Veterans History Project: Lt. M. Winifred Johnston Nichols

In 1937 Winifred Johnston graduated from Beth El School of Nursing in Colorado Springs, Colo. The head of the school at that time insisted that the graduates give back to their country by registering with the Red Cross so that when emergencies happened, they could be available to help the sick and/or wounded. All the class graduates signed up. Winifred went about her career. In early 1942, while in San Antonio, Texas, at Nix Hospital, she received a letter from the Armed Services. The letter advised her that since she was a nurse and was registered with the Red Cross, her services were needed. She had the choice of joining the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Army. She returned their letter, opting for the Navy.

She reported to Corpus Christi, Texas, for a physical and passed the exam. She returned to San Antonio to work and eventually transferred to a hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. In the spring of 1942 she knew she would be entering military service. She was notified by the Navy that they needed her to report to Mare Island Naval Station (25 miles northeast of San Francisco, Calif.) and that they would provide her funds for the train ticket to get there. When she arrived, the Naval Base was full of activity because of information of enemy submarines having been seen just off the West Coast and the tethering of huge balloons. (The wires supporting the balloons could ensnare enemy fighter planes should they attack the mainland.)

 At Mare Island, she provided nursing/medical care for injured soldiers – some came from Pearl Harbor, others from different theaters of operations, and many walking wounded people. Some were patients with issues involving mental health, some were being held in the brig for criminal activity, others, just not ready to go back to the service or back onto the streets. She was at Mare Island for not only nursing duty but to receive training to be an officer in the Navy. At that time, the pay was $75 per month. In addition, she taught classes to sailors on how to become a corpsman for wartime actions. The classes were about being a nurse and doing nursing duties.

Her next assignment was to the Oceanside, California, area, also known as Camp Pendleton. This is now the renown USMC base of California. While there, she and others helped establish the new hospital on the base. The hospital filled up fairly quickly with Marines and their dependents. Soon, she was sent to San Francisco for further training for deployment. The Navy wanted the nurses to be prepared to sail. They went through physical training, swimming classes and had to jump from a 60-foot tower into water. This was actually quite a dangerous requirement. The nurses had to wear a floatation vest. On jumping, they had to cross their arms over their chests to keep the vest from sliding upwards – if not, the jumper could break her or his neck. The 60-foot part is about the level of a ship deck off the water. Hopefully, if they completed that, not much more would be asked of them! Also, they were given a wooden foot locker to pack the clothing they would need for two years. Nurse’s uniforms, their dress blues, their dress whites, shoes, caps, etc., were the bare necessities and all neatly placed and stowed.

 The ship was ordered (the USS Monticello, a purchased passenger ship) and boarded with 10,000 Marines, their equipment, and the sailors needed to sail the ship. The ship sailed 17 days before landing. The long sailing time was accounted for by the ship taking a zig-zag tack to avoid any submarine attacks. Their situation was advised as “destination unknown.” There were about 150 nurses on the ship. They were treated like royalty. Finally they arrived at New Caledonia. This is an island north and east of Australia.

 After a couple of days rest on land, it was time to transfer from the big troop carrier ship to a smaller Navy vessel that would take the nurses to Guadalcanal, a nearby island, part of the Solomon Islands. In moving from one ship to another – ships much different in size, a rope ladder was used. Very tricky … both ships were moving at their moorings, bobbing, so to speak. Carefully, they made the transfer, one-by-one, all amateurs, all scared as could be. On the next ship, they stowed their footlockers and sailed away.

 At the U.S. military facility on Guadalcanal, the hospital was established and was a good-sized building. Winifred and another nurse shared a small room. To dress up the room, Winifred used mosquito netting for curtains and bedspreads. Their foot lockers were the chests of drawers. The work involved performing nursing duty on Marines, sailors, soldiers and dependents on the base. The hospital did eye surgery, brain surgery, and emergency care. There was a lot of rain there and steamy heat. If the nurses were off duty, they could have some liberty time between 4 and 8 p.m. This time was used to occasionally socialize with the Marines.

 Guadalcanal was very close to the equator. After a year of dealing with the heat and humidity, the Navy moved Winifred and other nurses to New Caledonia, where the climate was somewhat more agreeable.

 In May 1945, victory in Europe was declared. The nurses in New Caledonia were made aware that they had six weeks to prepare to re-deploy. They had more leisure time for sunbathing, social activities, and could think about what life in the U.S, would be like. At one time, they had a chance to go to a major city on New Caledonia. They wanted to get something different to eat that was different than Vienna sausages. They had been rationed the sausages twice a day every day since being there. Winifred went to a bakery on the island and was shocked to see local workers working the bread dough with their feet. She bought it and some good sardines and took them to the base to eat it with her colleagues. This playtime made her feel guilty compared to what she had been doing with her time. Fortunately, she had a brother on Guadalcanal and she met with him a couple of times.

 There were areas of occupational therapy at the hospital. The USO did pay them a visit at Guadalcanal. There was no time to take leave. Winifred sang a sweet short song about General MacArthur during the interview. She kept in touch with home by writing letters.

 The blessed day arrived when Winifred could be sent back to the United States. The ship, USS Polk, carried them. She arrived at San Francisco where her end-of-service orders were cut. She was to end her service at the Great Lakes Naval Station. She traveled there by way of a very crowded train, having to sit on her luggage.

 She left the service and went to her family’s home on a ranch in Cherry County, Neb. She used the Montgomery G.I. Bill to further her education and enrolled in college to obtain a bachelors degree in biology and anthropology. She chose fields that would expand her horizons.

In 1951, she received another “greetings …” letter from the Armed Services. They directed that she report for duty at Oak Knoll Hospital in Oakland, Calif. This hospital was a center for dealing with amputees, many of whom had suffered from frostbite. She worked there until 1953, tending to many suffering individuals.

On exiting the military service, she married a Navy Lieutenant Commander named Merrill Howard Nichols. Their married life lasted eight years, ending when he passed away from lung cancer. He was involved in the construction business and traveled to Vietnam. There, she volunteered to help in a hospital near the construction sites. She helped with the injured French soldiers and locals who had contracted nasty TB issues. This work was difficult for her and she and a couple of her associates had to sneak away from the hospital so that they could get some sleep.

Her husband’s work took her to Minot, N.D. After his passing, she went back to work at Trinity Hospital. She became the head nurse in the operating room there. She lived in the Minot area for nearly 50 years. Sadly, many of her personal possessions were wiped out by flooding this last year.

 Winifred Nichols valued her military experience because it brought out her strong leadership skills.

Lt Johnston-Nichols, great job! Thank you for your service!

Editor’s note: This story is one of many American Veteran accounts published between the Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. The writer, who is from Sidney, is conducting the interviews as part of the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project.