The Woman with a Purple Heart by Diane Hanks, a novel based on the real life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, Hawaii, begins just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor December, 1941, and continues through 1942.
In November, 1941, Lieutenant Annie Fox is transferred to Hickam Field, an Air Force base in Honolulu. Although Anne is thrilled to be stationed in beautiful Hawaii, foremost on her mind is to serve her country. Anne is in charge of the nurses at Hickam Hospital and diligently carries out her duties, earning the respect of the nurses in her charge. She also volunteers at a civilian community center. While there she becomes friends with one of the center’s nurses, Kay, a Japanese born in Hawaii, and mother of two children. Kay’s husband, born in Japan, has returned to Japan and has encouraged his wife and family to join him.
On December 7th, Anne is on her way to work when she sees the first Japanese Zero fighter plane fly low over Hickam’s Parade Ground, followed by many others. Soon bombs drop and the subsequent death and destruction leave everyone stunned. Anne rallies her nurses and they work non-stop to save as many lives as they can. Although the hospital doesn’t suffer a direct hit, many of the base buildings are destroyed by bombs and subsequent fires. They soon learn that adjacent Pearl Harbor suffered even worse death and destruction, with many of the Pacific fleet destroyed or severely damaged.
Annie is gratified when her friend Kay volunteers to help the medical team at Hickam, followed by several “ladies of the night,” prostitutes who worked tirelessly to help treat the injured.
When Annie’s friend Kay is taken into custody by the F.B.I. as a suspected subversive, Anne is shocked. She desperately tries to learn where her friend has been taken. Annie learns that because of Kay’s husband’s relationship to Japan, she, too, is under suspicion. The story goes into some detail about Japanese Americans being sent to internment camps.
Although the subject is grim, I very much enjoyed The Woman with a Purple Heart. I lived in the Territory of Hawaii two years, 1955 to 1957, so I knew many of the places mentioned. I saw buildings at Hickam Air Force Base that still bore bullet holes from planes on that terrible day. I worked at a bank in Honolulu where the majority of employees were Japanese. On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, December 7, many of them told me their stories, how their families were split up, curfews imposed under martial law, men and women lost jobs, Japanese churches and schools closed. One of the fellows told me he served on an American ship as an interpreter, the only Japanese on board. I asked him how that was, and he replied, “lonely.” It was a difficult time for all. This novel describes with heart the infamous attack on United States soil, and the bravery of nurses during that horrific period.