All This Hell: U.S. Nurses Imprisoned by the Japanese

by Evelyn M. Monahan, Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, Michelle Murillo (Narrator)

More than one hundred U.S. Army and Navy nurses were stationed in Guam and the Philippines at the beginning of World War II. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, five navy nurses on Guam became the first American military women of World War II to be taken prisoner by the Japanese. More than seventy army nurses survived five months of combat conditions in the jungles of Bataan and Corregidor before being captured, only to endure more than three years in prison camps. In all, nearly one hundred nurses became POWs.

Many of these army nurses were considered too vital to the war effort to be evacuated from the Philippines. Though receiving only half the salary of male officers of the same rank, they helped establish outdoor hospitals and treated thousands of casualties despite rapidly decreasing supplies and rations. After their capture, they continued to care for the sick and wounded throughout their internment in the prison camps.

This account of the nurses' imprisonment adds a vital chapter to the history of American personnel in the Pacific theater. Lt. Col. Madeline Ullom, one of the captured nurses, remarked, "Even though women were not supposed to be on the front lines, on the front lines we were. Women were not supposed to be interned either, but it happened to us. People should know what we endured. People should know what we can endure."

When freedom came, the U.S. military ordered the nurses to sign agreements with the government not to discuss their horrific experiences. Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee have conducted numerous interviews with survivors and scoured archives for letters, diaries, and journals to uncover the heroism and sacrifices of these brave women. The authors' dedication to accuracy, combined with their personal expertise in medical care and military culture and discipline, has enabled them to produce a realistic reconstruction of the dramatic experiences of these POWs.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Nursing, Womens, Read For School, Historical

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Debbie Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This book is well worth reading. U.S. nurses performing their duties in what would become a war zone, captured and held as POWs by the Japanese. I have read other accounts, this one covered many of the atrocities that were faced by all of the POWs, but in particular the nurses who were suffering from the same diseases that kept their patients bedridden. The nurses still performed their duties and in some cases surgeries to free the doctors for more complex operations. There are many things that are not covered in the normal US history books. This chapter of our history was not covered for many reasons, one of which was the fact that the military had the nurses sign agreements that they would not speak about their experiences with anyone including their own families. The nurses also wanted to put their experiences behind them. It was a sign of the times. Many members of the greatest generation were reluctant to speak of their experiences after WW II. I had a great uncle that was a POW of the Japanese, the family did not at first know he was alive. When he eventually came home, my aunt had to nurse him back to health, he rarely spoke of those times. By reading this book I have even more insight into what he experienced as a POW. Overall I feel that the authors were able to organize the accounts of these brave women who against all odds came through their experiences and along the way saved many of the other POWs lives with very few medical resources. We should encourage all those we can to read books that cover experiences that our general history books for whatever reason do not so that we are not doomed to repeat history again.

[Positive Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very well organized. It covers the same information as 'We Band of Angels,' so it was nice to get a different perspective on the same information. This book explained where all the hospitals were located and how many nurses were staffed at each one. This book had a better background to what was happening before the bombing in the Philippines.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of history that is little known brought to light. Well worth reading.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly informative. I could not put it down. It painted the picture well of what these nurses had to endure while both on the frontline in Corregidor in the Malinta Tunnel during hours of shelling, the lack of supplies, the mountain of wounded, and ill patients and of course the 3.5 years these women were kept as POWs in Santo Tomas as well as the other camps around the Philippines. There's is a story of true courage and heroism.

[Amy Keene · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not surprising to know that women in military nursing careers went through such atrocities. What is both enlightening and disappointing is that they went largely unrecognized within our history books and within their profession and military branches. I'm honored to know what they did for our military, their colleagues, their enemies and our country. They are truly heroes.

[Rea K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book that I've read about the American Army and Navy nurses from the Philippines. Personally I preferred We Band of Angels, but this one also introduced me to the knowledge that there were Navy nurses on Guam that were also taken as POWs. However, they barely got any page time. Which leaves me curious as to what happened to those particular women. (Guess that's another book search).
It was a little light on some of the information, but I also read the other book by these women And if I Perish, which was a very thick book (I read it in three days when I was home with Covid in January of 2022, and my one roommate was amazed that I'd read about 500 pages while he wasn't home those three days). I think it helped that I had read We Band of Angels, because I had more information that I knew.
The only thing that I really truly did not like was the blurry maps. I don't have my map book of wwii here with me (a thing that I will likely soon remedy), so the inclusion of maps was exciting until I realized that I couldn't read a word on these maps in the book. Some of the pictures were also blurry and hard to see, but I will attribute that to outside matters (photographers, cameras, lighting, circumstances around the pictures, distance, all those little details) and not the book.
We Band of Angels is a contemporary to this book, but not identical. Which is precisely why you read different books. Obviously they have much of the same information, but different authors have access to different people and different ideas on how to tell the story. This one basically focused on the women who ended up at Santo Tomas. Which is fine, but the blurb on the back tells us about the women who were taken prisoner on Guam and so I was expecting a little more about them as well.
If this is the first you're hearing about women POWs in wwii, I definitely recommend this and also continuing your reading. It's horrible to read about the things that these women went through, but it's a story that needs to be told.

[Melodi Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book on incredible women Army nurses during World War 2. I could not put it down for long. I was never aware that the nurses were in the war zones. I knew that they were taken prisoner but I was not aware there were so many that were. These women were dedicated, hard working and brave. They loved their country. I was disappointed in the way the service treated them when they got home by telling them that they need to go back to being women and not talk about their experiences over seas. They worked to help the men that were injured, sick and missing home. They were there to help the ones who were dying to not die alone. They worked under fire and bombings all around them, as well as when they were sick. Their dedication to the soldiers were strong and helped the injured regardless of their situation. Great book. If you love history then this is one history book you should read.

[Nicolle · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a nurse I was interested to learn more about the history of the nursing profession- and WW2 in the pacific. As with all WW2 novels, it’s sad to learn about the struggles and hardships. I can’t imagine being in a camp and still having to work while on food scraps, the rations and amounts are mentioned repetitively, where I would have been more interested in the diseases caused by the lack of nutrients like berry berry disease (that was briefly mentioned) and more about the nurses experience working in that environment.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Japanese were incredibly cruel. The nurses were incredible. Caring for others while starving to death and afflicted with dysentery, cholera, malaria and many other hardships. Their reward? They were told not to talk about their experiences and that it was time for them to resume being ladies.

[Xenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me, the true sign of a great book is when I want to go research more of its subject. With this book, I spent alot of time out of it looking up certain events or names because I wanted to delve deeper. It makes me want to know more about these nurses that haven't gotten the credit they deserve.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really found the book interesting through the fighting on Bataan and Corregidor, then it just became another POW no food, no supplies, poor conditions, treated badly story.

[Margaret Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend to others. Great account of what happened in the pacific.

[Joe Vonnegut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an in depth treatment of the subject, but an enjoyable read about a little known and even less discussed facet of WWII in the Pacific. I recommend it!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a nurse, this was a meaningful account of the history of the nursing profession.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book. I have never heard about any of this before and that is ridiculous. This should be talked about so so much more. It is so important to know this part of our history.

[tinaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and the flow of chapters. It felt concise and leaves me wanting to search for more books related to army nurses. Definitely a recommendation for others

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until this book, I hadn't thought about army nurses. There was the Margaret Houlihan character in M*A*S*H*, of course. These nurses survived combat conditions in the jungle (outdoor hospital), and 3 year imprisonment by the Japanese in Guam and the Philipines. At one point, in the context of psychiatric casualties, the authors offer an explanation of why, even under such duress, none of the nurses became psychiatric casualties. Interesting.
After their service, they were told to sign agreements that they would not discuss their experiences with anyone. I wonder why, and whether men were also told to sign such agreements. At home after the war, some of the women exhibited symptoms of what we now call PTSD, like hiding food, though there was plenty; nightmares.
Although not its purpose, this book gives some background for the current discussion about the role of today's women in the military.

[Fergie · Rating 3 out of 5]

ALL THIS HELL: U.S. NURSES IMPRISONED BY THE JAPANESE is a book worthy of being read, if only for the fact that those women who courageously faced the harrowing horrors of war only to find them captives by the heartless forces of the Imperial Army of the Empire of Japan deserve to have their bravery, endurance, and sacrifice remembered. This was a decent read, but one that was even better in scope was BEDPAN COMMANDO; a memoir about the experiences of a U.S. Army Nurse in the European theatre during WWII. With that said, I'm glad I read Evelyn M. Monahan's book. She deserves credit for shedding light on a part of our history that, for too long, has been neglected.

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. This book reveals the horrors that U.S. nurses faced when captured by Japanese forces during WWII. The casual brutality, rampant diseases, and body-hollowing starvation that these young women and other prisoners faced brought out the best in them. Their courage and perseverance in the face of atrocities helped other prisoners endure. However, it is absolutely despicable that the U.S. government told these women not to talk about their experiences to anyone and did not offer mental/emotional support to them after the war. I'm glad that writers are chronicling the women's stories before they are all gone.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent report of the hardships encountered by the Nurses imprisoned by the Japanese during WWII. Everyone knows about the soldiers, sailors and airmen who were POWs during WWII but few know about the nurses and other medical personnel who are women and what they experioenced while imprisoned by the Japanese. A very thought provoking book especially as many of these 'heroines' have passed away.

[Pat Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The role of nurses in World War II isn't widely known by most of us. The authors take us into the world of American women who served during the fighting at the beginning of the war. These people were imprisoned in Manila until 1945. Riveting read.

[Mary Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping true story of courage and resilience.