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Luke, friends honor WWII nurse

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Darlene Seltmann
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, and the United States entered World War II, there were fewer than 1,000 nurses in the Army Nurse Corps. Anna "Det" Dorsey was one of them. She would go on to serve 22 years as an Air Force nurse, retiring as a major.

Now 98, Det, a childhood nickname given her by her twin brother, has no other wish than to visit the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor with her good friend and caregiver, retired Air Force Col. Pat Shope, a nurse who was Dorsey's last Air Force recruit. The Jeremy Bloom Wish of a Lifetime organization, located in Denver, Colo., was ready to fulfill that dream, but Det was unable to travel that far. Instead, a ceremony was held to honor her, and Luke Air Force Base was asked to participate.

"The base is asked to provide speakers for hundreds of community events every year," said Diana Wiedower, Luke AFB Speakers Bureau coordinator. "This is one of the most memorable ceremonies we have ever participated in."

Last week, Det's friends gathered at Freedom Inn, an assisted living facility in Sun City West, to hear Lt. Col. Deedra Zabokrtsky, who trains the next generation of Air Force nurses as the Scottsdale Nurse Transition Program Manager, and Col. Yolanda Bledsoe, 56th Medical Group commander, who was also present to recognize the accomplishments of a true pioneer in Air Force nursing.

"Approximately 59,000 nurses served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II," Zabokrtsky said. "More than 200 died - 16 from enemy fire. During WWII, the Army Nurse Corps was awarded more than 1,600 military decorations. From these moments of heartbreak and toil, the science of nursing evolved."

As a nurse in the European Theater, Det worked exhausting hours with sometimes little or no supplies and difficult sanitary conditions. She treated patients with horrific injuries like those burn victims from the African beachheads who had survived after jumping into the burning sea.

Near the end of the war, Det was assigned to Netley Hospital in Southern England. On D-Day, she remembers the skies filled with planes, tapering off after many hours. The hospital overflowed with patients 24-hours later.

"The long years away from home, the day-to-day uncertainty, and the tireless efforts of Det and the other nurses serving with her, were not in vain," Zabokrtsy said. "Patients in their care had the lowest post-injury mortality rate among American military forces in every theater of the war."

Det came home to a society that was ready to accept nurses as professional members of the United States health care system. She became a part of the Air Force Nurse Corps and a flight nurse, serving at military hospitals throughout the United States and Japan. Det was last assigned as Chief Nurse in Great Falls, Mont.

It was in this last assignment that she met Pat Shope, a brand new lieutenant who was the major's last recruit. Pat recalls being scared to death of her chief nurse, saying, "She was small but mighty and ran a tight ship."

Over the years, though, the two would continue to keep in touch with each other, developing a deep friendship that has lasted 50 years.

According to Colonel Bledsoe, "Det and Pat are the true embodiment of the Air Force Nurse Corps motto, 'We Lead, We Partner, We Care, Every Time, Everywhere.' Our current capabilities have emerged from the leaders of our past."

As part of the ceremony, both retired nurses were given 56th Medical Group and Air Force Nurse Corps coins, and Det was presented with a letter of thanks written by Maj. Gen. Kimberly Siniscalchi, assistant Air Force Surgeon General of Nursing Services, and a flag that was flown in her honor over the USS Arizona Memorial.

"It is not often we have the opportunity to talk to and spend time with ladies like these who created our Air Force Nursing foundation," Bledsoe said. "They created a solid bridge and a clear road map for our future generation of Air Force nurses to walk upon as they move forward with their careers. They showed us that caring for America's most precious sons and daughters has been and will be the most professionally rewarding experience of our lives."