2nd Lt. Kathryn Lucille McCarthy stepped forward as an Army nurse and was soon nursing the Merrill’s Marauders. All volunteers, the men battled through 1,000 miles of jungle with every kind of wound, injury, tropical disease and parasite.

She was born March 13, 1921, to George Anthony McCarthy and Frances L. Corcoran McCarthy, in Syracuse, New York. Both of her parents were New Yorkers of Irish decent. George owned a trucking company. The family lived in a rented home on Putman Street. Waiting at home for her were two sisters ages two and one – Marion L. McCarthy, 1919, and Elizabeth Frances McCarthy O’Neill, 1920. In that same decade, the family added two sons, Richard J. McCarthy, 1924 and Thomas V. McCarthy, 1926.

In the 1930s, George was supporting the family of seven by managing a cigar store. The family lived in a home that they owned.[i]

As the war years come around, George is supporting the family as a grinder in a steel mill and they live in a rental home. Her sisters are still at home with Kathryn. Marion is a stenographer at a publishing company and Elizabeth is a stenographer at an air conditioning company. Kathryn is studying and working as a student nurse, according to the 1940s census. The brothers, Richard and Thomas, are still in school.

HER LIFE BEFORE MILITARY

Kathryn attended and graduated from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in 1942. She then joined the staff of the Visiting Nurse Association. VNA.[ii]

She and other visiting nurses applied and were accepted into the Army Nurse Corps. She was sworn in as a 2nd Lt. She reported to Drew Field in Tampa, Florida for her Army Nurse Training.[iii]

HER MILITARY STORY

Kathryn served as an Army nurse in India. Her number was N-789939. She served treating the Merrill’s Marauders.[iv] The Marauders worked in the China-Burma-India Theater behind enemy lines with the Chinese to attack the Japanese from the rear. Their treacherous march and battles through jungles and swamps often led to wounding, injuries and tropical diseases that were not able to be adequately treated on site. Often the injured had to ride a pack animal to a clearing to be flown out to get care.[v]

The Ledo area of India, where Ruth eventually died, was known to be one of the worst areas of malaria in the world. In addition, there was ward after ward of typhus patients. Lice, tape worms, maggots and other parasites were common. Horribly wounded men would arrive from all over and many amputations were done due to gangrene developing over their days-long journey to get care.[vi]

In an oral history record, “Voices of the Past,” Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays recalled “… our nurses were well prepared. We had a fair amount of equipment and supplies… And has history has proven, the whole theater was sadly neglected. But, as I said, we did the very best we could.”[vii]

At the time of the war, Hays was a nurse in the operating room in India. In 1970, she was the first woman in the United States Armed Forces to wear the stars of a general officer when promoted to Brigadier General.[viii]

“Of course, the heavy rains would pour in seven to eight inches of water in 24 hours in the monsoon season. You can imagine the mud problems. Each building was made of bamboo and our roofs were palm fronds so when it rained, water came through the roofs,” she said in her oral history. Without secure doors, snakes, sacred cows or wild jackals would run or slither through the wards or nurses’ quarters. They also cared for ill and wounded Chinese soldiers, American allies, which brought language and cultural differences for the nurses in trying to provide the best care.[ix]

HER LAST DAY- March 4, 1945

On her last flight,2nd Lt Kathryn L. McCarthy was in a flight route along the Ledo road[x] in the India-Burma Theater to care for wounded in Imphal.[xi] Her Douglas C-47 Skytrain (#41-18554), assigned to Air transport Command, 11th Combat Cargo Squadron,[xii] took off from Dinjan Army Airfield in Assam, India on a mission to ferry passengers. The plane came in too low during the last turn in the process of landing and crashed. Twenty-five passengers, including Kathryn, plus the crew of two were killed. Most of the passengers were Army nurses and medical personnel.[xiii]

She was 24.

HONORS

Nurse Corps Badge

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal[xiv]

The American Red Cross medal was awarded to Kathryn L. McCarthy posthumously. The decoration was given for highly meritorious service.[xv]

HER FUNERAL AND GRAVE

2nd Lt. Kathryn Lucille McCarthy is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.[xvi]

LIST OF THOSE KILLED IN THE MARCH 4, 1945, LEDO, INDIA AIR CRASH

1. 1st Lt. Walter S. Amsler

2. 2nd Lt. Julia H. Barnes

3. 2nd Lt. Francis W. Blalock

4. 2nd Lt. Jane M. Blevins

5. 2nd Lt. Margie A. Camper

6. 2nd Lt. Thomas E. Dellinger

7. 2nd Lt. Evelyn Mae Gerdrum

8. 2nd Lt. Lyndall A. Glisson

9. 1st Lt. Henry D. Hammack Jr.

10. 2nd Lt. Eathel Lou Harris

11. 2nd Lt. Helen J. Henley

12. 1st Lt. Catherine Marie Larkin

13. 2nd Lt. Joseph R. Launier

14. Capt. Charlies W. Loucks

15. Capt. John J. Lukszczyk, Co-Pilot

16. Capt. Nicholas J. Mandoukas, Pilot

17. 1st Lt. Kathryn L. Lloyd Martin

18. 1st Lt. Grady A. Masters

19. 2nd Lt. Kathryn Lucille McCarthy

20. 2nd Lt. Ann Lee Merrill

21. 2nd Lt. Genevieve O. Monahan

22. Capt. Edward R. Moore

23. 2nd Lt. Mayo C. Onken

24. 2nd Lt. Cecelia A. Schmolke

25. Lt. Col. Jack P. Scott

26. Leona Amelia Thomey (no rank)

27. 1st Lt. Robert W. Tibbetts

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

ADD TO THIS STORY

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[i] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4639199_00061?pId=43889777

[ii] News-NY-SY_HE_J).1943_12_14 page 8

[iii] News-NY-SY_HE_J).1943_12_14 page 8

[iv] https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-apr-06-1945-3340515/?fbclid=iwar3qllvduxibht-ffv_9hl-dwef5mflonnkc1uiekphonpjoemxtmata2zw/

[v] https://www.alphaomegaalpha.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2016-4-Magoon.pdf

[vi] https://www.armyheritage.org/images/stories/Education_Images/BG_Hays_on_India_and_Ledo_Road.pdf

[vii] https://www.armyheritage.org/images/stories/Education_Images/BG_Hays_on_India_and_Ledo_Road.pdf

[viii]

https://www.armyheritage.org/soldier-stories/from-patriot-to-pioneer-brigadier-general-anna-mae-hays/

[ix] https://www.armyheritage.org/images/stories/Education_Images/BG_Hays_on_India_and_Ledo_Road.pdf

[x] https://basic.newspapers.com/image/60273569

[xi] http://www.miac47burmawwii.org/41-18554.html

[xii] http://www.miac47burmawwii.org/41-18554.html

[xiii]https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=367671

[xiv] https://www.honorstates.org/profiles/405240/

[xv] The Post Standard newspaper, Friday, May 17, 1946

[xvi] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3784692/kathryn-lucille-mccarthy/photo

McCarthy, Kathryn Lucille