Babies and bombs A nurse’s Pearl Harbor experience

EXETER TWP., Pa. — Eighty-one years ago, Winifred Woll's mother, Teresa Stauffer Foster of Lancaster County, was a U. S. Army Corps nurse stationed in Hawaii. In her free time, Foster always had a camera in hand, Woll said. Woll, who lives in Exeter Township, also said Foster — a graduate of Lancaster Catholic High School and St. Joseph's Nursing School — was scheduled for night duty on Dec. 7, 1941, but she was out in the gardens before her shift."They were just enjoying themselves before they went back to the dormitories to rest," Woll said of her mother and the nurses. Then, Foster received the news she and others were not expecting."For her, she was notified by somebody on horseback that the attack was happening," Woll said. It was a surprise attack launched by Japan on Pearl Harbor."Some of her other nurses were looking out over the horizon and see these planes fly over their heads," Woll recalled. Woll said her mother and the other nurses rushed to their duty stations. For Foster, that was the Tripler Army Medical Center, where she would work in the obstetrics ward. That is where she was taking care of two babies who were born that day amid the unthinkable. Winifred Woll shares the story of her mother, Teresa (Stauffer) Foster, who was a U. S. Army Corps nurse in Hawaii during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor."You got that old 'yin and yang' effect that you talk about," Woll said. "Every time there's something sad, you look to balance it out with something nice, and that's what happened in that case."Foster worked for a day-and-a-half straight. The attack on Pearl Harbor left more than 2,000 Americans dead, and Woll said those on the island did not think it was over."Everything was still blacked out. The lights were turned off," she said. "The nurses were using flashlights. You know, they were still thinking that there was going to be a second attack coming. Foster would serve two years in the military before coming home. Woll said her mother was quiet about her experiences in Hawaii until 1991, the 50th anniversary of the attack. Foster went back to visit the hospital where she worked in Hawaii, and she was welcomed with open arms, driving around the island in the general's car and enjoying a nice dinner. Then, she was presented with a plaque by the general as her grandson looked on."And he looks at it," Woll recalled, and thinks 'Oh my goodness, this is not my grandmother anymore. This is a war hero!'"What others are reading...

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