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AIR MAIL
April 8, 1942
Letter #6
Dear Miss Madley, and the "ursing Staff of the Harvard Unit:
The last few months since the United States entered the war have been,
of course, very busy months. There are so many things I should have liked
to have talked to all of you about if I had been able to come to England
when I had arranged to come, that it seems a very poor substitute to be able
only to write to you.
In the recent months, our first and greatest concern has been in en-
rolling nurses for service with the Army and Navy. The demands for good
nurses seem limitless, but there are still undoubtedly many nurses whom we
have not reached.
I know that our having entered the war has made all of you feel that
you must be even more sure that you are serving-1 in the way in which you can
contribute the most. Every nurse in this country, too, is asking herself
that difficult question. The process of shifting from civilian to military
assignment and vice versa, of course, consumes time and means a temporary
loss of "nurse power." I hope you are going to feel that you have a great
opportunity to contribute through the work of the Unit. We look upon the
Unit as one of the great safeguards, not only to England, but to the United
States, and for civilians and soldiers alike, because if communicable diseases
were to break out you are there to take the necessary steps which would need
to be taken immediately, and by those who have made the preparation which you
have made. You are on the spot there, and on the watch. Your position is
very much like the nurses who are in the Naval Reserve Nurse Corps who are
impatient because they have not been called, and yet who are an invaluable
part of defense because they are immediately available for that service.
If you were to come to National Headquarters you would see many changes.
The lawn in many places is now banked with cinders to provide a parking place
for many more cars. The Eastern Area headquarters have been moved across the
river to Alexandria, to make more ro m for expansion of the national staff.
In fact, there is a new plan for the division of the Eastern Area territory
into two areas, with one office in Alexandria and one/in New York City. Our
nursing staff is a pearing in uniform as rapidly as the uniforms can be com-
pleted. The uniform is very much like yours. As riany of our staff will be
visiting in army camps and schools of nursing, the uniform will be a help-
ful identification. ur nursing staff at National Headquarters and in the
three areas which a year ago numbered 36 now numbers 81. We had our first
sta f meeting of National Headquarters and Eastern Area nursing staff, and
plan to live such a meeting once a month to be held in Alexandria and Wash-
ington alternately.
Perhaps you have seen in the American Journal 4 Nursing that Marion
Blissett has accepted an assignment in the Navy Nurse Corps, and Rachel
St. Pierre is teaching Red Cross Homo Nursing under the Red Cross in Tueson,
Arizona, Miss Lillian Pesnicak and Miss Victoria Pele are also teaching
Red Cross Home Nursing. How glad we all are to know that they are well
enough to be active again.
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"ocrText": "Full\nAIR MAIL\nApril 8, 1942\nLetter #6\nDear Miss Madley, and the \"ursing Staff of the Harvard Unit:\nThe last few months since the United States entered the war have been,\nof course, very busy months. There are so many things I should have liked\nto have talked to all of you about if I had been able to come to England\nwhen I had arranged to come, that it seems a very poor substitute to be able\nonly to write to you.\nIn the recent months, our first and greatest concern has been in en-\nrolling nurses for service with the Army and Navy. The demands for good\nnurses seem limitless, but there are still undoubtedly many nurses whom we\nhave not reached.\nI know that our having entered the war has made all of you feel that\nyou must be even more sure that you are serving-1 in the way in which you can\ncontribute the most. Every nurse in this country, too, is asking herself\nthat difficult question. The process of shifting from civilian to military\nassignment and vice versa, of course, consumes time and means a temporary\nloss of \"nurse power.\" I hope you are going to feel that you have a great\nopportunity to contribute through the work of the Unit. We look upon the\nUnit as one of the great safeguards, not only to England, but to the United\nStates, and for civilians and soldiers alike, because if communicable diseases\nwere to break out you are there to take the necessary steps which would need\nto be taken immediately, and by those who have made the preparation which you\nhave made. You are on the spot there, and on the watch. Your position is\nvery much like the nurses who are in the Naval Reserve Nurse Corps who are\nimpatient because they have not been called, and yet who are an invaluable\npart of defense because they are immediately available for that service.\nIf you were to come to National Headquarters you would see many changes.\nThe lawn in many places is now banked with cinders to provide a parking place\nfor many more cars. The Eastern Area headquarters have been moved across the\nriver to Alexandria, to make more ro m for expansion of the national staff.\nIn fact, there is a new plan for the division of the Eastern Area territory\ninto two areas, with one office in Alexandria and one/in New York City. Our\nnursing staff is a pearing in uniform as rapidly as the uniforms can be com-\npleted. The uniform is very much like yours. As riany of our staff will be\nvisiting in army camps and schools of nursing, the uniform will be a help-\nful identification. ur nursing staff at National Headquarters and in the\nthree areas which a year ago numbered 36 now numbers 81. We had our first\nsta f meeting of National Headquarters and Eastern Area nursing staff, and\nplan to live such a meeting once a month to be held in Alexandria and Wash-\nington alternately.\nPerhaps you have seen in the American Journal 4 Nursing that Marion\nBlissett has accepted an assignment in the Navy Nurse Corps, and Rachel\nSt. Pierre is teaching Red Cross Homo Nursing under the Red Cross in Tueson,\nArizona, Miss Lillian Pesnicak and Miss Victoria Pele are also teaching\nRed Cross Home Nursing. How glad we all are to know that they are well\nenough to be active again."
}