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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJosephine M. Spradley - Bio WWII Jose Jane 8/1/05 2nd Lt. JOSEPHINE MARTIN SPRADLEY, R.N. United States Army Nurses Corps Middle Eastern Theatre "You'll be back," Josephine could almost hear her Aunt Agnes call to her as she left the Byrne ranch to go to nursing school. Certainly not the encouraging sendoff the young high school graduate deserved. But "Josie" must have decided to prove her aunt wrong. Little did her aunt know how much strong personal conviction her niece had. Perhaps, Josephine Martin was motivated after witnessing her father's tears when her mother died of pneumonia when Jo was 5-years old. Again as an 19-year-old, Josie helplessly watched her younger brother, Roger, die of pneumonia at their remote country ranch home with no medical attention available. All of which could have added to Josie's resolve not only to become a nurse, but a registered nurse. Even that turned out to be a difficult task and took some persistence. Josie, class of 1935, waited anxiously to find out whether her small town high school was accredited. It took almost a year before the accreditation question was cleared up, but not after numerous correspondences between the nursing school in San Antonio and Calliham High School. The accreditation turned out positive because Santa Rosa Nursing School at Incarnate Word College admitted Miss Josephine Martin on February 14, 1937. After graduation on May 17, 1940 as a registered nurse, Josie stayed on at Santa Rosa Hospital and did general nursing for six months as an assistant supervisor. While at Santa Rosa, Josie joined the army reserves and trained at Camp Bowie in Brownwood, Texas. How did such a refined and feminine young lady who was raised by highly reserved, devoutly religious relatives in a sparsely populated area develop such fortitude, patriotism and courage? Why would she go overseas much less into a war? Some would say it was in her genes since she came from a long line of Martin patriots. "Nurses have that caring mentality and she probably wanted to help overseas if the time came," says one of her twin daughters, Jane Haley. "She probably was motivated to join up because the government was pushing "readiness" and there were numerous articles in the Santa Rosa Nursing bulletins urging nurses to enlist in the reserves -- emphasizing the importance of nursing to the country if war comes. " "My mother signed up along with her closest friends from nursing school before Pearl Harbor, probably because they knew a war was coming. Plus, now Mother had a chance to see some of the world. She had already shown she was not afraid and was a bit of a risk taker too," surmised Josephine's other twin daughter, Janice McCarthy. On February 15, 1941, Josephine Martin was assigned to active duty as a nurse in the US Army Nursing Corps, commissioned a Second Lieutenant. Before being sent overseas she also trained at Camp Polk, Louisiana and at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas where she treated many bum patients. "At Fort Sam Houston she saw some patients horribly burned," recalls her youngest daughter, Susan Bell. She kept articles about injured firemen in San Antonio -- in need of constant care -- and developed a skill which become a thread throughout her career and made her nursing service so valuable in the upcoming war. Josie was sent overseas to Cairo E~ypt arriving on November 1, 1942. She was stationed at the newly opened 1,000-bed 38t General Hospital, Delta Service Command -- where she nursed many soldiers wounded on the battlefield. Now a magical story unfolded as Flight Lieutenant E. W. Spradley came into the picture. In Egypt, in December of 1942, Josephine Martin attended a party on a houseboat on the Nile River. There she met a dashing young pilot from Texas. Romance bloomed for Josie amid the chaos of war. Their romance, begun in Texas before the war, continued in Egypt. The two had dated before the war and carried on a correspondence but the letters stopped from Miss Martin while he was in Malta during the siege. Yet it was in the cards for the couple to be reunited as both were stationed in Cairo. Romance rekindled amid the chaos of war between Jo and "Bill", as she called him rather than his given name ofE. W. or Ernest. "Texas Lovers Meet by Chance, Wed in Egypt-- the First Wedding of American Forces in the Middle East During WWII" read the newspaper headlines when the two were wed on March 9, 1943 by the Chaplain of Delta Service Command. (Josephine being the ranking officer by seniority -- which she often lovingly chided her husband.) In order to marry Jo, Spradley changed from the RAF to the Army Air Corps. When he did this, he ranked as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. Although both were of almost equal rank, and even though Josie was fearless as they come, that didn't mean that she wasn't a female through and through. Turns out from the time of their unusual marriage announcement that mentioned "Both Spradley and his bride were 25 years old," Josie starting fudging her age, saying she was born in 1918 even though she was born in 1917. Her husband, you see, was born in 1918. (In those days, it was considered taboo by many for a wife to be older than her husband.) "They are honeymooning here today," concluded the Cairo newspaper. But the two were soon to be separated as Bill resumed flying duties in North Africa. Josephine Martin, now Mrs. E. W. Spradley, stayed at the 38th General treating the sick and the wounded. By early 1943 the 38th General Hospital was the focal point for hospitalization in the Middle East whether a patient was an Ordinance Department soldier from the Suez Canal region sick with malaria, or an Air Force pilot wounded over Libya. Patients journeyed by ambulance from nearby places such as the Suez Canal, but if coming from Libya, Syria, Eritrea, or Iran, they traveled by air to Cairo and then by ambulance to the 38th General. "The hospitals treated soldiers wounded in the war. I'm sure they treated all kinds of wounds since the soldiers were coming from the battle fields of EI Alamein and other places in North Africa," says daughter Jane. But the extreme heat and an appalling list of diseases --- typhus, smallpox, dysentery, venereal diseases, presented a more serious danger to the troops who worked in close contact with local inhabitants. Sanitation, clean water and facilities soon became top priority for the hospital. "Depictions of hardships and sacrifices such as those endured by Josephine and other army nurses were portrayed in such movies as So Proudly We Hail," says daughter Jane. Jo was no exception, as nurse Spradley became a patient instead of the caregiver when she was hospitalized briefly for Sand fly fever during her tour of duty in Egypt. In January of 1944 Spradley and his wife were both transferred to duty in the U. S. -- Josie was to report to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. Jo and Bill's daughter, Jane recalls "Daddy had told her not to leave Egypt by convoy but to fly out because ships were being torpedoed in the Mediterranean. The next thing he knew Mother turned up in Italy. She had been in a convoy leaving Egypt that was torpedoed in the Mediterranean! She and the other nurses were rescued from their listing ship by troops bound for Sicily. So, mom and the other nurses went with them." Even though husband Bill has joined the rest of the Martin family in learning how strong- willed his wife is, he was probably just glad for her to be safe. ".. .anchors up at 4: 10 pm. Thank God, if I had looked at Mt. Etna much more I'd gone batty," Josie wrote in her diary February 4, 1944. (Mt. Etna is in Sicily) Josie finally arrived stateside in March of 1944. Her husband Bill was stationed stateside in 1944 at Bryan, Texas to instruct pilots in instrument flight training at Bryan Air Field. He made as many trips as possible to his wife in Louisiana. From Camp Beauregard, Josie was transferred to Camp Polk. Camp Polk, near Natchitoches, Louisiana in the Kisatchie National Forest was home to Josie's ancestor, Zachariah Martin when he fought in the War of 1812 and later joined a band of soldiers in 1813 who fought to retake Texas from Spain. Wonder what the old veteran would have thought about his great, great, great granddaughter being a soldier? Her next assignment was to Baxter General Hospital in Spokane Washington in Dec. 1944. She had requested to be transferred to Ephrata, Washington, where Bill was training pilots with the 4th Air Force, but the closest she came was Spokane -- 100 miles away. Baxter General specialized in thoracic (chest) injuries but also admitted prisoners of war from Japan and other injuries -- all needing constant care. However, Jo left the Army on May 21, 1945 because by then her pregnancy was obvious. (Had Jo stayed in the military, she and her husband would most certainly have "been transferred to different bases since the military didn't care whether you were married or not. That must have prompted her to make up her mind to retire," said her youngest daughter, Susan. "In fact, there was talk of a transfer to Japan for Mom and a transfer to Germany for Dad was already in the works." But the couple was not together for long. Both Jo and Bill were from a long line of Texans and wanted their first child to be born in their beloved Texas. They agreed Josie should move to Austin where her sister, Lucille, lived. There, yet another unexpected turn of events lay ahead -- not one but two daughters were born September 28, 1945-identical twins, Jane and Janice. The multiple births came as a complete surprise as the twins had synchronized heartbeats while in the womb and the X-ray showed only one child. "I remember Momma saying it was such a complete surprise that she couldn't think of names for us. She had planned on having one baby and she was going to name it 'Sharon or Nancy' ifit was a girl. As it was, she had to think up two names and decided that was hard enough so she did not give us middle names, "recalled her daughter Jane. Daddy Bill didn't waste any time coming down from Washington State to see his new family. The military family stayed on the move. Bill received orders to go back to Germany in 1946 as part of the USAF occupying forces, and Josephine was left in the states waiting to join him. "Dear Daddy, Happy Father's Day," Josie wrote to Lonnie Martin at Tilden, Texas on Sunday, June 16, 1946, "I couldn't buy a card so I'll write. We left Dover, Delaware about 3 wks ago. Bill is going over-seas again, he's in Greensboro, North Carolina now waiting to sail. He thinks it will be the European Theatre, so the girls and I are just waiting until we can go. We hope it won't be too long.. . . Love from us all, Josie, Jane and Janice." Little did she dream at that peaceful time that her future would bring countless sleepless nights as she prayed for her husband's safe return from his flights during the Berlin Airlift and Korean War. Bill made a career of the Air Force and Josephine followed her husband and gave support to his career. Throughout Bill's military career, Josephine displayed the independence, strength of character, and quiet resolve she was known for, as she raised three daughters often alone for six months at a time when Bill was on temporary duty in another part of the world or while waiting for housing to rejoin Bill and reunite her family. Bill and Jo's dedication to family and their three daughters, as well as their love for each other helped them to navigate the tough times together. 2nd Lt. Josephine Martin Spradley, R.N. is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery along with her husband, Lt. Col. Ernest Warner Spradley. Both died premature deaths, she at age 49 and he at age 54 -- on her birthday. Jane Spradley Haley Missouri City, Texas Janice Spradley McCarthy Katy, Texas Susan Spradley Bell Houston, Texas