10/17/2023 0 Comments Beyond the call of duty: army flight nursing in world war ii. by judith barger![]() Due to inclement conditions, the plane crashed on the wrong side of the Adriatic Sea in German-occupied Al-bania. Air-lifting was in its infancy with personnel traveling on transport planes that converted into ambulances on return flights. In November 1943 a US transport plane with 30 medics, plus 12 nurses from the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, got lost en route to Bari from Sicily. National Geographic staff writer Lineberry divulges a 70-year old WWII secret that ends happily. Their secret was kept until the fall of communism in Albania in 1990, when their story of courage and endurance could finally be revealed.-Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Lineberry draws on interviews, diaries, and archival material to recount an amazing WWII survival-and-rescue story that had remained untold by the military and the survivors themselves, who were fearful of the cost to those who helped them. Three nurses who'd been separated from the group were also eventually rescued after spending 135 harrowing days in Albania. With the help of villagers, Albanian resisters, and British officers, 27 of the survivors trekked more than 600 miles for 62 days before they were rescued. The 13 female nurses and 17 men who survived the crash were faced with ensuring their own survival in hostile territory, brutal weather, and mountainous terrain, under the constant threat of Nazi capture. They were part of a new army program to transport sick and wounded soldiers to hospitals near the front lines in Italy. In 1943, the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron crash-landed during a storm in Nazi-occupied Albania.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |