Navy Medicine January-February 1942
Jennifer Mitchum

Flames still raged at Pearl Harbor when Japanese fighters and bombers swarmed over the Philippine Islands, Wake, Guam, and the British possessions of Hong Kong and Singapore devastating Allied air and sea forces. In the Philippines, Army airfields were pulverized as Japanese bombers caught American fighters and
B-17 bombers "wingtip to wingtip" on the ground. When they were through, more than half the U.S. Army Air Force had been destroyed. Outgunned U.S. military personnel did their best to counter the Japanese attack, and although our forces could not stop the enemy onslaught, their efforts slowed them down,
prolonging the surrender of the islands.

On Wake, the marine and naval personnel totaling slightly over 500, performed admirably holding the islands until 23 Dec with scarcely any air power. During the first raid alone, all but 4 of their 12 Grumman Wildcats F4F-3s fighter force were destroyed. Subsequently, 2 more planes were lost in missions. A medical facility near the airfield was badly hit and several corpsmen were among the fatalities. By the surrender 2 daysbefore Christmas, a new medical station was operating in two underground magazines.

Similarly, the small garrison on Guam, consisting of about 400 Naval, 155 Marines, and 308 Guamanians, fought hard but were outnumbered and lacked the weaponry needed to turn back the Japanese force.(1) Following several air rais, Japanese troops landed at 3030 on 10 Dec and headed for the government
headquarters at Agana.

The firing ceased by dawn and by 0830, the Japanese had seized USNH Guam. "I think the bitterest moment of my life came at sunrise when, standing in the door of the hospital library, I saw the Rising Sun ascend the flagpole where the day before the Stars and Stripes had proudly flown," said Leona Jackson, one of
five Navy nurses stationed at USNH Guam and captured when the island fell.(2) There they set up a
headquarters. "They thought that if the Americans came over to retaliate they wouldn't fire on the hospital," added Jackson.(3)

Shortly after the landings, casualties began pouring into the hospital. Navy medical personnel were allotted one ward for tending patients as the Japanese utilized the rest of the hospital facility. "It was probably the most amazing ward I'll ever see," declared nurse Jackson adding, "we had war casualties there, and native men, women and children; we even had a Caesarean section by way of variety."(4)

On 15 Jan, the nurses and other prisoners boarded the Argentina Maru, a merchant ship, that would take them to Japan. Not allowed to take additional clothing, the group arrived in Japan shivering in the frigid
temperature.

No Rescue for the Philippines

The main assault on the Philippines came two days after the initial attacks on 8 Dec. Approaching Clark Field from the north, Japanese air power returned unopposed a little after noon on 10 Dec. The force divided north of Manila. Part of it took Nielson and Nichols Fields and Camp Murphy and the other attacked
the Cavite Navy Yard. For over two hours, more than 50 planes flew back and forth over Cavite "at leisurely tempo and in graceful curves, at 20,000 feet elevation beyond range of the 3-inch anti-aircraft guns, the bombers releasing at will."(5)

In way of medical treatment, several station hospitals and dispensaries existed throughout the islands as did two main military medical facilities: the Sternberg Army Hospital in Manila and USNH Canacao, located on the south rim of Manila Bay, adjacent to the Cavite Navy Yard. Several bombs fell within the Navy yard destroying the dispensary but sparing the hospital. As Cavite burned uncontrollably, personnel that had been assigned to the dispensary relocated to other medical posts throughout the yard. Some joined the Canacao staff while others worked in various field and dressing stations.

Medical personnel in the field not only cared for wounded but took up arms. "We counted 80 bombers go right over us. We couldn't reach them but we kept them from getting down too low. They said we got two of them," said PhM2c Ernest J. Irvin, USN, who was serving with "C" Battery of the Third Battalion Fourth
Marines across the Bacoor Bay a mile south of Cavite Navy Yard.(6)

One facility best shielded from the aerial attack was a medical station beneath the naval prison at the yard. Most medical supplies were moved from the dispensary to this location. Casualties began streaming into the station shortly after the "first wave of enemy bombers had passed." In the midst of the bombing, the
station was hit. Personnel then loaded patients into trucks and headed for USNH Canacao.

"We came out from under the building and there was the Navy Yard, all flattened out. Black smoke coming up everywhere," recalled Nurse Dorothy Still one of the 11 Navy nurses assigned to USNH Canacao.(7) She and other nurses had gone under the nurses quarters at the onset of the raids. As the sound of enemy bombers receded, Danner adn her colleagues rushed back to the hospital to find it innudated with patients. "They were on the floor. They're were Filipino women and children and some men and our own people from the Navy Yard. It was a really shocking scene," she added.(8)

Within that time, medical personnel received and treated approximately 500 casualties of which 100 were treated in the surgical ward with merely a 50 KW unit lighting the operating rooms, halls, and part of the ward.(9) Many of the injured civilians received emergency treatment and were sent to the Caridad School building where Philippine Public Health doctors had set up a hospital.

Personnel transfered patients to the Sternberg Army hospital in Manila as the Japanese pushed inland. In addition, a small team of doctors, nurses, and hospital corpsmen assumed temporary duty at Sternberg to help care for the patients.

As the enemy continued to gain ground, the hospital relocated several times. The first move was to the Sternberg Army Hospital. "It was not until around midnight or after when some of the PT boats, which were new out there, came to take us to Manila," said Nurse Still about the transfer.(10)

From there, the hospital moved to the Estado Mayor, a group of old wooden buildings about a block from Sternberg that once housed an infantry battalion. Within days, it moved again, this time to the Philippine Union College at Balintawak on the northeastern outskirts of Manila, and then finally to the Santa
Scholastica College in Manila after General MacArthur declared Manila an open city on 26 Dec.

Upon arriving at Santa Scholastica College, Navy medical personnel found Navy, civilian, and a few Army patients that had been left behind by the previous occupant, the Army Medical Center. Those few patients were added to the Navy medical rosters. In an attempt to consolidate all bluejackets and marines in one place, hospital personnel searched area Manila medical facilities for Navy and Marine Corps patients that may had been brought there during the series of air raids.

By New Year's Day 1942, 27 doctors, 11 nurses, and 104 hospital corpsmen at USNH Canacao,
awaited occupation of the city by Japanese expeditionary forces. The following day, the enemy occupied Manila and seized the hospital. They questioned CAPT Robert G. Davis, MC, USN, commanding officer, about the storage of firearms on the hospital compound and then searched his safe. By 7 Jan, the Japanese

occupied the entire hospital and posted guards at the gate. Throughout January and February they returned to "inspect" the hospital, confiscating hospital supplies on almost every visit. They took the hospital's stock of quinine and several other items including iron beds and mattresses, pillows, linen, mosquito nets, pajamas, and hospital vehicles.

Following Japanese orders, medical personnel began transferring patients in pairs to a hospital the Japanese had set up in an elementary school. This transfer went on almost daily. On a few occasions larger numbers of patients were transferred as well as members of the hospital staff. In addition, the Japanese requested medical histories on all the patients and ordered patients and staff members to fill out questionnaires disclosing name, rate, age, religion, next of kin, birthplace, and education.

Navy Medicine at Sea

Medical personnel also served within the fleet aboard noteworthy vessels including the USS Canopus (AS-9), USS Houston (CA-30), USS Marblehead (CL-12), USS Pecos (AO-6), and the USS Oahu (PR-36). As part of the fleet, Navy medical personnel displayed bravery and skill as they attempted to save as many lives as possible during heightened moments of battle. When the USS Canopus was hit the second time on 5 Jan, stretcher parties began boarding the ship "almost before the dust had settled" and carried 15 wounded men to dressing stations ashore.(11) Similarly, the 18 corpsmen aboard the USS Houston, which later received a Presidential Unit Citation for its service, were occupied with routine or emergency medical functions.

CONUS

In CONUS, the Navy Medical Department was busy finding ways to increase patient capacity at
hospitals and organizing security and emergency measures in case the mainland came under fire. To meet the demand for more hospital beds, new buildings were going up and a plan of expansion and/or renovation was underway at existing facilities. Some sites such as USNH Bainbridge, MD, and USNH Bethesda, MD, were ready for commissioning and opened on 4 Feb and on 5 Feb respectively.

USNH Bethesda, MD, opened as part of the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, replacing the obsolescent medical center at 23rd and E Streets in Washington, DC. In addition to the hospital, the
medical center housed the U.S. Naval Medical and Dental Schools.

Training was also a major concern. The Surgeon General directed that all Dental Corps officers become proficient in administering first aid - treating burns, shock, and hemorrhage; disposing of the dead, and performing other duties customary to the Medical Department.

To provide training for hospital corpsmen, construction began on a site west of USNH Great Lakes in September 1941 for a hospital corps school. The school officially opened on 14 Feb.

KIA

As medical personnel aimed to perserve lives during battle, a few gave up their own. In the Atlantic theater, 2 doctors were killed in action (KIA) - one aboard USS Truxton (DD-229) and the other aboard USS Jacob Jones (DD-130). Three pharmacist mates also died, one each on USS Truxton, USS Pollux (AKS-2), and USS Jacob Jones. Three pharmacist mates were also killed as part of the fleet in the Pacific theater aboard USS Pope (DD-225), USS Shark (SS-174), and USS Peary (DD-226). Additionally, four medical
personnel were killed during the 10 Dec raid of the Philippines. One, a pharmacist mate died at Cavite Navy Yard and the other three at USNH Canacao.

Further Back in the War

Return to WWII History index page

Foward in to the War

References

1. Karig W, Kelley W. Battle Report: Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea, p 107.

2. Ibid., p 109.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Morison SE. The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 - April 1942, p 171.

6. Irvin E, PhM2c, HC, USN. Interview by Jan K. Herman, 25 February, 24 March, and 22 May 1986. BUMED Archives.

7. Danner DS, LT, NC, USN. Interview with Jan K. Herman, 3 & 4 December 1991. BUMED Archives.

8. Ibid.

9. Davis RG. Journal, p 1.

10. Danner.

11. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. 2, p 9.