In 1944, there was a lack of American Red Cross nurses because of World War Two. Many of the registered nurses had gone to help the soldiers by joining the Armed Forces. Volunteers were needed to help the remaining nurses at home. The girls who volunteered held regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. jobs during the day. Then they would volunteer at the local hospitals for a minimum of four hours per evening. Marjorie Sullivan, now Marjorie Gormley, my grandmother, was one of the dedicated volunteers.
Kathryn McCrae
After I had completed my training course and had my capping ceremony, just like the real nurses, I started working as a nurse's aide for three nights per week and also on Sundays. I gained a lot of experience and eventually, I was the first aide to go to the Waltham Regional Hospital, which was a hospital that took care of soldiers who had been injured in the war.
On Saturdays, a Jeep - they were very popular back then but they had no roofs - would come and pick me up at Harvard Square and take me to Waltham. I would work about five hours and then they would drive me back to Harvard Square. Then I would take a train home to South Boston. At the Waltham Hospital, we would get a white stripe on our uniforms to signify when we had 150 hours of service. You were very proud if you had a white stripe because everyone looked up to you and they knew you had experience and knew your way around. I had two white stripes. Our uniforms were absolutely adorable. Actually, I still have mine. They were a blue pinafore with white blouse, stockings and shoes, and a little white and blue cap.
I have many stories about working with the soldiers. One of them is about Al Capp. Al Capp was a famous cartoonist who one time came and visited the soldiers in the hospital. Around the hospital, I had the nickname, Miss Irish, with my last name being Sullivan. Al Capp drew a cartoon of me taking a sick soldier's temperature by his bedside and all around the bed were soldiers looking on at "Miss Irish." I was very proud of that picture. They even put it on the bulletin board.
At the hospital, we did much more than the nurse's aides of today do. When we had a white stripe, we were allowed to help out in the delivery room. When I got my stripe, I moved to the New England Hospital for Women and Children where I saw many births, some very beautiful, some very difficult. We were able to help with the babies in the nursery minutes after birth.
The experience I gained in the years I volunteered, from 1944 when I was 17 or 18, until 1948 when I was about 22, helped me get a job as a nurse's aide at three schools in the town where I raised my family. I hope that the world will never be in a situation like there was during the war, but it is important to know that without the volunteers, it would have been hard because of the shortage of nurses. I am very proud of what I did to help the war effort and I am glad that I did what I could.
Marjorie Gormley
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