Sunday, April 19, 2015

VIII. Othelia's Story: 95th Evac: Homeward Bound


VIII. Othelia's Story - 95th Evac Hospital:  VE Day / VJ Day / Home

Lt Rosten & Lt Peterson

Editor note:  After VE Day and duty at Dachau, the 95th was staging for transfer to the Pacific Theater when the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were dropped in August 1945. During the staging period, there was time for some R&R & sightseeing. Finally, in October 1945, the 95th boarded the troop ship USS West Point and were homeward bound, landing at Hampton Roads and on to Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia for demobilization.









 Editor note:  After VE Day and duty at Dachau, some sightseeing & R&R



Munich

Enemy Equipment

Lt. Othelia Rosten timeline


1943 Jan 5            Entered army at Fort Snelling, MN
1943 Feb 22         Left Fort Snelling for Clinton , IA training
1943 Mar 5          Left Clinton, IA for Camp Breckinridge, KY
1943 Apr 2           Left Camp Breckinridge for Camp Shanks, NY
1943 Apr 15         Left Camp Shanks and sailed aboard USS Mariposa
1943 Apr 24         Arrived Casablanca
1943 May 16        Left Casablanca for Oudja, Algeria by truck
1943 Jul 7             Left Oudja for Ain El Turck, Algeria
95th Odyssey
1943 Sep 1            Left Ain El Turck aboard British ship Duchess of Bedford
1943 Sep 3            Transferred to Hospital ship Acadia
1943 Sep 5            Landed at Bizerte
1943 Sep 10          Boarded HMHS Newfoundland
1943 Sep 12          Entered Salerno harbor (Paestum)
1943 Sep 13          HMHS Newfoundland bombed - lost everything.  Boarded British ship St. Andrew
1943 Sep 14           Returned to Bizerte
1943 Sep 23           Left for Italy on Landing Craft (LC)
1943 Oct 7             Left Paestum for Naples by truck
1943 Nov 27          Left Naples for Capua by truck - 1.5 hours
1944 Jan 5              Celebrated my 1st year in the army
1944 Jan 8              Left Capua for Naples by truck (Ferme di Agnano)
1944 Jan 27            Left Ferma via LC for Anzio
1944 Jan 31            Left Anzio for Netturna.  Foxholes, air raids, more shelling
1944 Feb 12           Left Netturna for Naples and to area near Riardo
1944 Mar 13           Left Riardo for Corinala via truck
1944 May 23          Left Corinala for Itri - night duty
1944 June 2            Left Itri for wheat field near Cisterna di Littoria
1944 June12           To Rome for several days
1944 June 13          Setup at Montalto
1944 July 15           Left Montalto for staging area at Sparanise near Naples
1944 August 6        Si was married
1944 August 15      Landing in Southern France (Operation Dragoon D-Day)
1944 August 16      Left for France aboard Hospital Ship Marigold - cakes, candy, food, more food
1944 August 19      Landing in So France - red dust, very tired, dirty, hungry
1944 August 18      Setup at Gonfron
1944 September 5   Setup at St. Amour - hospital setup 7 hours, arrived noon, received patients @ 8
1944 September 19  Left St. Amour via ambulances for setup at Saulx
1944 October 8        Setup at Epinal - tents
1944 November 20  Moved to a building in Epinal
1944 December 5    Setup at Mutzig, near Sarbourg
1944 December 22   Retreat to Epinal (Battle of the Bulge)
1944 December 24   Back to Mutzig
1945 January 8         Setup at Sarraburg, France via trucks
1945 March 27         Setup at Dressen, Germany
1945 March 30         Crossed the Rhine - Setup at Bensheim
1945 April 9             Setup at Kist
1945 April 29           Setup at Ebermergen

1945 May 8 VE Day

1945 June 12          Heilbronn, not in operation - (nurses detailed to Dachau)
1945 July 9             Detailed to the 102nd Evac @ Griessen
1945 July 31           Left Griessen for Marburg
1945 July 10           Staging for Japan at Bretten


1945 September 2   VJ Day

1945 September 18  Left Marburg for Camp Carlise, Reims, Fr
1945 October 5        To French "Cigarette" Camp Philip Morris - Le Havre
1945 October 16      Boarded USS West Point 10 AM
1945 October 16      Sailed for the USA from Le Havre 4 PM
1945 October 23      Landed at Hampton Roads, VA 7 AM & then to Camp Patrick Henry, VA



Editor Note: The "cigarette camps" of Le Havre were the staging areas for embarkation for the USA. Othelia (in Camp Philip Morris) departed on October16, 1945, aboard the USS West Point from Le Havre, France. The "cigarette camps" were so named to hide the actual location.  

Camp Home Run - Le Havre, France



Le Havre - leaving France


Homeward bound aboard the USS West Point

USA - Camp Patrick Henry, VA


Post War

95th Evac reunion

Happier nursing duties


95th Evacuation Hospital Record
Theaters of Combat:  North Africa, Italy, France, Germany


Total Admissions:  41,663 Combat troops, civilians & POWs
Medical Admissions: 20,617
Mortality  0.95%


95th Evac Hospital Unit Commendations



End

Further Reading

95th Evac Hospital Unit History


Copyright © 2015 Dave Hoplin
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 19, 2015 at 1:55 PM

    Dave,

    Great story and very well put together. These stories need to be told. Consider how much she contributed and sacrificed without needing any personal accolades or credit of any kind. Well done!

    Sid Stivland

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 30, 2015 at 3:05 PM

    Dave, thanks so much for working on these stories. We loved visiting with Oats when we were growing up, but she didn't talk about her experiences in the war. My how many people she helped, the misseries she must have seen, and the horrors of war she lived through. But we only saw that lovely smile and enjoyed her quiet, peaceful, loving, gracious manner. What an amazing woman. Ruth (Gilbertson) Thielke

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