95-year-old Cadet Nurse Corps member recalls her service during WWII
MACON, Mo. — 95-year-old Edith Harrington, of Macon, Missouri, grew up during the depression, went to college during WWII, and was a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps.
She’s a member of a small group of women who some say deserve to be recognized.
Edith of was first sworn in as a nurse nearly 80 years ago, and says while she isn’t officially a nurse, she still feels like one.
“I’m still a nurse,” she said. “I have some of my friends call and ask me all the time, what should I do for this or that, so you never get out of it.”
She still has her uniform from when she was in the Cadet Nurse Corp during WWII.
The pictures from back then are a reminder of a very different time in America.
“Shampoo was hard to get back then during the war, and toothpaste,” Harrington recalled. “You had to be pretty careful with it.”
Harrington joined the Cadet Nurse Corps the first year it was available.
“We got 30 dollars a month, and I was working my way through college and through nursing,” she explained.
The last six months of the program, the new nurses helped out wherever the army needed it.
Edith recalled having to sleep in barracks when she was fulfilling her orders to work in an army hospital in Kansas.
Once the war was over, she married and moved to Unionville, Missouri, working in the hospital there. She recalled being the only RN in the hospital, helping two doctors with surgery and anything else that was needed.
She then moved to Macon with her husband, where she taught basic nursing and health occupation for 17 years when the vocation building was built.
“They always thought [high school] seniors were pretty rough, but they always said, ‘Mrs. Harrington has eyes in the back of her head,’ so I got along fine with them,” Edith recalled.
Those who know the women who served in the US Cadet Nurse Corps say they deserve to be recognized, and should have military benefits.
“When I retired, I went over here to the courthouse and asked some service man over there and he looked it up in the book and said no we didn’t quality, and I didn’t think we did anyway,” Harrington said.
“I’m a firm believer in the ladies who came out and selflessly volunteered to be a part of the US Cadet Nurse Corp,” said Roger Marsh, who is working to get recognition and benefits for members or the corps. “Our country was in dire need of nurses because so many of them were being sent overseas to take care of the soldiers and stuff so the hospitals here needed to have nurses to care for the soldiers coming back plus the civilians that were still here.”
Many of the women, who joined at age 18, are now over 90-years-old.
“I think our country owes them the recognition, and maybe just a few small benefits, to say thank you for a job well done,” said Marsh.
Two bills were introduced in Washington this month – in the house and senate addressing this very issue.
Roger Marsh supplied the following press release to KTVO:
As a concerned citizen I am seeking the involvement of all US Citizens in contacting their US Congressman or US Senator about supporting legislation to provide limited veterans benefit to the qualified members who served in the US Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II.
Please call your current US Representative and ask them to support H.R. 7258. The general switchboard of your elected US House member is: 202 224 3121. Call this phone number and the operator can route you to your Representative. You can also go to www.house.gov on your computer to find and email your Representative.
Call the general switchboard of your US Senator at: 202 224 3121 and have the operator route your call to your Senator and ask them to support the Senate version of this Bill S. 3729. You can also contact your Senator at www.senate.gov to leave an email seeking their support for this Bill.
Missouri US Senator-elect Josh Hawley does not have contact info yet. When he is sworn in on 3 Jan 2019 he will be provided with a mailing address, website info and phone numbers for his office.
Call Missouri US Senator Roy Blunt; PH 202 224 5721 or at one of his regional offices in Missouri. Go to: www.blunt.senate.gov then complete the contact form with your comments requesting he support S.3729.
Call Missouri US Representative Sam Graves; PH 202 225 7041 or his regional office in Missouri. Go to: https://graves.house.gov then complete the contact form with your comments requesting he support H.R. 7258.
This is a copy of the US Senate version of the Bill. Their ID Number is S. 3729, offered on 6 Dec 2018
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s3729/text
This is a copy of the US House version of the Bill. Their ID Number is H.R. 7258, offered on 11 Dec 2018
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr7258/text
