December 8, 1941

I can’t believe what I’m told and know! Mrs. Roesholm called me at 7:30 a.m. and said, “The Japanese have bombed Honolulu”. That was the first I knew we would have war. Mrs. Roasholm and I were to work with the Red Cross unit at the High Commissioner’s residence but it was closed. Then I went to Ah Gong’s, the grocer, where I bought a six-weeks supply of food. What a mob of people were shopping! Miss Davison, the chief nurse at Sternberg Hospital, phoned and asked, “Will you be available for emergency duty?” Dr. Whitley and Captain Bye came for me at 10 P.M. I worked in the operating room; there I saw my first war casualties. What gruesome sights! One fine looking young officer dressed in a field uniform, with trouser leg ripped open above the knee, had the muscles and flesh of his leg torn off by a piece of shrapnel, four of his toes were missing and the bones in his foot crushed; yet he showed no emotions and was giving his soldiers a beautiful demonstration of courage and high morale. An astounding number of men had their Buttucks blown off; all the muscles and tissue were completely severed from the body. The wound left a large exposed area that will take months to heal. The reason for this was that the men were lying on their stomachs. We worked until 4 A.M. Then to eat and rest for an hour.