Drafted

1/25/2001

I was drafted during WWII. So were some other girls in my junior class. No, we didn't serve in the armed forces, but we did, in a small way, contribute to the war effort.

The little hospital in Cut Bank suffered at that time, as all such institutions did, from a shortage of help as the nurses volunteered for duty and many aides found other more lucrative employment elsewhere. Then someone got the bright idea that high school girls could do many of the menial duties at the hospital. We were hurriedly given a very basic class in first aid, which we remember as just being instruction in bandaging each other from head to toe--something we never did again--and we were declared members of a Senior Girl Scout troop. What being a member of the Girl Scouts had to do with all this we don't know, but that is what we were designated, and so, every afternoon after school, some of us went to the hospital and went to work.

Last night I discussed those times with Vivian Lozing Harrison, June Moore Anderson and Shirley Johnson Murty. We are sure that Wilma Davis Fitzner was also part of the group, and we think Laura Lewis O'Neil may have been too. Since we all worked on different days, there may be one or two others that we missed.

The hospital in Cut Bank at that time was a large old house that had been converted to be used for medical purposes and was run by Myrtle McAfee. We remember only four nurses, though there may have been more, but Joan Minnette, Sally Lewis, Jean Sheffield and Miss Lett were the only ones that came to mind. Several of those left for the service too during this time. The doctors were also in short supply. Cut Bank had Dr. Neraal, who had arrived in Cut Bank in 1913, Dr. Olsen who came in 1934, a Dr. Spaatz who was there for only a year or so while waiting to go into the service and another older man who was also there for only a short time. Dr. Whetstone had opened an office briefly in 1941 but spent several years at the Mayo Clinic, returning near the end of the war.

One little sidelight. Jean Sheffield in later life became the first woman sheriff of Glacier County--possibly the first female sheriff of the entire state. Women's lib started early in the west.

Myrtle McAfee not only managed the hospital but she, with the help of Mrs. Jahke, also did the cooking. No wonder she needed help. One of our jobs in the kitchen was dishing up the meals which consisted of only regular and soft diets and then delivering them to the patients. The second floor had the mothers and babies and other women patients. The ground floor had a large men's ward and several other rooms plus the operating room. The trays with their metal covers to keep the meals warm were placed in a dumb waiter and we then pulled the rope that lifted it to the other floors. The kitchen was in the basement.

We scurried around like little beavers delivering the trays. Unlike the present day when it is not only accepted but suggested that family members be with patients as much as possible, there were strict visiting hours, but I think new fathers had special dispensation for I remember they were usually around. No wonder! My sister was in the hospital for 13 days with her first baby, and both of them were perfectly healthy. Apparently it was not general knowledge that extended bed rest was not necessary and was even deletory to a mother's health.

We also had some other duties that were not so desirable, such as delivering and emptying bed pans. We even helped patients with their baths. When our daughter, Candace, was a Candy Striper, she wrote for the hospital paper and never saw a patient. Spoiled kid!

Obviously we didnÕt have time to waste, but if we had any extra, it was spent tearing old sheets into long strips and rolling bandages under Mrs. McAfee's watchful eye. Frankly, the patients didn't seem too interesting to us except for the occasional teenager who was hospitalized for some reason. June Moore ended up having an emergency appendectomy one night at 10:00 PM. Dr. Olson had been playing cards at the Elks Club, but he made a quick trip down the street to operate. Wonder if he went back to the card game. Dallas Novak spent time there, as did Pat Minnette.

During Pat's sojourn we had a little baby who needed extra attention, and his sister had discovered he would be quiet if held, so she elected Pat to act as his caretaker. If the baby cried he would be delivered to Pat to soothe. I still remember going into his room and seeing him holding the baby on his shoulder with one hand and a textbook that he was reading with the other.

The men's ward was really more of a nursing home than a hospital. Maybe because I was accustomed to hired men, I enjoyed them, and on the whole they were not too much trouble, but June ended up having to scrub one man's false teeth for him. He would have them in a little pan waiting for her, and she found that task far from fun. I'm grateful that job never fell to me.

I think many of them were lonely and appreciated any attention. One man told me one day that he wanted to show me a picture of his best girl. When I looked at the picture, I found it was a mirror and I was looking at myself. A sweet gesture that brings tears to my eyes a half a century later. Another one needed a teaspoonful of soda in a glass of water every evening after his meal. I finally just brought it to him automatically. I suppose I could be accused of administering medication without a license, but everyone was too busy to worry about that.

We had our funny moments too. Vivian came in late one winter evening and dashed to the room where we left our coats. It had a table in it and she flung her coat onto it. Only then did her eyes become accustomed to the dim light. She had flung her coat on a body that was covered by a sheet waiting for the undertaker.

We didn't get any medals and we didnÕt get any pay, but we learned a lot about life and death, and it was an experience that certainly helped prepare us for our future lives. However, none of us developed any desire to become a nurse or a doctor.