Thank You, Uncle Sam: Letters of a World War II Army Nurse From North Africa and Italy

Abstract

Eugenia Kielar graduated from Temple University Hospital School of Nursing in 1942. Like so many other health care workers caught up in the patriotism of the war effort, she enlisted in 1943. This book is a collection of letters written to her parents during her two years of active duty. Through her chatty correspondence the reader becomes involved in the daily activities of those dedicated professionals who cared for the wounded in the less than ideal environments of war-torn North Africa and Italy. Entire hospital staffs were organized stateside and transported to areas close to the battlefields. Hospitals were often crude tent structures or were set up in abandoned buildings. Leaking tents, dirt floors, inadequate heating, and outside toilets added elements of adventure as well as frustration. Field hospitals and clearing stations were closer to the action and even more primitive. For history buffs or those who lived during World