With the honor to serve my country, on August 6, 1942, I Fern Tegrootenhula, left Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, and headed to Camp Grant, Illinois, for my two months basic training. During the training, we completed a 5-day field exercise in which we marched to the maneuver areas, and set up field kitchens, sleeping in pup tents. In addition, we worked with simulated casualties of all types which, helped by providing experience in diagnosis, and, treatment, including the transportation of patients in the field as well as, ward management. Our training included camouflage, cover and concealment techniques, defense against air, and mechanized as well as, chemical and airborne attacks, and the proper use of gas masks, as well as, map reading. The
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Then, we sailed to Rio DE Janiero our first stop for supplies on July 23, 1943. Another stop was August 1, 1943, we stopped at Capetown, South Africa, for more supplies, leaving Capetown the same day we set sail for Bombay, India. Longing for land we spent 32 days at sea, we finally arrive at Bombay, August 12, 1943. However, we spent two days in Bombay, we boarded a train, and went to Camp Monroe in Deoali. Again, we boarded two river boats the Sikh and the Vulture, and left Deoali for Dhubri on the Jamuna River on our way to Bandui, in which we arrived August 29. 1943. In addition, we left Dhubri on a narrow and wide gauge rail train and arriving at the Polo Grounds in Chabua, September 21,1943. Finally, we board the C-47s that took us over to Kunming, China, incidentally that was a three and a half hours flight. Next trucks were waiting, we loaded up and left Kunming November 24, 1943, and we traveled for about 300 miles on the old Burma Road until we arrived at a small, walled city, Paoshan, on November 30, 1943. With this end, we set up our field hospital above the Burma Road at the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains next to a Chinese cemetery in an area formerly used by the original Flying Tigers before they joined the U.S. Air Force. Finding a long, narrow building we converted into a
Then, we sailed to Rio DE Janiero our first stop for supplies on July 23, 1943. Another stop was August 1, 1943, we stopped at Capetown, South Africa, for more supplies, leaving Capetown the same day we set sail for Bombay, India. Longing for land we spent 32 days at sea, we finally arrive at Bombay, August 12, 1943. However, we spent two days in Bombay, we boarded a train, and went to Camp Monroe in Deoali. Again, we boarded two river boats the Sikh and the Vulture, and left Deoali for Dhubri on the Jamuna River on our way to Bandui, in which we arrived August 29. 1943. In addition, we left Dhubri on a narrow and wide gauge rail train and arriving at the Polo Grounds in Chabua, September 21,1943. Finally, we board the C-47s that took us over to Kunming, China, incidentally that was a three and a half hours flight. Next trucks were waiting, we loaded up and left Kunming November 24, 1943, and we traveled for about 300 miles on the old Burma Road until we arrived at a small, walled city, Paoshan, on November 30, 1943. With this end, we set up our field hospital above the Burma Road at the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains next to a Chinese cemetery in an area formerly used by the original Flying Tigers before they joined the U.S. Air Force. Finding a long, narrow building we converted into a