Rita Houston (left) and her sister, Josephine, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Houston, 321 University ave., have been ordered to report for active duty in the navy nurse corps.
In Navy Nurse Corps
OVERSEAS DUTY?
Sisters End Leave Here
After spending a leave here with their parents. Josephine and Rita Houston, ensigns in the United States navy nurses corps will board a plane Tuesday night for the west coast and they hope, active duty overseas.
Daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Houston, 321 University ave, the sisters have completed their six-month probation period at the naval base hospital at Mare island, Cal. They enlisted in March.
"We had often talked about the possibility of our doing wartime service as nurses." Josephine said Tuesday. "Then when the United States went into the war, we were all set to get in right away."
The sisters both are graduates of Mercy hospital and of St. Joseph's academy here.
Upon completing their probation period, they said, they were asked to make three choices from a long list of duties open to navy nurses. They requested overseas duty.
"Ours is a navy family," their mother said proudly. Her son, James A., is a seaman on a United States cruiser. When last heard from he was on duty in the Atlantic.
Source: The Des Moines Tribune, November 26, 1942 (photo included)
