Photo By Jordyn McCulley | FORT CARSON, Colo. — Daniel Roberts, museum specialist, 4th Infantry Division...... read more read more
FORT CARSON, Colo. -- The 4th Infantry Division Museum hosted a plaque dedication ceremony July 19 for the 109th Evacuation Hospital for its efforts during the activation of Camp Carson and in World War II.
The 109th was activated June 21, 1943, at then Camp Carson, Colorado. By April 1944, the 109th was in England preparing for D-Day. The tents were established and ready for patients June 1, 1944. They received its first patients June 7, 1944, and treated 1,139 patients by June 30 with no deaths reported, according to the unit’s history. By July, the 109th had moved into France and proceeded to travel to different locations to provide medical aid to Soldiers. From D-Day to VE-Day the 109th took a total of 25, 267 patients with a death rate of less than 1%.
“This is a great day for the 109th Evacuation Hospital because 80 years ago today, they landed on Utah Beach,” said Dr. James Van Keuren, son-in-law to Sgt. Allan Dean Bair, who served with the 109th.
Family members of servicemen and women were able to speak about their ties to the 109th and share stories with each other.
Retired Col. Kathleen Dunemn, a member of the Army Nurses Corps Association, provided background on the 109th and how its servicemen and women shaped the next generation of nurses.
Many nurses stepped up and helped the wounded because there was not enough physicians to see every patient, Dunemn recalled. Many nurses were needed in surgery and provided anesthesia to patients.
Nurses did the job of what now is considered to be a surgical assistant, she said, noting they would hold things, move things but not necessarily hand the instruments. The medics also stepped up as they were familiar with the instruments and how to properly clean and pass them to the physicians.
“Without the 109th nurses and medics there would not have been that additional skill and ability to save lives in rural areas when they returned to the United States. They became directors of nursing programs across the United States,” said Dunemn. “I was one of the beneficiaries of that. The director of the nursing program that I went to was a former World War II Army nurse. Even though it was a civilian program, we were being prepared for World War III whether we knew it or not.”
Many of the family members followed in the footsteps of their relatives who served in the 109th. Dr. Betsy White, great niece of 109th nurse chief Capt. Doris Donovan, has been a nurse for roughly 20 years.
“I had absolutely no understanding or appreciation of what that was actually like until I came across the photographs and documents Doris left behind,” said White.
The five families attending the ceremony shared their family stories and brought any books and artifacts with each other.
Virginia McGovern Volpe, daughter of Pfc. Louis McGovern, attended with her brothers and sisters to share their father’s story.
“He was an instrument handler in the operating room,” said Volpe. “He gained a lot of skills by being in that operating room. He wasn't a doctor or anything, he just became a part of it.”
She said he was able to bring a lot of knowledge and techniques home from the war and often used them in his everyday life raising his eight kids.
The ceremony ended with the playing of taps and Van Keuren presenting the 109th Evacuation Hospital’s plaque to Daniel Roberts, museum specialist, 4th Infantry Division.
The plaque reads: “Remembering the men and women of the 109 Evacuation Hospital that was activated at Camp Carson on June 21, 1943, and landed on Utah Beach on July 19, 1944. During World War II the unit treated over 26,000 wounded Soldiers under the most trying and unimaginable conditions to keep the torch of freedom and liberty blazing and bright.”
The plaque resides in the 4th Infantry Division Museum located near Gate 1 Visitor Control Center, on display to honor those who served in the 109th.
| Date Taken: | 07.19.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2024 11:36 |
| Story ID: | 477004 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 79 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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