Thread: Nurses landed with the troops on D-Day?

Intriguing little mystery

ADVANCE for LPNs | Editorial

This is a story about a proud daughter's journey to gain recognition for her mother's brave and courageous service as a nurse during the World War II D-Day invasion in 1944.

Andrea Noto is a retired teacher who now manages one of those charming Victorian bed and breakfast establishments in Cape May, NJ. Coincidentally, a few weeks before my vacation this year, I met the owner of the Cape May home. She suggested I get in touch with Noto and hear about her mother's wartime adventures - and her desire to get this story out to the public.

So, one rainy afternoon in late May, the two of us met in the guest reception area of the quaint inn. Here, she began her mother's story.

Enlists in 1943

Anna Donato, RN, graduated in 1941 from Greenville Hospital School of Nursing, Jersey City, NJ, a 3-year diploma program. Of course, by this time, the United States was heavily engaged in World War II.

In 1943, the young nurse from New Jersey enlisted in the Army. "She decided to enlist before she was drafted," offered her daughter. In fact, President Roosevelt had already signed legislation to draft nurses into military service. However, after the Bolton Act was signed in 1943 to educate civilians to become nurses and serve in the war until its duration, it never became necessary to draft nurses.

In the Heat of Battle

From April 1943 until November 1945, Lt. Donato's military service took her to the beaches of Normandy for the D-Day invasion in 1944, the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in 1944 and the Battle of the Rhine in 1945. In the last few months before her discharge in May 1945, she was assigned to a rescue operation in a German concentration camp, according to her daughter.

Donato was discharged from the Army a few months before she would have been promoted to captain. The now-civilian nurse married, had three children and continued to work as a nursing supervisor and private duty nurse for many years.

Daughter's Chronicles

Over the years, when Noto and her brother were growing up, she never heard her mother talk about her wartime activities. Occasionally, when a program on TV would show scenes from World War II, Donato would start to cry and say, "What you see on television is just a coating of what it was really like," her daughter reported.

In 1984, the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, Noto and her brother decided it would be great to send their mother back to France for the ceremonies.

Shortly before this time, Donato began talking about her wartime experiences in vivid detail. Noto was fascinated by her mother's stories and began recording them. Today, the compilation of information and photos provides great anecdotes about one nurse's duty to her country. Noto wants to share this history with other nurses and the public and is determined to get it published.

Secret Mission

The greatest of Donato's revelations to her daughter was that of her being one of only three nurses and three medical corpsmen chosen for a secret mission to land with the troops on the beaches on June 6, 1944. Unfortunately, the Army has never confirmed this information, according to Noto. She has gone to great lengths to find records to document her mother's story. All Noto has ever been told by authorities is that this information has not been declassified.

Well-Deserved Tributes

Even though Noto still expects to uncover the records about her mother's historic secret mission, she is happy about how she was honored before she died. In 1984, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Brig. Gen. Connie Slewitski, chief of the Army Nursing Corps, came to Donato's home to present her with a number of medals.

With reporters on hand to record the ceremony, Noto recalled that Slewitski pinned the medals on Donato and said, "Welcome home, lieutenant!" A few weeks later, in June 1984, the honored nurse was scheduled to fly to France and England for the D-Day ceremonies. However, she had a heart attack when she was scheduled to depart. Later, she was able to make the trip and enjoyed herself immensely, according to Noto.

However, Donato's biggest tribute came in 1995. During the D-Day battle, she had cared for a young physician who was scared and near death. To calm and comfort her patient, she asked him where he was from. When he replied New York City, she said to him, "We're neighbors; I live right next door in New Jersey."

The physician lived, and he never forgot his nurse. In 1995, the The Star-Ledger in Newark ran a series on women's history in New Jersey. Donato was named as the oldest living D-Day nurse. Immediately, the physician remembered her. The two D-day veterans were reunited on June 6, 1995. Two weeks later, Donato died.

After my meeting with this nurse's daughter, I left with a new-found admiration for nursing's unsung heroes. The story of Noto's journey continues on.

I knowe that nurses never frought in thee front lines but they frought hard to save lives!
I believe thee nurses a great ladies and a great part of ww2 ande other wars.