She had a rare gift in that 
she could hear a piece of music once 
then play it on the piano.

We had her play
for us whenever we had time
to gather around.

Often we would sing
to her accompaniment.

Quite often 
some of us could be seen standing 
or sitting near the railing of the ship 
watching the ocean or the sky.

To have seen the beauty of a sunset in the Pacific
with its reflection on the ocean;
to have gotten up early
to watch the sunrise over the water 
and to have seen a double rainbow 
over Diamond Head,
Hawaii are memories I will never forget.

On Sundays there were religious services 
we could attend.

Often we would be singing a hymn 
and would feel the ship sway
with the huge waves beating against her.

Once patients were aboard 
the usual hospital routine was in effect.

Schedules were broken 
into day or night shifts.

We,
nurses,
and the corpsmen took care 
of the patients nursing care.

The Red Cross and the social workers 
helped them
with other problems.

Handicrafts and entertainment were there
for the patients.

All was done
to make their trip back
to the States as pleasant as possible. 

On duty doctors,
nurses,
and corpsmen worked together
for the benefit of the patient.

On the psychiatric wards 
we had a special relationship.

The doctors relied on us
to keep them informed 
of every patient’s condition.

We in turn relied heavily 
on the corpsmen.

These corpsmen being in closer contact
with the mental disturbed patients 
were better able to recognize 
changes of moods 
or potential breakdowns.

Thus,
giving us the time
to help the patient or to notify the doctor 
and thereby averting a severe problem.

Without the awareness of these corpsmen we,
nurses,
might have found ourselves 
in many a dangerous situation.

Because of their experiences 
in combat some of these patients 
were prone to nightmares.

It was on our European trips 
we were brought more closely in contact
with the horror of war.

We brought back some young men 
who had been 
in the battle of Belgium Bulge 
or the Normandy invasion.

They were so nervous 
that they would tremble 
or jump at any sudden noise.

Dropping of a plate 
would set them off.

On the night shift 
it was the duty of the nurse and the corpsman
to make frequent bed checks.

On the psychiatric ward 
between these checks we looked 
over movies making sure 
they would not upset 
any of the patients 
when the shown next day.

We also had
to do some cleaning.

We polished the brass hinges 
that held the railing around the bulkhead.

We polished and rubbed 
until they shone.