Greencastle native recalls her time as a WWII nurse

Monday, June 24, 2013
Greencastle native Helen Hurst spent two-and-a-half years working in hospitals taking care of both American and German soldiers, eventually earning the rank of first lieutenant.

Sixty-eight years have passed since the end of World War II. It's been 66 since 95-year-old veteran Helen Hurst returned to the United States after serving as nurse.

Sitting in the VFW hall in Greencastle seemed an appropriate spot to talk to Hurst, a Greencastle native, who started out her long career in nursing by going into the American Red Cross nurses training program with 10 other women.

After graduating from nurses training, Hurst went on to work at Putnam County Hospital and later at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. It wasn't very long until she got the call that her services were needed.

"That's when Uncle Sam started calling me saying, 'We need ya,'" said Hurst. "It took quite a while before they decided to have me come in the service."

At the time, Hurst only volunteered to go for a year with the Army Nurse Corps. To enlist one could not be married or have any children.

"War was being declared," explained Hurst. "I was strong, young and healthy. So, I said 'What was to keep me from going?' So I went. My folks didn't know what to think when I signed up to go."

When the orders finally came, Hurst had to report to Fort Benjamin Harrison, which was located in Lawrence, to be processed.

After being processed, Hurst spent some time in Florida at both Camp Blanding and Hendricks Field before going overseas. It was on March 30, 1942 that she sailed with several hundred nurses and troops to North Africa on a ship called the Orizaba.

"I had never been on a big boat like that," Hurst emphasized. "We didn't know where we were going, but eventually we recognized the Strait of Gibraltar."

"It gives you a funny feeling when that boat blows its whistle and you know you're gone. You can't swim home. You can't go back, nothing."

It took over a week to arrive in North Africa. During the trip, Germans constantly dropped bombs in the sea.

Hurst started her journey as a World War II nurse overseas when she left for war aboard a ship called the Orizaba on March 30, 1942 and landed in North Africa after the fall of Nazi Gen. Erwin Rommel.

"(When we got there) they were not prepared for us," said Hurst. "They were diddy-dattling around just like in Washington."

When they arrived everyone slept under the stars on the sand and rocks. A small amount of clothing and shoes were handed out. Hurst had ended up with a pair of men's shoes, size 12, that she was forced to wear for several days before obtaining the proper size, a women's size eight.

During her time, Hurst supervised hospitals in both Tunis, North Africa and Iran before ending up in Italy. She played a pivotal role in setting up several hospitals, an experience which she described as intense due to never knowing what could happen next.

"We slept on the ground every night," explained Hurst. "We were afraid of the German's strafing every night. That was right after (Nazi Gen. Erwin) Rommel fell. There was a lot of destruction."

Hurst gathered her thoughts while looking through old photographs and journals. She began again by saying that during her time overseas, she along with all nurses did just like the men did, which was a major adjustment from life in the United States.

Daily, troops were provided with a helmet and water, which was used for both drinking as well as washing clothing. It was also important that everyone take his or her atterbin pills to help prevent malaria. There was always a constant fear of contracting a disease.

"You washed your clothes in a helmet," said Hurst. "You made it go around so you had a little rinse water to rinse them out. In my helmet I carried toilet paper and a toothbrush. That's all you had to keep clean with."

Being a woman in the army at that time was not an easy thing, especially with so many young men around. Women in the armed forces had no privacy -- open bathrooms, showers and tents.

"Every time you turned around there was a G.I. peeping in trying to see what he could see," Hurst revealed. "He hadn't been out in the world. He didn't know what people looked like without clothes on. You had no privacy."

Hurst noted that there was little privacy during war time, which is shown with Hurst sitting outside of one of the open latrines.

Following the fall of Nazi General Rommel, the Army was finding more and more concentration camps where American soldiers had been starved to death.

"We had to clean them up," said Hurst. "They had impetigo (a highly contagious skin infection that results in sores and blisters)."

As she reflected silently, tearing up at times about the concentration camps that she had come across during her time there, she revealed that she had a collection of photographs she had taken. Those photos she refused to show to her two daughters until they were grown and with good reason.

The people in those piles of photographs were all just skin and bones.

After being overseas for a while, Hurst had wanted to join the Air Vac team, which helped bring the wounded to the hospitals. However, she was not eligible.

Hurst's best friend Wilma did go on to become an Air Vac nurse. However, she and the pilot got lost in Albania for nearly six months before they returned.

"When I finally got the chance to talk to her, she said to me that they were told to pretend to be sick," Hurst recalled. "Their faces were covered up and they couldn't speak the language, that's how they got through the barricades."

Hurst also went on to tell the tale of another nurse from Alabama that she had the opportunity to get to know, this nurse however wasn't as lucky as Wilma.

Not being able to recall her name, Hurst went on to explain that this nurse went on to get married after falling in love overseas.

"Well they couldn't stay together, that was a no-no anyway," explained Hurst. "The Alabama nurse went on rest leave to the island of Capri. On the way over, the plane she was on was bombarded and she went down in the Mediterranean Sea. We didn't find her till about two weeks later when her body washed up."

Hurst is the oldest member of the Greencastle VFW. During her time at Hendricks Field both soldiers and nurses were given "Hi-Life," an army magazine full of sports, humor, art and more.

In the midst of a war, there was no time for a funeral. However, Hurst along with several other nurses put the body in a mattress cover and gave her a small burial during the dark of the night.

"Now, that's a strange feeling. You can't do anything about it," said Hurst. "Later on, we all had to donate money to take care of her grave and her stone in Alabama. You never know what took place after you moved on to another place. However, the Germans were still dropping bombs every night."

After spending a large amount of time in Tunis, Hurst was then sent to Calgary, Sardinia, where she helped set up various other hospitals. Many of her shifts were nearly 16-18 hours a day.

"We didn't have all of the conveniences we have now," Hurst said. "We rescued five Germans in Calgary. They were so infected with impetigo, sores and bugs. We took them out and spread sheets on the grass and washed them. It was so sad, that's how bad off they were."

As Hurst began to end the interview, she took a long pause as she recalled something that still bothers her to this day.

With a table full of people surrounding her, listening to her every word, she asked us, "If you had a German soldier who was dying of cancer, would you grant him his last request?" Everyone nodded his or her heads in unison to say yes.

"He was a German, dying of cancer. All he asked for was a Hershey bar. We wouldn't give it to him," said Hurst, still questioning the outcome. "We had a meeting of the powers that be and said no. We didn't know how mean he had been to our people. We needed to treat him likewise. That still bothers me to this day."

Hurst returned home to the United States in 1947 after spending two Christmases overseas. Although, she had 94 points, which was enough for her to come home, she recalled that they didn't know what to do with her. So she was forced to travel to the northern part of Italy and worked at a stockade before being stationed in Naples, where she was eventually sent home.

"When I came home I couldn't get enough of salad, fruits, vegetables and vitamins," said Hurst. "It was an adjustment. We're a class of our own. Unless you've been there, you don't' know what I'm talking about. It was an experience that made you grow up fast."

As the years have gone by, Hurst noted that she kept in touch with a lot of the friends she had made during the war. As she looked at some of the photos she had taken, she ended by noting that she's the only one left.

It was apparent that in just the short time of the interview half of her stories had not been told. The feisty 95-year-old veteran though gave a brief glimpse of some of the things she went through and that is an honor in itself.

"I wasn't there to be a captain or a general, other than being a general nuisance," Hurst laughed. "I was only going for a year, but it ended up almost five years before I got home. The war was prolonged and they needed help."

She left the table saying this would be the last interview she'd ever do.

Hurst not only has a tree along Veterans Highway to honor her, the first lieutenant has also been honored in the Library of Congress, where there is a picture of her hanging on the wall.

Hurst is also the oldest Greencastle VFW member. In order to become a member of the VFW one has to have been in a combat zone and receive enemy fire.

Before ending the interview, Hurst pointed out that she thought every child should have to serve in the military at least a year, even after everything she had been through in the military, which has changed her life in so many ways.

"It's a place where they learn discipline," said Hurst. "Kids these days just don't know how to work."

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  • I hope Helen is writing a book of her war memories. One terrific lady who I am very proud to say I know quite well.

    -- Posted by Nit on Mon, Jun 24, 2013, at 7:47 AM
  • A very remarkable lady! I, too, hope that she is writing a book...I will be first in line!

    -- Posted by chicki1112 on Mon, Jun 24, 2013, at 9:45 AM
  • Such a happy and lively woman. I got the pleasure of meeting her when she was doing rehab at Mill Pond and my great-grandma and her were roommates. She was really funny and a great person to talk to.

    -- Posted by jminglert2 on Mon, Jun 24, 2013, at 11:04 AM
  • This made a very stressful day and week seem relatively insignificant. Thanks for taking the time to talk to my grandma and share this. I sometimes forget how lucky I have been to have known her all my life.

    -- Posted by lhenry on Mon, Jun 24, 2013, at 8:18 PM
  • I need more of these stories to remind me the capacity of greatness exists in ordinary people.

    If we whipped the media of all reference to the Lindsey Lohans and Lady Gagas and filled it with stories of people like Helen, our country would be a much richer place.

    And Helen is right... every kid should have to serve a year either in the military or in concentrated public service.

    -- Posted by conffool on Tue, Jun 25, 2013, at 1:20 AM
  • What an amazing life she has lived. I would love to sit with her and listen to her stories! God Bless her for serving her country!!!!

    -- Posted by clgruener on Tue, Jun 25, 2013, at 4:01 PM
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