The Fifty-Sixth General
Viola Molloy, U.S. Army

In July, the Fifty-sixth General shipped over from England to France to set up a tent hospital. One of the hard things about working in a tent hospital was that cots were so low we had to kneel by each one to keep from bending over all the time. Liege, Belgium was our next destination, and we were glad it was a building instead of tents.

During the Battle of the Bulge, in December we were so close to the fighting the patients had to be evacuated. They were just about to evacuate us nurses when the Germans retreated, and we stayed. The casualties came in so fast, nurses had to start blood transfusions, which only doctors had done before. Whatever needed to be done was done by everyone. There was no limit. I'll never forget those young patients, hurt so badly. I felt worse when I saw they were wearing a wedding ring.

Excerpt from Diane Burke Fessler, No Time For Fear: Voices of American Military Nurses in World War II. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, 1996.

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