Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific

All through our history books, most of the movies there wasn't much information about the nurses and their treatment by the Japanese.This book, and apparently a couple others, answered a lot questions. Well worth reading.

Well written stories about people we need to remember and honor.

I was in the US Women's Army Corps from 1964-67. I was an Advanced Medical Specialist (= to LVN/LPN). My last duty station was at Ft. Hood Darnell Army Hospital in Killeen, Tx. One of the nurses featured in this book was Major Hattie R. Brantley ( a 2nd Lt. at the time of her interment), was my Head Nurse. We stayed in touch from 1967-2003 and I did not learn about her ordeal until I visited her in her home in the east Tx town of Jefferson in the 1980's when she told me the horrific story of their 3 year ordeal. (She also tried to recruit me to go to work in their small hospital as I became an RN after I got out of the Army.) The author captured her (Major B's) personality so well in this book as she was a stalwart, no nonsense kind of person who was also a fantastic nurse who mentored and taught me so much. Over the years we exchanged many letters and cards and she was so proud that they finally got recognition by President Reagan at a White House dinner. She remained very active in the retired ANC and was also very proud of being involved in the commission of the Nurse's Memorial in the VN Wall park and the memorial in the Phillipines. I highly recommend this well written book and hope it is a story that will never be repeated. RIP "Major B" and all of the other Angels.

This is a valuable, well written, and little known tale of courage and "pure grit" on the part of Army nurses imprisoned in the Philippines during WW2. My mother, a teen prisoner at Santo Tomas herself, raved about the work ethic and commitment of the nurses, who pulled 8 hour shifts when others were doing only two hours. Well told for young adults, but there are inaccuracies of key dates, and these are in prominent places. (The reason I gave four instead of five stars.) Page 68 of Chapter 11 the Header ("Surrender to the Enemy, May 6, 1941") indicates that Corregidor fell in May1941 (but the war had not yet begun yet in May 1941) and again, a chapter header on p. 73, indicates nurses being taken to Santo Tomas Camp on July 3, 1941 (war didn't start till Dec 41). Both of these should be 1942, but the slip doesn't negate the value of the book.

This is an amazing read! I am a former Navy nurse and had never heard of these stories. I have recommended it to all my military nurse friends but it is good read for anyone interested in that period of history!

In this day of abundance, peace and freedom in the US, we forget about the hardships of war. This book graphically describes what it's like to be a prisoner of war, in a camp with civilians and a few medical personnel. It's heartbreaking to read about trying to take care of wounded troops (before being captured) with no supplies and incoming wounded flooding the field hospitals.But the one thing I remember the most about the book is when the author mentions what hunger does to you. It stuck with me...the madness that comes from having no food. What it's like to eat every bush, tree and insect that one could find just to get some nutrition and stop the starvation from killing you...makes you grateful to be living as we are now.Read this book...it's a terrific story and one that will keep you thinking for a long time.

This book is a powerful tale of amazing women who provided care to prisoners in Japanese POW camps after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor. From the attack on Pearl Harbor until the end of the war in the Pacific, over a hundred Army and Navy nurses survived and continued to serve others, despite their own diseases and malnutrition. The book is full of excellent photos and shines a light on an episode of the war, spanning four years, that is largely unremarked by and unknown to most Americans. As a retired Army nurse, I recommend the book to all those intrigued by the place of women in our country's wars.

This is the second book I have read about the POW Nurses of the P. I. My heart goes out to all these gallant women and their families. I try to read all the books I can find on military nurse's because of the respect I have for them. God smiled on those who serve.