Johanna Butt
Nurse in Europe
Johanna Butt
Lieutenant Colonel, Army Nurse Corps
1935–1946 & 1951–1970
Lt. Johanna Butt
Germany, 1946
One time Patton came into the operating room tent. I told him to get out. He wasn’t supposed to be in there.
I was born in Austria near Vienna. My parents were Hungarian, but they ended up in Austria after WWI. I was 2 ½ when they came to St. Louis in 1923. My family stayed in St. Louis. I didn’t. I went to nursing school in Phoenix, Arizona. I was sick a lot and had to move to a warmer climate. I enrolled at the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, graduated in 1943 and joined the Army Nurse Corps in March, 1944. I was a Registered Nurse and a Second Lieutenant. While I was a student, we had two residents that were refugees from Europe. One was German, and I overheard him talking with another gentleman in German. I spoke Hungarian and German before I spoke English. I understood them and I reported it. He was a spy pretending to be a doctor.
I left the States from New York and went to France with the 123rd Evacuation Hospital in December, 1944. We went to La Havre in Normandy, then to Camp Lucky Strike which was a staging area for troops. Women weren’t allowed at Camp Lucky Strike except for nurses, so we took care of the Red Cross stuff. Instead of giving two cigarettes to the wounded soldiers I gave them the carton. There was no sense in giving them just two. They had their butts shot off. It was bad. They had a lot of wounds, the ones that lived, so I gave them what they wanted. Why not? That’s what I was there for. We gave the troops cigarettes, chocolate bars, shaving lotion, soap, combs and toothbrushes. Most of the troops were smokers, especially if they had gone through the war already.
In January, 1945 we ended up following General Patton’s army. It was just after the Battle of the Bulge. It was quite interesting; hard work too. We took care of casualties and stayed until we finished. You didn’t have time off. One time I worked 48 hours straight and I don’t remember them taking me to my tent. At the Battle of the Bulge, Patton terrified the Germans. I guess Patton was the one soldier they were afraid of.
One time Patton came into the operating room tent. I told him to get out. He wasn’t supposed to be in there. I saw the CO and the chief nurse coming after me and knew I was in trouble. I thought, “Oh my God, they were touring him and I tried to throw him out.” He turned to me and said, “Lieutenant, I commend you for the work that you’re doing so well.” We saluted and he walked out. The CO and chief couldn’t say anything to me then. I was the last one to get my first lieutenant promotion. I got in a little trouble every once in a while, and opened my mouth when I didn’t like something. I was in Germany when the war ended but didn’t have enough points to come back until January, 1946.
I went to see my boyfriend in Big Spring, Texas and we ended up getting married. He was a pilot in the Army Air Corps sent overseas to Germany in November of ’46. On January 28th, 1947 he was killed during a terrible storm. I got out of the service and went to Washington University in St. Louis on the G.I. Bill. I graduated in 1950 and stayed there at the university hospital until ’51 when I got a nice letter from President Truman saying I had to go to Korea. It was beautifully written. I wish I’d saved it.
{09-08-2017 • San Antonio, TX}