africa (and she was one of the Chief Nurses who went ashore with the first waves of the invasion), her story gathers momentum and the reader who can emerge at the close without feeling that we're slackers at home, and that our Army nurses are worthy of our boys -- and vice versa -- is indeed a hard-boiled citizen. Here are the early months of trial and error experimentation in front line and behind the line nursing; here are adventures in taking it without adequate food or clothes or equipment or shelter or the wherewithal to set up and operate even the most elementary of hospitals. And yet this crowd did it --performed the impossible. This is the record, told with humor and zest and a contagious desire to get results no matter what -- or where; in North Africa, Sicily, and points along the way. Two campaigns -- and no rest camp -- still going, though not so strong. It's all there -- shorn of glamor and poetry. The ""G.I. Nightingale"" is a good fighter.

Pub Date: April 25, 1945

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1945

Categories: NONFICTION