Interview with Anne N. Bauer [10/13/2001]

Debrah Fox:

Today is October 13th, 2001, and we are in Colonel Anne Bauer's home in Winnemac, Indiana, and of course that's DUR. And I am Master Sergeant Retired Deborah Fox, and I am the interviewer. And you were in the Marines?

Anne N. Bauer:

Army.

Debrah Fox:

Army.

Anne N. Bauer:

Army Nurse Corps.

Debrah Fox:

Army Nurse Corps, okay. And so what we're going to do here, jogging the memory, were you drafted or did you enlist?

Anne N. Bauer:

I volunteered.

Debrah Fox:

Volunteered. Where were you living at the time?

Anne N. Bauer:

I was working for Dr. Whitlock in Mishawaka, and I was living there, and my aunt and cousin took me up in Mishawaka, Michigan for lunch, because my cousin liked to dance. He was _____________+ older than I was, and nothing but he just loved to dance, but he had broken up with his girlfriend. So, he wanted to go back up there. It's the only place where you could dance on Sunday at that time. So, while we were there the band stopped, you could hear a pin drop, "All military personnel report to your base immediately."

He looked across the table at me, and I looked at him, and I guess we both decided we weren't going to be drafted, so that was the end of our lunch practically. We went back, and the next morning when I went to work, I said to Dr. Whitlock, I said, Doctor, could I have a couple minutes to talk to you sometime this morning. He said, right now is a good time. So, I said I don't know whether you heard it or not, but World War II broke out yesterday. He said, yes. And I said, well, I said, I have been getting letters from the Indiana State Nurse's Association, that if they didn't have enough volunteers for the military that they were going to draft nurses. I said, Doctor ______________________+ He said, well, I'm glad you said that, because he said, you know, I'm hot too.

He said, I'm ROTC, but he said the reason I haven't said anything is, he said, I know how valuable your family is to you. You are raising your two brothers, they were with me at the time, and so he said, so I think the best thing to do is for both of us just to close shop and go in the service.

Well, we did. Well, he was a big surgeon, and he was a northern Indiana surgeon at that time. And so he decided that would be the best thing for him to do, because he said that if he volunteered, he might go in as a lieutenant or a captain or if he was drafted he would. But, if he volunteered, he could go in as a major.

So, that was why he was going in, too. So I didn't have much choice. I knew I would be going in as a second lieutenant, probably. So, anyway, well I don't remember when he left, but I left in August, because I had some paperwork to do yet. And I left in August, and I went to Fort Benjamin... I was commissioned, however, in Mishawaka by a lawyer.

Debrah Fox:

What year was this?

Anne N. Bauer:

1942, yeah, August of '42.

Debrah Fox:

Okay.

Anne N. Bauer:

And I was commissioned a second lieutenant and my orders were I could have a footlocker and a bag, and, of course, they furnished me transportation to Fort Harrison. Well, when I arrived there, of course back in those days, boy I'm telling you... of course there were no Negroes assigned to your outfit at that time. They were all over on the coast. They were all over on the base, and, of course, on the bus none of us were on the bus at that time, but anyway I had a footlocker, and when I arrived they made me immediately assistant head nurse of the Officers Recovery Ward, because I was replacing a nurse that was going overseas.

Well, I wondered why I had to count all those -- because in those days you counted all the towels and wash rags and sheets and everything. You had a certain level. Well, she taught me how to do that, and after she got all that orientation, the paperwork and everything, she took me out to the ward. And, of course, there were a lot of patients on both sides.

They was great big buildings, you know, two stories. I'm sure you were in them, too. And so anyway, about the third patient we got to, she introduced me to him, captain somebody. Well, he knew who I was, and I knew who he was, because he was the surgeon in Royal Center or somewhere close by, so anyway, that took care of that ordeal.

When it wasn't very long, then she left and went to... she went to Africa, Cairo or somewhere out there. So anyway, of course I stayed on there, but not for very long, when I received orders to bag up and get ready to leave for California, to the ______________+ Hospital. Well, them being an only __________ so on and so forth, there was quite a few of us, and we went by train. They had to open up the train. It hadn't been in use for a while, one of those property trains or service trains, I should say I guess, and so I landed in California.

And of course, we went through all kind of field training, boy I'm telling you, we crawled under barbed wire, and everything else in those days, and all of a sudden, we had an assignment. We left on a ship going to West Point. It was the Converted America. And, of course, it was the same color as the ocean, and we were too fast a ship to have any escort except by plane.

Well, the only plane we had was just out of the cities for a short distance. We went across the water for six weeks, and while we were on the water; however, our mess hall was a converted dance hall, and entertainment place. Oh, it was a huge place. Of course, this was the officers mess. And I had my tray and was going to my table with all the rest of them, whole bunch of us, when all of a sudden the ship took a lurch, made a complete turnaround. A lot of them fell, trays and all, but I didn't. I braced myself.

That's why I wear these granny shoes, because I had a bad ankle from it. They said never to let anybody operate on it, I'd have a stiff ankle. So I never have. I wear - that's why I wear pants all the time.

Debrah Fox:

So what happened with the ship. Why did it -

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, we went on and we finally landed --

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

-- in, I was trying to get that -- Carcacha [ph.], India. And in Carcacha we were put on a British tug I called it, and boy that was something, because it wasn't for military at all, it was for animals, you know. So, boy those beds were harder than a brick bat, and so on. And that's the way the whole thing was. I don't remember how long it was, ten days or two weeks, I think. And we finally then got to Calcutta, India. In Calcutta then, immediately I was assigned as the head nurse of recovery, and surgical unit.

Well, I'll say it was two buildings that were taken over from the natives, from the plantation owners. One was medical, and one was surgical. Well, the surgical building held the operating room, and the recovery ward where I was was just around the corner from there. So, anyway, I was head nurse on there and I had a wonderful technician. He was a male nurse, and male nurses were not commissioned in those days. So he was a big shot on me - and, oh, boy, that was wonderful, because he could just take over any time, you know.

And here I have a lot of these surgical wards that opened up later on as time went on. And I don't remember what the census was any more, but we started out with a few units (cough) excuse me. And we ended up with a bunch of people, and while I was there then, it didn't take too awful long till I received orders to go to Kandysalon. I was one of five nurses that went to Kandysalon. And three of us, the operating room nurse and a staff nurse and myself were assigned, and two others came from the theater.

Well, one of them that came to the theater was from Carcacha, and I knew her. And the other one I did not know, but she came as the chief nurse. She was a first lieutenant. She was an anesthetist and had been on the East Coast with this unit, but she came over as the chief nurse. Well, we were in Kandy and, of course, it was a secret move. So, you couldn't go anywhere and you couldn't do anything except what they told you to. And if you go to the mess hall, it was way out at the headquarters, the Kandy headquarters, and we went by bus or by a truck driver, but you had to have another nurse with you.

You couldn't go by yourself. You had to have another female. So the two of us went. So our time was arranged so that whoever went to eat first came back and relieved us for the night. We were on 12-hour duty, and no time off. But anyway, I forget how long - well, I was there until 1945, and I came home. And I was reassigned to Fort Harrison again. And so I was there - that was when they closed the hospital, and I went to Fort Knox, Kentucky. So I was at Fort Knox three years, and while I was there I received -- with my sister who was in basic at Fort Sam [Houston], and she came up to see me and stayed until I took her to Walter Reed. And I was there three years when I received my orders and went to Germany in 97th General Hospital in Frankfort. I was there three years. In the meantime, I had gone to field school and everywhere else, and became the assistant chief nurse in case of necessity, rather, and I was head nurse and supervisor.

But I mainly had communicable diseases, and one of them was the first female doctor commissioned in the Army, an elderly lady, and she was the head nurse of the ward or chief nurse of the ward, and her assistant was a German doctor, and come to find out he was the son of a family that had assisted our soldiers during the war.

And our people had gone to his father and said, what can we do for what you have done for us? And he said, there's only one thing, we have a son that is interested in medicine, and he would like to go to the United States. Could you help him? So he came, and he graduated from medical school.

Debrah Fox:

Right?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah. And in fact he painted that picture over there on the wall. You can't see it very good right now, but he became my assistant ward officer. And, as I said, I had nearly all communicable diseases. It wasn't all of it, but most of it, and his office was right next door to mine. The door was usually always open. This time it was closed. I knocked on the door, because I wanted him to see a patient whose temperature had gone up. And when I went in there he was painting on an easel, from an easel.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

And I said to him, I didn't know you painted. He said, yes, I love to. He said, if you bring a picture in any time, I'll draw it for you. So that's one of the Denver area of the country anyway.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

So I took it to him, and he made that. Well, anyway, he saw my patient. He was wonderful. He was real good. And so I was there, and of course, went to field school, and what else did I do while I was there? Not much of anything, I guess, other than work. But, anyway, so then when I came home, I received orders to go back to the States. So I had had three years, and that was your quota anyway, so I boarded a ship and came back to the States, and don't you know the further I ran, well I landed, of course, on the East Coast eventually, but I'm telling you, I'll never forget that assignment as long as I live.

And then I was assigned to Fort Benjamin Harrison again. It had just opened up, and all it was was the hospital had been made into -- had one ward on it at that time, and it was just started. And, of course, I was put in charge right away, and I was on the ward, and don't you know, I tried to help the doctors and everybody because they didn't know a lot of them. They were all pretty new, and in the meantime then, of course, it wasn't very long before I received more workers, but in the meantime our hospital had really grown. We had a nice nurses' quarters. It had been a converted home of some kind, a beautiful place. And I kind of hated to leave that, but then I received -- where did I go from there?

Well, anyway, I was there for a while until we got everybody all taken to their places where they belonged, and the hospital was growing, and in fact they even grew into an ob/gyn they added. And I had gone to the chief nurse and asked her if I could be assigned in that section. Well, she said, you're on orders, but she says in the meantime, yes, because she said the nurse that I have there now is going to Washington, assigned there or on leave. So, she said, I need somebody to replace her, but you won't go on those orders right away, but you will pretty soon. So here I was, in charge again, and I had I don't know how many people. I don't know how many deliveries I had because we had them in the hallway, we had them everywhere, because there wasn't much space or anything. And so after that assignment I did get orders then. And as I said then, I went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, I believe it was at that point, yes. Well, anyway, my next assignment then, of course, was again overseas, and where did I go? Well, I had been to India, I had been to Asmara, and I had been to Europe, and I went overseas.

I went to Fort Riley, Kansas. And so, anyway, while I was at Fort Riley I received orders to go up to Wisconsin to the reserves training camp. And I thought I would be in a hospital up there, because I had taken hospitals up there before, and was the chief nurse, opened up the hospital and everything, but instead of that they informed me that that is why I was going. I was to see the hospital was directed and conducted properly, and I would be in charge of all of the _________ that I would be assistant to the post commander and the post surgeon.

Debrah Fox:

Wow.

Anne N. Bauer:

Whoa, that's the way I felt, because I thought what am I being trained for here, you know.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

But it worked out very well, and I was promoted to lieutenant colonel while I was up there. And, but in the meantime, I had a wonderful base surgeon. He was a Negro, but he was a plastic hand surgeon. But it wasn't very long -- oh, he was just wonderful. He got orders for Korea. So I got a new man. Well, he came in in awful looking fatigues. The first thing he said was, there won't be any coffee break here any more, because we were drinking coffee, you know. And my sergeant always stopped and got a dozen doughnuts on his way to work. And there won't be any doughnuts, either, says he. Well, that took care of that little deal. So, anyway, my sergeant says to me, now, Colonel Bauer, now what are we going to do? I said, I'll figure out something. So, by gum, I went to town and I found a place where they made personal coffee cups. So I had one with his name on it, and I put it on his desk, and that took care of that. We started having our coffee and doughnuts again.

Debrah Fox:

(Laughter.)

Anne N. Bauer:

But my sergeant said to me one day, Colonel Bauer, if you can ever get those dirty fatigues off of that doctor, he said, I'll take them to the laundry. Well, he was a major and I was a lieutenant colonel, but I had said to him, I said, don't you have any other fatigues, and he said yes. But what he did -- and the reason he wore those cause he liked to work in ditches, and those kind of places they catch these little tiny animals, the little, whatever they were there, you know, frogs and all that stuff, and that's what he smelled, too.

So, anyway, by gum, it wasn't very long until he had a different pair of fatigues on, and my sergeant took those to the dry cleaners right away, to the laundry. Well, it wasn't very long until he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, so I took my lieutenant colonel ___ and pinned on him, because as the commanding officer I was naturally going -- I was to be there with him and all. He was one of my men.

Well, that worked out very well. And, but it wasn't very, very long until I received orders -- I didn't receive the orders yet, but I got a telephone call, a three-way telephone call, and that three-way telephone call was Washington, D.C., the chief nurse, it was Fort Riley, Kansas, where I had been that was their commanding officer, and Vietnam.

And it was General Seaman - yeah, I guess that was his name, Seaman. And he said, Annie, he said, I want you to close that hospital, write out an after action report, and report back to here immediately -- report to the 9030 Evac Hospital immediately, and activate it. Well, my people were there, because when I returned from Asmara, Eritrea, I was met by two policemen, and they had an envelope in their hand. And I was ordered to go to a secret room and read this. They couldn't see it or anything. I had to read it and sign it, and put it back in an envelope and give it to them. Well, it was assigning me as the chief nurse at the 9030 Evac Hospital in case of an emergency.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, but I already knew the staff, because I was training nurse for all-- you know, just key people, especially the military medical side of it. And so anyway, that's why I was there. So, when I did what he told me to do, go to the hospital, fill an after action report, try and get all my valuables and cancelled my 30-days leave, and reported back to Fort Riley and activated the 9030 Evac. Because I had them all, I must have had close to 60 nurses I think. And of course, having physicals and everything else, shots and all that paperwork and everything, and don't you know that -- how much more we got?

Debrah Fox:

Well, we've still got still a little bit.

Anne N. Bauer:

And so anyway, my gosh, it's raining -

Debrah Fox:

Yeah, it's raining pretty good.

Anne N. Bauer:

-- so anyway, as I said, we activated and we went by train, and we went by boat and we landed in Saigon, Vietnam, but we had to stay out in the waters, in the ocean until all the other ships were unloaded with supplies taken off. So I don't remember how long we were there, the one thing I can remember is way up on the hill there was a beautiful Madonna watching over us. Beautiful.

Debrah Fox:

A real one?

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, I don't know. I don't think so. I think it was a statue.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

But anyway, of course it looked real, and it was just beautiful, especially in the moonlight. We were there all night long, and everything. And so we were in those waters quite a while and finally the First Infantry Division, we were medical support for, came by in trucks and picked us up and took us to an area. Well, General Seaman had said when he called me and told me I was going to Vietnam, he said, we've chased out the VC, and we've cut down all the trees, and we're building a road on Highway 1 for your hospital. So they took us out to this great big empty lot where they had tents pitched for us, and we were there, and we had a mess hall there and everything until our place was ready for us. And of course, the first thing we did then was put down a great big cement pad. I'll have to show you a picture so you can understand what I'm talking about, but we put down a great big square concrete, and put a Quonset hut on each side. We had four hospitals right there, and of course, that was wonderful, because we didn't have to go outside or nothing. And so we started out there, and we had the emergency area, the operating room, and then we added on wards as we could, as we needed them, and we -- I was there then -- oh, I was there almost a year when I asked them if I could remain.

Debrah Fox:

You wanted to remain?

Anne N. Bauer:

Two years. I had many years in. I'd retire. Well, that part was all right, they recognized my years. I had 20-something years in, but they said at that time they okayed it. It wasn't very long I got a phone call and they cancelled it. They had a job for me, I needed to fill somebody's boots, and somebody that could fill mine, but I had to go there. Where do I go but Mattington General Hospital. Well, I couldn't figure that out. Big hospital, you know.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

Chief nurse there. And the reason for it was is because they bringing home the Vietnam returnees back there. And I had been taking care of them. That's why I was there. Well, so there I was. I had a great staff as time went on. There wasn't very many when I went there, and don't you know that finally one -- I used to go to the PT very often, because it was so many in there, and I didn't really know them, because I didn't in Vietnam, you know, so -- but anyway, when I used to go and follow them up, watch the PTs and maybe help them, if necessary, and all of a sudden the orders came down, and I was to go along with the patients up in the mountains for a ski tournament. Well, who went to that ski tournament but this double amputee that I had been observing and watching. Of course he had artificial limbs. But do you know, he won.

Debrah Fox:

Really?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yes. He won the tournament. Well, you can imagine how I felt. I felt pretty darn good about that deal. So then I went back there and finally I did finally receive orders then, after all that business was over with, and I went -- they wanted to send me to Pennsylvania the Double Deckers or to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but I said, no, I was getting older, I was too old to walk all those steps, and you've have to as the chief nurse. So, don't you know, I got Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, which was about as close as I could get, because I had too much rank and too many years of service for Fort Harrison or Fort Knox. But anyway, so I was at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and of course you know there that was where they had all those foreign nationals and school there. I think there were 60 of them.

Debrah Fox:

Now, what year is this? I was there at Fort Leavenworth as well. When were you there?

Anne N. Bauer:

I was there '50 -- I graduated from there, '51. No, 1970, because I retired from there.

Debrah Fox:

Oh, is that right?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah, I retired from there. It was '70 and -- I retired in August of '70, so I was there a couple of months, a couple years before. But anyway, the hospital, of course, everything was pretty as far as I was concerned, except all these foreign nationals, they had their families there, and a lot of them were learning English, couldn't speak English, and so there was quite a bit of TV, you know, and some of them across the hall, because I lived in a (black space).

Debrah Fox:

Because I lived _______ too,.

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, good. So then after retirement, of course, I was up there with all those big wigs that graduated from the foreign countries, great big. I came home and got my mother. She was there with me for a week, and so anyway of course, that line up was way across the room. I was the only woman, and I received the most medals of the highest honors.

Debrah Fox:

Wow, that's great.

Anne N. Bauer:

How about that?

Debrah Fox:

Bet your mama was pretty proud of that.

Anne N. Bauer:

I guess maybe she was. Of course, everybody tried to entertain her. They all liked her so well. And, but I was presented with that then when I came home, that gold gizmo over there.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

And, no, she enjoyed it. I don't know how on God's earth that woman ever did it, because she was elderly, and she had this macular degeneration same as I have. I had her here for 13 years, and boy I'm telling you, that was kind of a rough deal for her, but she managed. I had everything in the room just as it is right now, so that she could put her hands from here to there, but it wasn't all like this then. We used to eat at the table.

But, anyway, by gum, she did it. She did all right until she finally had to go to the hospital. I took her to a nursing home, doctor told me that I had to put here in a nursing home. She was too much for me, he said. And, of course, she died, what, five years ago, I think, something like that. And, but anyway, of course, I'm 86 now, so I was up in years and he didn't think I had any business doing some of this, although I had been doing it all my life.

And so, but anyway, then so I came home, and I was having my - I had my physical at Fort Leavenworth by this surgeon, and he was something else. I wouldn't let him operate on me anyhow, and but in the meantime, however, he did my physical for retirement. Well, he didn't give me _________ or anything. He wasn't going to give me anything for my foot, because he could fix my foot. Well, I had been told by several big surgeons from D.C. and everywhere, and so I said to him, I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. Well, so he closed the books. So I went to the VA Recovery there, and they said, don't you turn in any papers or anything. You bring them right here when you're finished. So I did, and they sent me off to Denver, Colorado or I could have stayed in Indianapolis, but I had made some arrangements out in Denver anyway.

So I went to Denver, and I had my physical out there, and Dr. Cook gave me 30 percent disability because that was for a hiatal hernia, too, which was not acting up at the time, but I had it, and sinusitis. I will say I do get that postnasal drip occasionally, but anyway, I got 30 percent disability. And while I was in Denver, I banked at IRA Bank. The bank was five years old the day I was born, IRA bank, so don't you know -- but anyway, the day I was born, the President of the bank brought my parents for me a bankbook. It looked like a Bible. It was black leather and had gold edges, but you had to take it to the bank for them to open it and back the money out, they had the key.

Well, that's what happened. I've been with that bank ever since. I have never let them down, and they opened up a branch here in Winnemac so I was happy about that, and they all know me, too, so I don't have any problem anywhere. But I'm telling you -- so, I had a phone call, and the bank telling me that they had a place they thought I might enjoy, because I had told them what I would like to have when I retired, to watch out for it. And they explained it, so I said how about if I ask my brother Joe to come look it up, cause the rest of them was _____ at that time or not able. And so I called brother Joe, and he said, well, sure, I'll go and check it out.

So he went to his principal and his principal says no, she's not your immediate family. He said, I can't let you have the time off. Of course, Joe is past retirement stage he was in. He was in Indianapolis teaching, and so anyway he said well, if that's the case, I'll turn in my retirement papers right now. So he thought it over, and he said, oh, no, I'll let you have the next couple days off. Of course, his wife is in the library, so she had the time off, too, and they came up here to Winnemac.

They came up to see the place, which was at the Van Meter Park, halfway between here and Monterey, but Joe said, no, it's a wonderful place and it's a steal. But I won't let you live there in the wintertime, but if you want two places, you can have it. He said, but, no, those roads are too bad for your foot. Well, so anyway, but he says we're having lunch here in Winnemac now, and I just overheard that there's a place here in Winnemac that will be up for sale in three months. He said, I happen to know that house. He said I have a daughter in school. I've been there a lot of times. He said, what do you think about that? He said, you wouldn't have a mental map to go through, that you could move in tomorrow. I said, no thank you, I don't want to move until the first of May. This is the first of February.

So, anyway, by golly, he called me back. I was on a three-way phone again with him and his wife and Wilma Murphy, that lived here at the time, and they gave me a blow-by-blow description of everything. Every bush, every tree, every wall, everything, and I did have this repainted in 1971, and it's been that way ever since. I finally got a new rug in 1980 and took mine up to mother.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

The drapes are still the ones that were here when I came, and every time I get them dry cleaned, I don't think they are going to hold up, you know, I think that's it. And then they even told me --

Debrah Fox:

It's a beautiful little house.

Anne N. Bauer:

It is. Of course the walls are all wood.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

And so -- and the only thing is they didn't have any heat out on the porch, but when I came here my sister-in-law kept wanting me to be the chief nurse out here at the hospital. They had just opened it up. I said, no, Cat, you're a better nurse than I am. Well, she and my sister were in the Cadet Corps, and I said no, you're a better nurse than I am. I said, you take the job and I'll baby-sit. She had a 3-year-old daughter. So Diane came, lived with me, went to school here, from here, and she ended up wanting to be an LPN, going to _________ University, and she now is an LPN at Plymouth, ____________ and has been there for I forget how many years now. And, but anyway, so Pat didn't take the chief nurse's job. She didn't want it. They got somebody else. She's still living, but she's hobbling around worse than I am right now., and she's not as old as I am, I don't think, either. But anyway, I took care of that deal, and I have been here ever since. But I was president of the Mental Health Association, because the doctors did not want to send patients to Logansport.

Debrah Fox:

Big place.

Anne N. Bauer:

Big place, they could take care of them theirself. There was only a couple of them. So I went out to the chief nurse and asked her about it, and so she took me and showed me the room they put them in, you know. It's a mattress on the floor and everything. And so, that was true. They slit their wrists of whatever, it didn't make any difference. Well, that's when I was going to stay with this, because I took over that presidency or started then. And it wasn't very long, you know, the doctor told me I had to stop all my volunteering, because I was doing quite a bit of that. But I didn't stop that, because they assigned me to the Board of Directors at Logansport, so I was going to stay there by golly, and I did, because it wasn't too much. But anyway, so that's where we stand right now. And I finally did retire then, and here I am. I'm' by myself, still active, still active. Not doing much of anything however, but brother Joe, you know, wanted me to join the VFW in Indianapolis. And he went to them and saw about it, but women were not accepted in the VFW at that time. Well, I had heard that, but I didn't believe it. Well, he had a _______________ of course. But it was quite a wait until they opened this one here in Winnemac. That's when I joined, for women, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

My uncle's the one that asked me. I had belonged to the Auxiliary and everything. I didn't think about joining the VFW, until my uncle Don said, why don't you join the VFW.

Anne N. Bauer:

I know him. I know he knows me.

Debrah Fox:

Right, he does. He mentioned your name, so. Yeah, so now I'm the Senior Vice Commander.

Anne N. Bauer:

Oh, are you?

Debrah Fox:

Yeah. It keeps me busy.

Anne N. Bauer:

I haven't been to any of the meetings in so long, because of my health. I feel so bad about it, because I hear this, but I want to go so bad, you know, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

They do need some help, but that will come with time.

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah.

Debrah Fox:

Let me ask you a couple more questions. I know you didn't see any combat.

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, I really didn't see it, but I did have a hole in my tent, I didn't tell you about. In Vietnam I went to the administrative officer, and I asked him if I could build a nurses' quarters, because I had already asked another question about an administrative building to put our footlockers and stuff in. He said, well, probably. Well, then I asked him about the nurses' quarters, and he built one just like our hospital, you know, a big one, but I didn't think I had any business living with him, you know, with all those nurses. That wasn't right. But, the Green Berets put up a tent for me with a, what you call it over it.

Debrah Fox:

Some type of a shelter that goes over the --

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah, but it was the parachute.

Debrah Fox:

Oh.

Anne N. Bauer:

Now I got it, a parachute, and so they put a parachute over it. Well, do you know, of course I lived in that, and they built me a desk, a huge big desk and a place to put my clothes, to hang my clothes up. They were so good to me, and so on, but don't you know that one day when I got up in the morning I had a hole in my tent. A bullet, wow, but it was in the parachute, it wasn't in my tent, really. But I will never forget that as long as I live, but that is as close as I really came. We hired all those natives to work for us in the daytime. But I declared up and down that they shot at us at night. I'm sure that they did.

Debrah Fox:

So there was fighting around you?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah, uh-huh.

Debrah Fox:

That must have been very -

Anne N. Bauer:

The emergency room, I always thought that the helicopters would be - well, we had a helicopter pad, it was just a few seconds where they put the danger area, and there was a lot of times I used to help them carry those liters in.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah.

Debrah Fox:

So were there many casualties in the unit?

Anne N. Bauer:

Of course there were, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

A lot of casualties?

Anne N. Bauer:

Of course, infantry division really had a lot of, you know, because they were divided into the Green Berets and I forget who all, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

Do you have a real memorable experience about any of that?

Anne N. Bauer:

Nothing particular other than taking care of them in the emergency room. The main thing is you hear about the bombings, and that help is going immediately, you know. And I did go to a leprosy colony, the First Infantry Division, to find a helicopter and the doctor and technicians, but they needed a nurse, so I used to go along up to the leprosy colony and we examined patients and so on and so forth, and that was very interesting. I tell you. But they were so good about it, that if I couldn't go, one of my nurse's couldn't go, someone of us went, yeah. Which I could usually break myself away better than they could, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

Did you have any affiliation with any of the young kids, or orphans maybe?

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, we admitted... we even had a delivery. She was left out on the highway, and we had her. Of course, we had kids, you know, that were injured and so on.

Debrah Fox:

Medals or citations that you were awarded while you were in the service, not at retirement, but --

Anne N. Bauer:

Oh, my goodness. I couldn't tell you what all I got. I've got a whole chest full of them. Afterward I will show you them. I got my blouse and stuff ready for burial. I was thinking the other day, I ought to send that to the dry cleaners.

Debrah Fox:

Yeah.

Anne N. Bauer:

I will take a picture of that, too, or something.

Debrah Fox:

How did you stay in touch with your family? Did you write letters?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yes, uh-huh. They came through ___________ I guess they called it, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

For me that was always exciting, getting letters.

Anne N. Bauer:

Me, too, yeah. Not only that, but I also heard from a lot of my classmates.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

And today there are still some that come to see me.

Debrah Fox:

That's great.

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah, even through I was in China, Burma, India, you know, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

That's great.

Anne N. Bauer:

That's amazing. A fellow that has the Good Oil Company and I, our birthdays are the same day. And we used to go swimming together in the tip-a-canoe.

Debrah Fox:

And he reminds of that every once in a while.

Anne N. Bauer:

For my birthday last year, he came with a box of candy.

Debrah Fox:

Oh, that's nice.

Anne N. Bauer:

And he had never brought me anything before, but he did. All dressed up to the gilt.

Debrah Fox:

(Laughter.)

Anne N. Bauer:

And his family must have donned him with this nice uniform he had on, yeah. But, anyway that Good Oil Company, he's the one that start this down here. Of course, his son has it now, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

Okay. How about the food? How was the food?

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, it was all, practically all, came by ship from the United States and Australia was the meat, usually from Australia, but other than that, we really didn't have any local -- we wasn't supposed to eat any of the local food, which to my knowledge I never did.

Debrah Fox:

Did you ever have any of the C rations?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yes, and in fact when I was stationed in Calcutta, and I received - what did I receive orders for -- well, anyway, I received orders for Asmaria or Atria, the commanding officer from Calcutta, the whole base there, called me and he said, Annie, he said, you're on orders, of course he knew me real well, because I trained his people, and he said, you know what, you're going overseas, and he said you're going to need hot food. And he said, so, I have -- I confiscated a little stove, and I have stuff to give you to take along with you. So he gave me one of those little lamps business you know, that heated, and of course we didn't have any ice or anything, but the natives had it and we weren't allowed to have any of it, but we could put our canteens or whatever we had down in there to cool off, and it cooled off the room anyway, because it was in a tub. But I will just never forget the General giving me that stuff, because we had that all the way across. Yeah. It's funny what people do, isn't it.

Debrah Fox:

Yes, it is.

Anne N. Bauer:

So nice.

Debrah Fox:

So did you feel pressure or stress?

Anne N. Bauer:

I guess I must not have because I stayed on, I didn't bother about much of nothing. It didn't seem to bother me any. And I was really never even thought about coming home or anything, you know, for some reason or another. I guess it was because I was too busy. I had too much responsibility.

Debrah Fox:

How did everybody entertain themselves, especially in remote places?

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, we didn't have much of nothing. Everybody just kind of entertained themselves with each other, I guess. They probably played games. I know I never had much time for that kind of stuff, but I just often wondered why everybody seemed to have it, because I really never had anyone that was crying around or they wanted to go home or anything. I guess they thought it was their duty.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh. Let's see, did you have any entertainers coming in, like the USO or anything like that?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yes. In fact, I've got a picture of Joe E. Brown over there on that table over there, but it was in Calcutta with us. My commanding officer and _______ officer were with him.

Debrah Fox:

Well, great. I want to get copies of this stuff. What did you do when you were on leave? Did you have time for, you know?

Anne N. Bauer:

No, I didn't get to go on any leaves. I guess I thought Asmara and the rest of those places were all free entertainment, you know, they were all different. And I enjoyed Asmara very much, because when we arrived in Asmara, why, it was under the secret business, and we were put in the Queens Hotel. The females were in the Queens Hotel, and the males were put in the Kings Hotel. And of course at that time when I went to Asmara, they had just authorized Women's Army Corps, so there was a lot of secretaries primarily, and they came over and some of them were commissioned officers, same as I was. And so they were in the Queens Hotel same as I was, and I was there were five nurses, and ______________+ but anyway, that was an enjoyable assignment. And one of them, what's the name of this wonderful cook, this lady that is the big cook. I had her book but I think I give it to somebody. You know as well as I do who I'm talking about. She is on TV once in a while, but she was one of those women that were there, and don't you know, then of course when we got back and I was retired and everything, and she retired. And by golly, here she retired also, and she got married in the meantime, and she married this guy who was a gourmet cook. And originally she came from around England or somewhere, I think.

Debrah Fox:

I know who you are talking about, but I can't think of the name, either.

Anne N. Bauer:

Yeah, isn't that aggravating, because I know her as well as I know my own name. But don't you know, I wrote to her and told her, I said, you may not remember me, but I remember you from Kandysalon. And I got a letter back from her, yeah.

Debrah Fox:

Not Julia Childs?

Anne N. Bauer:

Yes. That's who it is. Yeah, that's who it is. She was fabulous.

Debrah Fox:

Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual event?

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, of course being with her was one thing. After I got home of course. But I enjoyed all of that, because I did enjoy them, because we were the only ones, the only administrative officers were assigned to that Kings Hotel, but all sick officers came into the Kings Hotel, and of course we were at the Queens Hotel, and we were by the lakes. And we had to walk clear over to the Kings Hotel, so we had to go around the lake to the Kings Hotel and take care of these people. So it was kind of interesting because we met a lot of people.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

And so on, but them you were being real quiet about it, you were kind of bashful, I guess, at that time anyway. But that was an enjoyable assignment. That wasn't very long. They opened up our hospital which was a convent in Cathey. And they took the nuns and the orphans all up in the mountains, and here we were assigned to the convent thing. And the nurses were put in the nuns' quarters, which was a chapel. And the chapel was then divided into five rooms., but the hospital itself, of course, was all ___ and everything, dirty, you can imagine, after being vacant for a while. But anyway, I was up on a ladder washing windows, walls, and in came the bossman. I think it was then General Seaman, I think, but anyway he says, Annie, what in the hell are you doing up on that ladder? I said I'm washing windows. He said, you get down off of there. That isn't your job. I said, yeah, that's my job sir. I kept on washing my windows and stuff, because that's all, you know, you had people but shoot they were out busy doing something else, I guess, cleaning their quarters, because they lived in a place behind. It was like a square, and that's all that was out there, and they were delighted with a supply room and everything. So, anyway, they were out there working. So that was an enjoyable assignment, because it was entirely different, you know, and so on. And then we were there quite a while. It was a nice assignment.

Debrah Fox:

Let's see what else we got. Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?

Anne N. Bauer:

Well, I really don't think so. The only thing about it is, I always listen and try to get as much information as I can, you know. Just like this last thing in September, and so on. And, however, things were a whole lot different then, because they were all entered in combat in big bunches, you know, and we were already over there, there wasn't anything aggravating at that time. The only thing about it is, is there were choppers were shot down. In fact, I had a cousin shot down in a chopper in _______. And the last thing that I know, they still didn't know whatever happened to him. So, those were the things that bothered you, you know, when was kind of close by, and that wasn't too far away, really.

Debrah Fox:

You would think you had more family members that were in the service?

Anne N. Bauer:

What?

Debrah Fox:

Do you have more family members that were in the service?

Anne N. Bauer:

My brother, my oldest brother was drafted, and he went to Europe and was on the Ansio Beachhead, and I was trying to think the other day, somebody, well, our pictures are up in the courthouse as you come in the front door on the right-hand side, right past the office there, all five of us, pictures of all five of us. But, my brother Regis was on the Ansio Beach, and I have had several phone calls regarding him. Oh, I know, one of them was the church out here by Alexander's. I don't know if you know where that new church is that's built up out here, if you've seen it or not.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

It's a nice big place. But the fellow that called me worked for me here when I first came. He did yard work for me and so on. He was real poor, had a family, and so anyway he called me and he said, Colonel Bauer, he said, do you by any chance have a big flag. Now, he made my flagpole, and he put my first flag up, and he's been taking care of them ever since. And I said, yeah, why? Well, he said, we need one. He said our minister has asked us to look around and see if we can have one. So he came in, and I told him that I had one. I always got mine from VFW, and I always tried to keep an extra one. But I said, now, wait a minute, I said, you know where my supply room is downstairs, because I don't walk up and down stairs unless I have to. But I said, in that supply room, I said, there's a great big flag, it was on my brother's casket when he died. I said, he's the one that was in Europe, in Germany. So he went down there, and he came up with it. He wanted it. He wanted to know how much I wanted for it. I said I don't want anything, I just want somebody -- cause he died in '80. I just would like for somebody to have that flag, because it was presented to me.

Debrah Fox:

Uh-huh.

Anne N. Bauer:

I said, that I thought would use it, take good care of it. Heavens, I didn't know what condition it was in. I was almost afraid to say something. And I said, well, it might be pretty dirty, you know, I didn't have it in anything, it was just on top of something. Well, I don't know how many times he's come down here and told me about that. They have it on a wall inside the church.

He said one day there was a little girl about in the fourth or fifth grade, she went past it and it rubbed her hair a little bit, and he said she frowned and didn't like it very good, said something. And he said to her, you should honor that flag. He said, that's America, you know, and he went on and told her about it, kind of shamed her a little bit.

But, anyway, in the meantime though he had told me, he said, one of these -- oh, he came in and he looked at my flag, and I said to him, I wish you would untwist my flag up there. He said, well what it needs is a bunch of limbs are crowding it. There was a tree, and there was a lot of -- and my tree man didn't come last year.

And I went out here by my door, about every time you came in, it would almost scrape with that darn limb. Well, anyway, he came down here, and he said one of the things, I have a real long nipper that I got. He said, I've been doing my trees with it, and he said, you know, he said, I'll do yours. So down he and his son came, and they trimmed trees. Had a whole bunch of them out in the alley for them to pick up, and, but anyway, that was because -- so I gave him twenty dollars. He said, I don't want this. I said, well, but you trimmed all of those off, you carried them out there, and he said, I know, but I don't want that. I said, well, that's for your flagpole, cause he told me it cost 240 dollars for them to get a new flagpole and they didn't have it yet.

(END OF INTERVIEW)