With her book, Fearless Presence, author Eleanor Stoddard captures the story of an Army nurse leader who served with distinction in World War II.
The memoir of Nola Forrest touches on aspects of the war not seen in such a sequence anywhere else — recruitment and mobilization nationwide, harsh desert training in the West, and overseas duty in the Pacific. This fearless leader took a group of nurses into Leyte under enemy attack and later led a successful mission to rescue sixty-seven Army nurses from a Japanese internment camp in Manila as fighting raged.
Eleanor Stoddard graduated from Vassar College in 1942. After wartime jobs with the government she spent almost forty years in news and advertising in the private sector combined with report writing for Federal agencies. She worked for Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report and the American Chemical Society. Upon retiring from the National Science Foundation in 1983, she started a self-generated project to capture the experiences of women who had served in or with the military in World War II.
For sixteen years she conducted oral history interviews with women in all branches of the armed services and the American Red Cross. The tapes and transcripts of her interviews are archived at California State University, Long Beach, and other repositories. She currently resides in Maryland.
This book is a memoir, an adventure story, a personal recollection and a unique record of the oft-forgotten Pacific war. An enterprising young woman decides to join the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) for the chance to travel and finds her career taking her from secure peacetime service to wartime duties that test the limits of her response to danger.
Nola Forrest has drawn on her memories in a series of oral history interviews in which she describes the scenes, personalities, and actions that contributed to her remarkable life. She was born at the beginning of the twentieth century, trained as a registered nurse, and served in Army hospitals at home and abroad during years of peace.
In 1941 she was ordered to Washington and everything changed. After Pearl Harbor she was promoted to head up nurse recruitment, then again to oversee the welfare of Army nurses in a harsh military training center, and finally to the rank of lieutenant colonel as director of thousands more in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA).
Against a broader account of the struggles, pain, and loss that led to Allied victories, the colonel tells of visiting Army hospitals up and down the coast of New Guinea, leading nurses from two field hospitals into Leyte under enemy attack and then conducting the successful rescue of sixty-seven Army nurses from a Japanese internment camp in Manila.
Ordered home in the grips of a mysterious illness, Nola Forrest spent many months in Army hospitals recovering from what turned out to be a severe reaction to DDT poisoning. She overcame this setback and managed to travel to almost every country in the world. She died in 1999 at the age of ninety-nine and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Historical Reference
World War II: A book that brings together aspects of the war in a sequence not seen anywhere else. It covers mobilization, public relations, military training, medical treatment systems, costly Pacific land campaigns, and stressful duty in the tropics through the memories of a leading Army nurse.
American History: A brief and accurate description of the steps by which the country entered the war, the course of famous battles, and the medical support systems that followed fighting men. The story of this Army nurse leader is enriched by a wealth of secondary sources that fill in the background of broader events.
Army Nurse Corps: A history of the rise of the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) from an ambiguous military status at its inception in 1901 to full professional rank at war’s end. After the first world war ANC members achieved relative officer rank, then temporary commissions in World War II, and permanent commissions after the war. Nola Forrest was one leader among others whose devotion to duty under fire helped the Corps achieve full military recognition.
Women’s History: A first-hand demonstration of one woman’s ability to take charge, manage staff, solve problems, and make critical decisions. Nola Forrest took her place among a series of Army nurse leaders whose stability and management skills, notably in times of danger, met those of male officers, predating the women’s movement by several decades. |
Testimonials
"I think anyone that has an interest in history would be interested in this book ... I would recommend 'Fearless Presence' to anyone and look forward to sharing it with family and friends."
— A.J. Cooper, reviewer for Reader Views
“The reader is provided with a compelling story … [which] can foster a sense of pride in the dedication and accomplishments of Army nurses … as a personal note, the reviewer highly recommends this inspirational book.”
— LTC Larry Moss, reviewer for The Connection
“I so much admire Fearless Presenc , both for its content and its technique … [a] meaningful addition to women’s history.”
— Dorothy Schneider, co-author, Into the Breach: American Women Overseas in World War I
“It is very important to our organization to have this bank of information to hold in trust for future generations.”
— Maj. Richard M. Prior, Army Nurse Corps Historian
- Paperback: 165 pages
- Publisher: American Literary Press; 1st edition (2007)
- Language: English
- Author: Eleanor Stoddard
- ISBN-10: 1561679461
- ISBN-13: 978-1561679461
- Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
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