#VeteranOfTheDay Army Nurse Corps Veteran Eileen Ella Bradley Paine

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Nurse Corps Veteran Eileen Ella Bradley Paine. Eileen served during World War II.

After graduating from nurse training in 1943, Eileen enlisted with the United States Army Nurse Corps. Upon enlisting, Eileen reported to Kearney Air Base, Nebraska, and was sent to Camp Carson (now Fort Carson), Colorado for basic training. After completing basic training, Eileen was assigned as a nurse in the German prisoner of war hospital ward at Camp Carson.

In June 1944, Eileen was transferred to the hospital ward at Fort Warren, Wyoming. There, she served as a nurse until Sep. 1944, when she was assigned to the 180^th General Hospital at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts and received deployment orders for Europe in Oct. of that year.

After landing in England, Eileen was sent to Carentan, France, where her division replaced the 50^th General Hospital. There, she served as a nurse treating soldiers who had gotten sick serving on the front lines. Later on in the War, the hospital camp at Carentan, France was converted into a German prisoner hospital, and Eileen was once again responsible for treating German prisoners. From Carentan, Eileen and the 180^th General Hospital were sent to Frankfurt, Germany, where they were responsible for reestablishing a hospital abandoned by retreating German forces.

After Germany had surrendered, Eileen and the 180^th General Hospital were given orders to redeploy to the Pacific Theater. Before they were scheduled to move out, Eileen was granted permission to marry her husband, who was also serving in Europe at the time. Eileen and her husband married in France on Aug. 14, 1945, the same day Japanese forces surrendered, marking the end of World War II. Since Japan had surrendered, Eileen was given permission to spend the remainder of her service in Europe.

Eileen received her orders to return to the U.S. in Oct. 1945 and sailed into Camp Myles Standish. She was discharged at Fort Des Moines, Iowa at the rank of first lieutenant. After being discharged, Eileen returned home with her husband to Kearney, Nebraska and began working at the local tuberculosis hospital before taking a job as a surgery nurse.

Thank you for your service, Eileen!

More of her story can be found at: https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.11230/

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Veterans History Project

This #VeteranOfTheDay profile was created with interviews submitted to the Veterans History Project. The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Find out more at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.

Graphic by Tenzin Chomphel. Tenzin is an undergraduate junior at the University of California, San Diego, studying International Politics