“You will be rewarded for your efforts”

 

I laughed at this fortune-cookie fortune even as I taped it onto the base of my computer where it taunted me as I wrote. Up to that time, rewards for my writing had been scarce and it didn’t appear that anything would be coming in anytime soon.

 

            Several years before, I had started a novel loosely based on an aunt who was a nurse in a veterans hospital. (Although much of her life had been sad, I suspected that she held secret a heart full of many romantic memories.) I decided that my character would join the Army Nurse Corps when the United States entered World War II then realized I knew nothing about these women. My local library had only War Nurses by Shaaron Cosner (1988)—a book for young adult readers with some good photos but little information. When I realized that there was no information anywhere, I decided to correct the situation, so I set aside the novel and began an earnest search for what I needed to tell the world about these marvelous women. In the process, I met many generous people who directed me to good information. Best of all, I met some wonderful women and their families. Some sent me essays they had written, photographs of their wartime experiences, and even memoirs. I finally had to ask one of them, "Why do you trust me with such valuable items and personal information?" The woman’s answer: "We just assumed that you weren’t going to say anything bad about us." Wow. My admiration for these women grew, and I soon began calling them "My Nurses." They didn’t have to go to war. They went for many reasons but they went on their own accord, yet they thanked me for writing their stories, for getting them on paper for posterity.

 

            By the time They Called Them Angels was published in 2000, many other books about World War II women were on the market, most written by generals, former nurses, or other authorities. Although my book received little publicity, it received good reviews. The nurses were thrilled with it because they knew I wrote it with love. They knew I tried to include as many of them as I could. They knew that I purposely omitted negative stories because I wanted to honor them. I want these women to be remembered for the lives they saved and the advances they made for women. The war changed some for the better and some for the worse, but most had no regrets.

 

To answer the question, "was I rewarded?" please check out the "News & Events" page on this website.  I've been rewarded a thousand times over.