This months veteran spotlight is on Elizabeth Lewis. Elizabeth served as an Army Surgical Nurse during World War II. She served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatre of operation.
In August of 1943, Elizabeth left aboard the hospital ship, USAHS Emily H. M. Weder on her way to the European theatre. The ship was named for the first Army nurse KIA. She advised that they had an easy trip across the Atlantic, but she was anxious just the same. Because they were a hospital ship, they were protected by the Geneva Convention.
The Emily Weder had a compliment of 120 doctors, nurses, dentists and chaplains, and an additional 300 enlisted men to care for up to 1,000 patients which they started accepting as soon as they were anchored off the coast of Sicily. Once they reached the 1,000 patient threshold, they would return with those men to the United States. Elizabeth states that although her ship could handle any kind of injury, many of the wounded had serious burns or had to have limbs amputated.
After returning home after approximately three or four months abroad, Elizabeth received more training and assisted with resupplying the ship before being sent back oversees after two months. This time to the Pacific theatre, again, aboard the Emily Weder.
In the Pacific, they would hop from island to island picking up and treating the wounded. Elizabeth said they had a harder time in the Pacific because of the climate and the Japanese who would stop and board their ship to examine it. She describes them as ruthless and said they even sank another hospital ship killing 12 nurses. She states that their submarines where always around them.
Elizabeth recounts that the men they treated in the Pacific where in a lot worse condition than those she had seen in the European theatre. Many of the injuries were from machetes or as a result of hand to hand combat. The most critical patients were taken to Clark Air Base where they were off loaded and then flown back to the United States.
While in the Pacific, Elizabeth states that she had contact with about 200 or 300 patients a day, most of whom needed surgery. Despite the high volume of wounded, moral was high, and the food was good thanks to the Navy who delivered them food.
Elizabeth recounts that they were very busy all the time. So much so, that the war was over for about a week or two before they found out. She said they never stopped working until they got the boys home.
In the Pacific for a little over two years, Elizabeth returned to Los Angeles aboard her ship, then boarded a train and returned home. She said she was happy to be home but sad for all those who didn’t make it back.
Her wartime experience is something Elizabeth says she wouldn’t trade for anything. It matured her and gave her values that she probably would not have had otherwise. She said that she saw more during her time during WWII then she has working as a nurse since.
Elizabeth Lewis’ service during World War II included both the Pacific and European Theatre of Operations. The amount of pain and suffering she witnessed is unimaginable, but her dedication and compassion towards our wounded saved countless lives. For her service and sacrifice, we say thank you and we are honored to be able to preserve her story.
