Helen Entrikin
Helen Entrikin, U.S. Navy
"My twin sister was a U.S. Army nurse stationed in Hawaii and urged me to transfer there because it was so nice. Sara was at the hospital at Hickam Field, right across the fence from our navy base. We were both on duty that morning. When the planes dropped their bombs, then strafed as they came back, I ran inside the hospital and gathered up the narcotics and everything we would need. A little dressing room became a mini-operating theater, because the regular operating rooms were so backlogged. The patients
were scared, and when they died we received others right away in their place. We put mattresses on the hallway floor to rest a little at a time. My sister and I were both worrying about each other, because we heard that each place was being bombed and leveled. A patient who had a leg cast stayed at the desk and tried to get on the phone to Hickam. The lines were down, but about 10: 30 that night, Sara got through to tell me she was all right. Four days later I was able to send a telegram to our mother,
who had the two of us to worry about. I finally saw my sister about two weeks after the raid."