MILITARY CAREER EARNS WOMAN PLACE IN MEMORIAL

The nation owes a special salute to Myrtle M. Denfip and the hundreds of women like her who served on the front lines in the nation's defense.

Denfip had a memorable introduction into the armed forces. The year was 1942, and Denfip, a member of the Army Nurse Corps at age 39, was en route to Salerno Beach, Italy, on a British hospital ship.

The ship was bombed. "We were tossed into the sea, and the ship burned and went down," recalled Denfip, of Cape Girardeau.

Called "Denny" by her friends, Denfip started treading water along with other members of the 16th Evacuation Unit until she made her way to a lifeboat.

"We were eventually picked up by another British hospital ship," said Denfip. "We were then taken to Anzio Beach.

At Anzio, the nurses lived underground until they moved with the 5th Army to Salerno south of Naples.

"We kept our boots and helmets on in the midst of heavy battle," she said

"Salerno was no picnic," said Denfip. "We entered Salerno, where the Americans had been engaged in battle."

Denfip told of crossing the battlefield among the bodies of Americans.

When the monthlong battle ended, the count was 8,307 casualties, including 500 dead and more than 2,000 missing in action.

The nurses were living in field tents, two to four in a tent.

Denfip recalled her first Christmas in Italy. On Christmas eve some of the nurses went searching for something that could be used a Christmas tree. They found a small evergreen bush, cut it down, and carried it back to a tent.

The bush was trimmed with Life Savers and Fruit Drops obtained from Red Cross packages. "We we ate popcorn and sang some carols," said Denfip.

The group moved into Caserta, where a palace had been vacated, and had a festive Christmas Day dinner.

After Christmas, the American 5th Army moved northward to Milan.

Her story will be a part of history in the new Women In Military Service (WIMS) for America Memorial, which will open at Arlington National Cemetery this fall. Major Denfip is one of the U.S. military women who will be honored when the memorial opens. She is a charter member of WIMS.

Statistics on women in the military by state, branch of service and times of conflict will be included in the $15 million memorial, which will be dedicated Oct. 18.

The Women's Memorial is the nation's first major national memorial to honor all women who have defended America. It was authorized by Congress, but funding had to be private. Commemorative coins were issued in 1994 to help finance it.

Features of the memorial will include exhibits of artifacts and memorabilia -- helmets, uniforms, letters -- from all eras of military service.

Denfip's list of medals, badges, and commendations is a lengthy one. Included are two Meritorious Unit Commendations, World War II Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (Italy), American Campaign Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, United Nationals Service Medal, Republic of Korean President Unit Citation, Army Commendation Medal with Pendant, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and National Defense Service Medal.

Denfip, who resides in the Lutheran Home here, is just one of thousands of women who took on new roles during World War II due to a scarcity of manpower and the urgency of protecting the nation. Women served as nurses, stenographers, pilots, mechanics, technicians and cooks. For the first time women were given military rank as officers.

In 1948, the Women's Armed Serves Integration Act gave women a permanent place in the armed forces.

American women, however, have been involved in the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War, when Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man to join the Massachusetts Regiment of the Revolutionary Army.

During the Civil War, Nadine Turchin, wife of Brig. Gen. John B. Turchin, a Civil War officer, led Northern troops into action when her husband became ill on the battlefield.

Denfip joined the Army Nurse Corp in 1942, and was sworn in at 5th Army Headquarters in Chicago, where she was assigned to the 16th Evacuation Unit, which traveled with the "Great Armada" to North Africa. From there, the unit headed for Salerno Beach by the British hospital ship.

German planes bombed the ship, said Denfip. "Some doctors and nurses were killed in the bombing.

Denfip served overseas during two years of WWII before being transferred stateside.

After serving stateside for a half-dozen years, Denfip received an overseas assignment again. She was sent to the 171st Evacuation Hospital in Korea in 1953, where she was supervisor of the Central Material Section. She went from there to Japan, where she was head nurse at Camp Drew, 343 General Hospital.

Denfip received the rank of major in November 1956. A year later, she was supervisor and acting chief nurse at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Once again, in 1960, she was assigned to overseas duty, this time as head nurse at the 2nd General Hospital at Lanstuhle, Germany.

She returned to the U.S., and was assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical center in Washington D.C.

After 20 years in service, she retired from the Army and started another career with the State of Illinois in the Will County Health Department. She retired from there in 1971, and moved to Cape Girardeau.

Denfip, a native of Olive Branch, Ill., returned to Olive Branch in 1980, where she lived until she moved to the Lutheran Home about three years ago.

Two of Denfip's sisters -- Pauline Ambler and Ruth Ann Murphy -- live nearby in the Saxony Village retirement complex.

Denfip graduated from the St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing at Cairo, Ill., in 1926. She worked with the Illinois Society for Prevention of Blindness in Chicago and later with the State Department of Public Welfare in Springfield, Ill. before joining the Army Nurse Corps.

Denfip said she would do it all over again. "There were some tough times, but I enjoyed parts of my time in service," she said.