Oral History Interview with Bernice Shafer, May 18, 2012 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Bernice Shafer, May 18, 2012

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernice Shafer. Shafer joined the Army in October 1942 as a newly registered nurse. She was treated poorly at basic training and was advised repeatedly that since rape was inevitable she should try to enjoy it. Shafer's first duty was to oversee three rowdy wards at Winter General Army Hospital. To set the tone, she immediately assigned KP duty to a colonel. Deploying to a hospital near Manila in 1944, she worked in an operating room with a hot-tempered doctor whose only response to her displeasure in working with him was to kiss her on the face. She mainly tended to war casualties but occasionally treated natives who suffered from parasites. Long after the war, she was haunted by the memory of a soldier who sustained a brain injury; without a neurosurgeon on staff, she could only sit beside him until he died. When the war ended, Shafer felt unsafe amidst the celebrations as soldiers grabbed ahold of her. Even on the voyage home, she was awoken by a sailor kissing her. Shafer was discharged into the Reserves and served again in the Korean War.
Date: May 18, 2012
Creator: Shafer, Bernice
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Bernice Shafer, May 18, 2012 transcript

Oral History Interview with Bernice Shafer, May 18, 2012

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernice Shafer. Shafer joined the Army in October 1942 as a newly registered nurse. She was treated poorly at basic training and was advised repeatedly that since rape was inevitable she should try to enjoy it. Shafer's first duty was to oversee three rowdy wards at Winter General Army Hospital. To set the tone, she immediately assigned KP duty to a colonel. Deploying to a hospital near Manila in 1944, she worked in an operating room with a hot-tempered doctor whose only response to her displeasure in working with him was to kiss her on the face. She mainly tended to war casualties but occasionally treated natives who suffered from parasites. Long after the war, she was haunted by the memory of a soldier who sustained a brain injury; without a neurosurgeon on staff, she could only sit beside him until he died. When the war ended, Shafer felt unsafe amidst the celebrations as soldiers grabbed ahold of her. Even on the voyage home, she was awoken by a sailor kissing her. Shafer was discharged into the Reserves and served again in the Korean War.
Date: May 18, 2012
Creator: Shafer, Bernice
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History