Bmethport, Pa.
, Thursday, September 27, 1951
Connecticut Women's Group Pioneering Way
For Inclusion of Paranurses in Armed Forces
HUGE C-47 transport with Air Force mark-
A ings circled low above the Connecticut river
on the outskirts of Hartford. Suddenly, four
khaki-clad figures hurtled earthward out of the
plane's rear door. For a few seconds they seemed
to hang motionless, etched against the cold winter
sky. Then, billowing chutes opened above them.
But in those seconds the Paranurses came into
their own. Once again the women of mercy had
proved their right — and their ability — to go
wherever the soldier could go.
The parachuting figures were four members of
the Connecticut Wing of the Civil Air Patrol,
making their first practice jump. A few tense,
dramatic moments later the "dry run" was
turned into the real thing. Mrs. Evelyn Oliver,
33, a housewife and hospital attendant, was
caught by a gust of wind. The frost-hardened
turf rusrled up to meet her with a jarring blow.
Her companions, Marie Krell, 33; Mrs. Alice
Greenbaum, 43, and Marie Lesse, 39, landed un-
hurt a few yards away. Seeing their friend lying
injured, they swung into action. By the time an
ambulance had arrived, the hospital-trained
Paranurses had the situation well in hand.
Evelyn had been given emergency treatment and
was under a warm blanket, smoking a cigaret.
Fortunately, the slightly-built, 124-pound Evelyn
was more rugged than her size would indicate.
She had sustained a wrenched back, assorted
bruises and minor lacerations. The plucky woman
only wanted to make another jump the next day.
When, in 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived
at the war-filled, unsanitary hospitals of the
Crimea, she set a standard of sacrifice and devo-
,tion to duty that has inspired all nurses to this
/day. Her superhuman efforts in behalf of the
THE McKEAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT
wounded and the discipline ot her staff finally
brought military acceptance and forever made
nurses a necessary and integral part of armies.
With the introduction of the plane as a weapon
of war, soldiers took to the air, risking their lives
in inaccessible places. And in true Nightingale
tradition nurses met the challenge.
The first flight of Paranurses in the country
is made up of 10 women. Trained nurses or hos-
pital attendants, they buy their own equipment
and train with the CAP—without pay and on
their own time. During any disaster they will be
available as volunteers to parachute into ma-
rooned areas where medical aid is., needed.
During the war years, the Paranurses were
organized as an auxiliary unit, but never were
called upon to make any actual jumps. This year
they reorganized as the Connecticut Wing. The
first such Civil Air Patrol unit to complete its
training, the women are pioneering th? way for
new wings of parachuting nurses all over the
country.
Their ultimate aim, of course, is to become a
regular part of the Air Force. While Mrs. Oliver
wasn't seriously hurt, her jump nevertheless was
the subject of many reports to Washington. For
at the present time the Air Force does not allow
its regular nurses or its flight nurses to make
parachute jumps. However, the top brass is fol-
lowing the CAP Paranurse experiments with
great interest. If these intrepid pioneers show, in
subsequent jumps, that they can "take it" as well
as Mrs. Oliver did, they will have proved there
is no weakness in the so-called weaker sex—at
least to the extent of chuting down to earth
alongside a combat soldier, any time and any TENSE WITH EXPECTANCY, the Paranurses await their turn as jump baum to "hit the silk." At right are Marie Krell and Mrs. Evelyn Oliveif
place. master Ralph Voorhis raises his hand as a signal for Mrs. Alice Green- AH were about to make their initial jumps when this picture wa« madij
A GROUND CREWMAN removes Mrs. Oliver's jumper harness after she had
' received first aid from fellow Paranurses. Luckily, her nose was unbroken.
LOADED aboard in ambulance, Mrs. Oliver is made comfortable for the trip
back to Hartford. Her first reaction was to make another jump immediately.