PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Josephine Nesbit
Josephine Nesbit
Nickname(s)	Josie
Born	December 23, 1894; Butler, Missouri, US
Died	August 16, 1993 (aged 98)
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1918–1946
Rank	Major
Unit	United States Army Nurse Corps
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal

Josephine May Davis (née} Nesbit; December 23, 1894 – August 16, 1993) was an American nurse who served in the United States Army Nurse Corps.^[2] She was second-in-command of the Angels of Bataan, army nurses stationed in the Philippine Islands during World War II,^[2] who were the largest group of American women taken as prisoners of war.^[3] Nesbit was noted for her "humane, dynamic leadership style."^[2] She was credited with the survival of the nurses during the years they were held in captivity at Santo Tomas Internment Camp.^[3]^[4]

Early life and education

Nesbit was born on her family's farm near Butler, Missouri, on December 23, 1894.^[2] She was the seventh of ten children and experienced a difficult early childhood.^[4]^[5] As a child, she woke up before daylight to begin her chores and worked on the farm throughout the day.^[6] By the time Nesbit was 12 years old, both her parents had died, leaving her and her siblings orphaned.^[2]^[4]^[5]^[6] She first lived with her grandmother and later lived with a cousin in Kansas.^[2]^[4]

Nesbit left high school at age 16.^[4] After speaking with her sister's nursing superintendent, she chose to begin training as a nurse.^[2] Seeking "adventure and independence," Nesbit became a registered nurse in 1914.^[5]

Military career

In 1918, an army recruiter visited Kansas City seeking nurses to help with the influenza pandemic, leading Nesbit to join the United States Army Nurse Corps.^[2] She became Reserve Army Nurse N700 665 at Camp Logan Hospital in Houston, Texas, on October 1, 1918.^[2] Serving in the army reserve corps enabled Nesbit to travel and experience new adventures during peacetime.^[6] She was able to hike the Rockies, visit Hawaii, and travel to Egypt's Valley of the Kings.^[6]

World War II

Nesbit was on her second tour of duty in the Philippines when World War II began.^[5] Until the war began, being stationed in the Philippines had been considered a "desirable posting," as there was plenty of free time, mild weather, and "luxurious accommodations."^[5]

At Sternberg General Hospital in Manila, where she worked, Nesbit was a lieutenant and second in command to Captain Maude Davison, who was the chief nurse.^[4] She was responsible for the nurses' work schedules.^[4] While Davison was addressed as "Miss," Nesbit's staff referred to her as "Josie." Nesbit's Filipina colleagues referred to her as "Mama Josie."^[2]^[4] She referred to her staff as "my girls."^[2] Nesbit enjoyed socializing with her staff and was frequently consulted by them for advice on personal matters.^[2]

In December 1941, Japan attacked the Philippines.^[5] On December 8, Nesbit was the acting chief nurse at Stenberg General Hospital,^[1] as Davison had been injured in a night raid.^[7] Since about 3:30 a.m., information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had been reaching the nurses in Manila via radio; the American nurses stationed in the Philippines were concerned about their relatives and friends in Honolulu.^[1] Nesbit told the staff, "Girls, you've got to sleep today. You can't weep and wail over this because you have to work tonight."^[8] Less than nine hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese military bombed Baguio.^[1] Fifteen minutes later, Clark Field was attacked; most of the American B-17 bombers were destroyed on the ground in the surprise attack.^[1] Shortly thereafter, the hospital filled with patients.^[1]

General Hospital #2 in Bataan

The Army Nurse Corps were ordered to set up a hospital in the jungle, General Hospital #2,^[2] located along the Real River.^[6] Without a building, the frontline hospital served 6,000 patients and had 18 wards.^[5] Conditions were extremely rudimentary; patients lay on improvised cots and the jungle floor.^[5] Many nurses cared for the patients while sick with malarial fever themselves.^[5] Japanese soldiers were approaching and there was constant artillery fire.^[5] Nesbit helped maintain "morale and solidarity," insisting that "the women respond always as nurses, as army officers and as a united group."^[5] She took care of the nurses, commanding sick nurses to go to bed and locating shoes, clothing, and underwear for nurses who did not have them.^[2] She convinced military pilots who were flying to outer Philippine islands to return with shoes and underwear for the nurses.^[6] To provide privacy for the nurses, Nesbit located canvas field shelters issued by the military and used sheets of burlap to "section off a part of the jungle where the nurses slept."^[6]

Corregidor

Female prisoners of war at Santo Tomas Internment Camp

In April 1942, Japanese soldiers were less than two miles away.^[5] Nesbit was informed by Colonel James E. Gillepsie, the medical commander, that only American nurses were to evacuate.^[8] When told that the 26 Filipina nurses who had worked alongside the American nurses were to remain, she refused to leave unless all nurses were evacuated.^[5] Gillepsie telephoned the headquarters and received permission to evacuate the Filipina nurses as well.^[8] The nurses were then safely evacuated to Corregidor island in Manila Bay.^[1]^[2] There, nurses worked in harsh conditions in an underground hospital located in Malinta Tunnel.^[9]

On May 3, 1942, Nesbit and several other nurses were offered an opportunity to leave the island by evacuating on the last Allied submarine,^[2] the USS Spearfish.^[7] Along with Ann Mealor and Ann Wurts, she refused, volunteering to remain at the hospital^[10] as she felt that her skills as a nurse were needed there.^[2]

Santo Tomas Internment Camp

On May 6, 1942, Malinta Tunnel was captured by Japanese soldiers.^[2] The nurses were taken prisoners of war and taken to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila.^[9] Disease and starvation were rampant in the camp and many nurses fell ill.^[2] There, Nesbit and Maude Davison ran the camp hospital from August 1942 to February 1945.^[2] For the next two years, Davison and Nesbit maintained the nurses' morale by establishing routines despite their imprisonment and requiring the nurses to work four-hour shifts every day.^[9] If one of the nurses was too weak to complete her shift, Nesbit would often replace her personally.^[5] She took care of the nurses, finding pieces of cloth for underwear and tiny pieces of meat to provide them with extra protein.^[5]

In January 1945, Allied forces took over the Philippine Islands.^[9] All the 3,700 prisoners of war^[7] were liberated shortly thereafter, including the 77 nurses.^[9] All of the nurses had survived, despite the challenges they had experienced.^[9] Nesbit was credited with the survival of the nurses in captivity.^[3]^[4]

Later life

After liberation, Nesbit returned to the United States.^[2] She retired from the military on November 30, 1946, as a major with 28 years of service.^[2] In June 1949, Nesbit married William Davis, a soldier who had also been interned in the war.^[2] They lived a "quiet life" in California.^[2]

In her later life, Nesbit continued to advocate for the nurses, writing to the Veterans Administration when she felt that their needs were not being met.^[2] For 49 years, she sent cards and notes to every nurse who had served on her Philippine staff on Christmas and their birthdays.^[2] In 1992, a ceremony was held in Washington D.C. celebrating the Angels of Bataan; Nesbit, at age 97, was unable to attend due to poor health but wrote a note for the dinner program explaining to her former staff that her "heart and spirit remained young" and that both were "big enough to still embrace her girls."^[2]

Nesbit died on August 16, 1993.^[2] Her body was cremated and her ashes were scattered off the San Francisco coast.^[2]

Honors and awards

Legion of Merit^[2]
Bronze Star Medal^[2]
World War I Victory Medal^[2]
American Defense Service Medal^[2]
American Campaign Medal and American Theater Ribbon^[2]
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal^[2]
World War II Victory Medal^[2]
Distinguished Unit Badge, Presidential Unit Emblem with two Oak Leaf Clusters on Blue Ribbon^[2]
Philippine Defense Ribbon with one Bronze Service Star^[2]
Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Service Star^[2]
Philippine Independence Ribbon^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Manning, Michele. "U.S. Army War College – Strategic Studies Institute" (PDF).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an Bullough, Vern L. (2000). American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 3. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. pp. 215–218. ISBN 9780826111470.
^ ^a ^b ^c Carter, Chelsea J. (April 7, 1999). "Bataan Nurses' Adventure Turned to Terror and WW II Prison Camp". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Norman, Elizabeth (1999). We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan. Random House. ISBN 9780307799579.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Hanink, Elizabeth. "Josephine Nesbit and the WWII Angels of Bataan". Working Nurse. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Farrell, Mary Cronk (2014). Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific. Abrams. ISBN 9781613126370.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tomblin, Barbara Brooks (2003). "War Comes to the Pacific". G.I. Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corps in World War II. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 13–37. ISBN 9780813190792.
^ ^a ^b ^c Patrick, Bethanne Kelly. "Lt. Josephine Nesbit". www.military.com. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "The Angels of Bataan and Corregidor: 70 Years Later – History in the Headlines". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
^ "Philippine Defenders" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03.