Unexpected Characters

John and Mary McHugh were  strangers to me when I began writing OUR DUTY.  One of my daughters had met (now) Father John  at a wedding and was enthralled with his story. Due to her insistence, I contacted this elderly priest and learned more about his experiences during World War II.  Through letters and phone calls with me yelling at him, (communicating over the phone with someone who is almost deaf is challenging, to say the least),  Father John’s  story dug into my heart and jumped into my book. When I visited him personally to discuss the book , I wanted to focus on Father, but he was such a humble man, he always wanted to talk about other people,  including his sister Mary. At the time, she was just incidental to the main event.

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Beauties Get More Attention

A cyber friend directed me to a photo collection of some of the very first flight nurses. Mary McHugh was the focus of many of the pictures. Her sweet beauty shone in the photos even dressed in the heavy clothing needed while flying at higher altitudes over Europe .  I was happy that I had asked a few questions about Mary and wished I had inquired more as she was now sneaking into the book.

Mary Accumulated Thousands of Frequent Flyer Miles

Mary McHugh had made more than 10 trans-Atlantic flights caring for wounded soldiers under dire conditions during WWII. She also helped transport wounded from field hospitals to better facilities in Europe for treatment before the long trip back to the States. During the latter part of the war, she served  with a broken heart after hearing her brother, a bombardier, had been killed when his plane exploded over Germany. The ten plus hour trips to America were busy as LT. McHugh and one med tech had the lives of 28 to 30 wounded men  in their hands. The long flights back to the war zone offered time for rest, but the conditions on these planes was anything but  relaxing. She must have spent many hours fighting anxiety of returning to combat area and concern for her parents who were also broken-hearted about the loss of their son.

Flight Nurses—Not Romance and Glamour

The life of a flight nurse was anything but the comfortable romantic adventure portrayed by Hollywood in a propaganda film. The nurse starring in this film, Helen Smith,  was embarrassed to have been a part of the project. (source)

Helen “Taffy” Smith from Dulcinea Productions on Vimeo.

From the opening scenes, a viewer familiar with the reality of the flight nurses’ career would know that the depiction of their work  was fictionalized. After the opening scenes,  you can skip to part about Taffy’s time as a nurse if the rest is not of interest to you.

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