Dec. 8, 1941

woke early & listened to news on Radio, Pearl Harbor had been attacked. ie were at war c Japan. Peggy & 2 rode to PX Finance. Drew 200.00 from bank & had it connected into a government check. At Finance office we listened to radio & heard that Clark Field & Baguio had been bombed. Gas masks & helmets were issued to all nurses. Also identification tags which were worn at all times. Previously a demonstration had been given in the field by Capt R. M. William so that we would be able to recognize the various kinds of gases. Gas Masks & helmets. were carried with us always & helmets were worn during air raids. Dec 9 around 3:30 AM first casualties were brought in from Nichols Field which had been bombed. for two nights Dec 8 & 9 there was no sleep for me. When siren went off & planes where heard we got up (having slept in our clothes & donned helmets & put on gas masks around our shoulders. There was shooting (by our ground forces) we learned later) flares were dropped & the house creaked when the bombs were dropped at Nichols Field. Later in the day we went ones to the rear of Hdqtrs & viewed an empty gas shell that the Japanese had dropped. The last two nights at Ft Mck. all nurses slept in basement of hospital. Six operating rooms & surgical teams had been set up.