The Secret Rescue

by Cate Lineberry

  I am deeply grateful to my wonderful family, especially my parents, who encouraged me to pursue my passion for writing and whose love and support inspired me to write this book. A special thanks goes to my three brothers and my sisters-in-law, who’ve always cheered me on, and to the nurses in my family, including my mother, aunt, and great-grandmother, who helped so many people. I hope in some small way this book inspires the youngest members of my family, including Caleb, Katelyn, Alyssa, Taylor, Jenelle, Aaron, Kyle, Evan, Adrian, Owen, Banks, Ben, and Madelyn, to discover and follow their own dreams.

  My husband and best friend, Tim Wiersma, has supported me through every step of writing this book, including traveling with me to Albania as my photographer. He continues to amaze me each and every day with his love, kindness, and sense of humor, for which I will be thankful for the rest of my life.

  About the Author

  CATE LINEBERRY was a staff writer and Europe editor for National Geographic magazine and the web editor for Smithsonian magazine. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times. Originally from Raleigh, NC, she lives in the Greater Washington, DC, area.

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  Notes

  The author conducted all interviews unless otherwise noted.

  Because interviews with Harold Hayes were conducted at his home in Oregon, during visits in November 2011 and February 2012 and in almost daily communications over a year and a half, information provided by him is not further dated.

  In instances where none of the available accounts match in details and cannot be verified through records or any other means, the author has relied on Harold Hayes’s account given that so much of the information he provided that could be verified proved to be accurate. If the discrepancies are significant to the story, the author has included a note.

  The ages of the members of the 807th and the flight crew were determined through family interviews, the Social Security Death Index, the National Personnel Records Center, and obituaries.

  Village names were determined through a report by copilot James Baggs, a diary kept by Agnes Jensen and returned to her after the war, interviews and notes from Harold Hayes, statements made by the returning personnel, and reports by the British and American officers who helped them.

  Abbreviations of key source materials:

  AFHRA Air Force Historical Research Agency

  ETOUSA European Theater of Operations, United States Army

  NACP National Archives at College Park, Maryland

  NPN No publication named

  NPRC National Personnel Records Center

  RG Record Group at NACP

  TNA The National Archives of the UK

  A Note to the Reader

  Duffy… account “13 U.S. Nurses Dare Nazis’ Guns, Planes, Wilds—Escape!” NPN, February 15, 1943, newspaper article, Harold Hayes papers; “Chutist Leads Adams, Mates Through Nazi Balkan Lines,” NPN, February 16, 1943, newspaper article, Harold Hayes papers.

  Boyle’s story Hal Boyle, “U.S. Nurses Tell of 60-Day Trek Across Nazi-Held Land,” Bee (Danville, VA), February 17, 1944 (delayed from January 9).

  could not reveal “Safeguarding of P/W Information,” ETOUSA Headquarters, memo; James P. Cruise personnel file, NPRC; Hayes, interview.

  “Too many lives” “Adams, Mates Behind Nazi Lines after Balkan Landing,” NPN, 1944 newspaper article, Harold Hayes papers.

  reunited twice in the 1980s Hayes, interview; Karin Welzel, “Wilderness Survival Trek Recalled,” NPN, August 31, 1983, Harold Hayes papers.

  Mangerich… memories Agnes Jensen Mangerich, Albanian Escape: The True Story of U.S. Army Nurses Behind Enemy Lines (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999).

  Abbott… memoir Lawrence O. Abbott, Out of Albania: A True Account of a WWII Underground Rescue Mission, ed. Clinton W. Abbott (Lulu Press, 2010).

  Prologue

  [failed air evacuation] Duffy, “Report on Evacuation of American Party”; Hayes, interview; Agnes Jensen Mangerich, Albanian Escape (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999), 162–167; Abbott, Out of Albania, 144–149; 1st Fighter Group mission reports, December 29, 1943, from the files of Jim Graham, 1st Fighter Group, 71st Fighter Squadron, as copied from NACP and found in Roll A6544, AFHRA; Operational Records Book of 150 Squadron RAF, TNA, AIR 27/1011. Though Duffy’s report said the planes arrived “just after 1200 hrs,” two mission reports indicate they arrived about 12:30 p.m. The mission reports also indicate twenty-one P-38s arrived, but Hayes remembered counting eighteen. British officer H. W. Tilman also recalled seeing eighteen: When Men and Mountains Meet (1946), collected in The Seven Mountain-Travel Books (1983; repr., London: Bâton Wicks, 2010), 367.

  [realized air evacuation was possible] Hayes, interview; Richard Lebo, statement, Roll A6544, AFHRA; Abbott, Out of Albania, 147. Though Duffy’s report made no mention of the last-minute effort to attract the pilots’ attention, Hayes vividly recalled the scene, which was further backed by Lebo’s account in a 1944 intelligence report. He said, “We thought it would be too dangerous to signal the planes but at the last minute we did try to signal them.” The description in Abbott’s book supports Hayes’s claim as well, except Abbott wrote they used “parachute scarves” to try to signal the planes rather than panels from parachutes used in supply drops.

  They were amazed Debriefings of nurses and medics from Army Intelligence, Roll A6544, AFHRA; Duffy, “Report on Evacuation of American Party from Albania”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich, Albanian Escape, 162–167; Abbott, Out of Albania, 144–149.

  Chapter 1

  More than ninety personnel Grace H. Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History,” Roll A0323, AFHRA.

  second week of August 1943 Ibid.; Hayes, interview.

  more than one million troops “Winged Angels: USAAF Flight Nurses in WWII,” February 7, 2011, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15457.

  Eisenhower deemed Bruce Green, “Challenges of Aeromedical Evacuation in the Post–Cold War Era,” Aerospace Power Journal 15 (Winter 2001): 14–26.

  McKnight William P. McKnight, Jr., e-mail interview, October 14, 2012.

  School of Aviation Medicine 807th Medical History Memo, August 24, 1944, Roll A0323, AFHRA; History of the School of Air Evacuation, Roll B2061, AFHRA.

  flight surgeons… primary duty Robert F. Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation in the USAF, 1909–1960 (Air Force Research Institute, 1960), 86; Hayes, interview.

  squadron’s twenty-four other flight nurses World War II Flight Nurses Association, The Story of Air Evacuation 1942–1989 (Dallas: Taylor Publishing, 1989), 53; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

  rank Carolyn M. Feller and Constance J. Moore, eds., Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1995), 11–19; Mary T. Sarnecky, A History of the U.S. Army Corps (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), 147, 290–291.

  sixty dollars per month Sarnecky, A History of the U.S. Army Corps, 252.

  car accident Rudy Stakeman, e-mail interview, August 25, 2012.

  squadron also included Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

  technician third grade David W. Hogan, Jr., Arnold G. Fisch, Jr., and Robert K. Wright, Jr., The Story of the Non-Commissioned Officer Corps: The Backbone of the Army, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Pub. 70-38. The Army abolished the technician grade title on August 1, 1948.

  He and the three other young men Hayes, interview.

  Owen Bob Ow
en (son), e-mail interview, August 25, 2012.

  “Windy” Clint Abbott, e-mail interview, July 6, 2012.

  she and Helen Porter Agnes Jensen Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  fiancé went missing “Detroit Nurse Is Missing in Italian Area,” NPN, 1943 newspaper article, Harold Hayes papers.

  Watson Lois Watson McKenzie, lecture, Nurses in War symposium, Washburn University School of Nursing, February 7, 1991, McKenzie family papers.

  first… of its kind Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 93.

  first two MAETS squadrons Ibid., 80–81.

  [training for 807th’s nurses] Ibid., 88; Historical Record of 807th, February 5, 1944, Roll A0323, AFHRA; History of the School of Air Evacuation; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th; McKenzie, lecture, Nurses in War symposium, 1991.

  “I won’t get airsick” McKenzie, lecture, Nurses in War symposium, 1991.

  Blanchfield “History of the Army Nurse Corps: World War II,” U.S. Army Medical Department, Office of Medical History, http://history.amedd.army.mil/ANCWebsite/slpr/slpr5.html.

  Their specialized instruction Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 89; History of the School of Air Evacuation; Hayes, interview.

  To test their skills Hayes, interview.

  medical evacuation Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 1–50; “Jonathan Letterman,” Civil War Trust, http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/jonathan-letterman.html.

  Schimmoler Mary C. Smolenski, Donald G. Smith, Jr., and James S. Nanney, A Fit, Fighting Force: The Air Force Nursing Services Chronology (Washington, DC: Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, 2005), 24; Barbara Brooks Tomblin, G.I. Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corps in World War II (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996), 80.

  “hardly makes for… entertaining fare” “Movie Review: Parachute Nurse (1942),” New York Times, July 27, 1942.

  United States’ strategy Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 70–71.

  38th Medical Air Ambulance Squadron Peter Dorland and James Nanney, Dust Off: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1982), 8.

  By the summer Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 72; “Winged Angels,” February 7, 2011.

  designated responsibility Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 72–80.

  Before the Second World War “Air Force History Overview,” U.S. Air Force, http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/overview.asp.

  so alarmed… Roosevelt Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 54; Message of President Roosevelt to the Congress, January 12, 1939.

  In June 1941 “Air Force History Overview.”

  By 1945 Ibid.

  MAETS Futrell, Development of Aeromedical Evacuation, 78–80; Sarnecky, A History of the U.S. Army Corps, 252–255.

  7,043 available nurses Sarnecky, A History of the U.S. Army Corps, 175.

  “I ask for my boys” “The Time Is Now!” American Journal of Nursing, August 1942, 924.

  Five hundred nurses History of the School of Air Evacuation.

  Hall “Lt. Burton A. Hall Killed,” The Shield of Phi Kappa Psi, November 1944, 11; World War II Flight Nurses Association, The Story of Air Evacuation 1942–1989, 17.

  Gardiner World War II Flight Nurses Association, The Story of Air Evacuation 1942–1989, 17; Feller and Moore, Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps, 17.

  Bataan Feller and Moore, Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps, 6; “History of the Army Nurse Corps: World War II.”

  To help ensure History of the School of Air Evacuation.

  “taken aloft” Sarnecky, A History of the U.S. Army Corps, 252.

  port of embarkation Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview.

  Chapter 2

  Camp Kilmer “A Historical Sketch of Camp Kilmer,” National Archives Records Administration, Northeast Region (NYC), http://www.archives.gov/nyc/public/camp-kilmer.pdf.

  soot Hayes, interview.

  During their six-day stay Ibid.; Grace H. Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History,” Roll A0323, AFHRA.

  “I wrote my boyfriend today” Agnes Jensen Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  “Many fellows took advantage” Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

  like Jens and Rutkowski Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th; Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

  Close to midnight Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  nightly dim-out “Aurora of Lights Dims Out in City for the Duration,” New York Times, April 29, 1942.

  U-boat attacks A. Timothy Warnock, The Battle Against the U-boat in the American Theater: December 7, 1941 to September 2, 1945 (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1992), 7; Nathan Miller, War at Sea: A Naval History of World War II (New York: Scribner, 1995), 291–295.

  Casablanca Conference “Mr. Churchill’s Speech in Parliament on Feb. 11, 1943,” Bulletin of International News 20, no. 4 (February 20, 1943), 152–154; A. Timothy Warnock, Air Power Versus U-boats: Confronting Hitler’s Submarine Menace in the European Theater (Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1999), 9.

  “Pistol Packin’ Mama” Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  coffee and doughnuts Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview.

  staterooms Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  in the brig Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

  medics bunked Hayes, interview.

  next twenty-four hours Ibid.; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  lines to the pier Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

  Navy airplanes and blimps Hayes, interview.

  including Rutkowski Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

  convoy entered the open sea Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  poker games Hayes, interview.

  To avoid sleeping Ibid.

  sweated in their fatigues Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  olive-drab bags Hayes, interview.

  Bay of Bizerte Ibid.; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History”; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  movie featuring… Alice Faye Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

  [description of attack] “[807th] War Diary for September 1943,” Roll A0323, AFHRA; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  torpedo fired by a submarine “[807th] War Diary for September 1943.”

  luck ran out Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Atlantic Battle Won (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2002), 263; “1700 on Transport Picked Up at Sea,” New York Times, July 1, 1944; “Grace Line Gets $6,875,000: WSA to Pay for Santa Elena and Santa Clara,” New York Times, October 12, 1944; Cynthia Toman, An Officer and a Lady: Canadian Military Nursing and the Second World War (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007), 77. The July 1, 1944, New York Times article reported that three men died, whereas the October 12, 1944, article reported that four men died.

  Santa Elena arrived “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadr
on Unit History.”

  five other ships Hayes, interview.

  stood in awe Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

  Bizerte’s strategic location “Bizerte,” Britannica Online Encyclopedia; “To Bizerte with the II Corps,” U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1990, CMH Pub. 100-6.

  handful of men Hayes, interview.

  McKnight and the others boarded Ibid.; “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  temporary desert campsite “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Hayes, interview; Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  only women at the camp “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

  sick tent “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Stakeman, “807th (US) Medical Air Evacuation Squadron Unit History.”

  “Still being rookies” Untitled and undated account, Roll A0323, AFHRA.

  One of the flight surgeons “[807th] War Diary for September 1943.”

  Jens crawled into Mangerich’s undated and unpublished notes about her experiences in the 807th.

  As Rutkowski ran Eugenie Rutkowski to her daughter, undated and unpublished letter.

  Watching the raid Ibid.; “[807th] War Diary for September 1943.”

  One bomb “[807th] War Diary for September 1943”; Hayes, interview.