[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6860-H6861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1850
A TRIBUTE TO OUR FIRST NURSES
(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to speak out of order.)
Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, as early as the tiempon Hapones, the
Japanese times, in the Marianas our local women began to train as
nurses. Nursing was one of the few professions open to women. But the
realities of the work meant that only those whose hearts, minds and
bodies were strong could meet the arduous challenges and discipline
required.
World War II opened the door wider. With thousands of military and
civilian casualties littering our islands, the U.S. forces had to
recruit nurses from the local population. After the war, the Navy, then
the civilian administration, set up the hospitals and clinics; and
these facilities, too, demanded nursing staff.
Training was made available at a series of schools through
Micronesia, raising the skills of our native nurses. From 1944 to 1978,
some 250 of our local people found work in nursing.
We, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, salute these nurses
and thank them for their professionalism, courage and service.
Madam Speaker, to begin the story of the pioneer, native nurses of
the Northern Mariana Islands, one must go back to the late 1930s and
early 1940s, to the tiempon Hapones or Japanese times in the Marianas.
In those days nursing was one of the few professions open to our local
women and so attracted attention. But the realities of the work meant
that only those whose hearts, minds, and bodies were strong could meet
the arduous challenges and strict discipline required. It is believed
that Mrs. Rosa Blanco Camacho, now almost ninety, is the only one of
these pre-war nurses alive today.
World War II changed everything. The Marianas were the site of some
of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific. After the invasion, the island
of Saipan was a wasteland, littered with thousands of military and
civilian casualties. Makeshift field hospitals were hastily erected,
and young native women--and men--were quickly enlisted to assist
military medical personnel in caring for the wounded and dying. On-the-
job field training for these native nurses and corpsmen was the order
of the day. Besides the challenge of learning how to take care of the
wounded, these native recruits faced a more basic obstacle: they had to
learn how to communicate in English. Few American servicemen spoke or
understood Japanese, and few, if any, knew the native Chamorro or
Carolinian languages.
They faced tasks unlike anything they had seen before; and the hours
were grueling. From Monday to Sunday the nurses worked on at the
hospital sites. Only on Sundays were they packed onto trucks and
allowed to return to spend time with their families and the rest of the
civilian population, which had been gathered up by the military and
encamped at Camp Susupe.
When the war ended in 1945, the U.S. Navy built a permanent hospital
on Maturana Hill, Saipan, where the native nurses were employed and
which served both the military and civilian population. The Navy also
built a leprosarium on Tinian with three native nurses. The U.S. also
began to offer more formal training for the nurses from the Northern
Marianas. Some of those from Saipan and Rota were sent to the U.S.
Naval Hospital School of Nursing in Guam. When this training facility
closed in 1952, those nurses who were in the middle of their studies
were sent to the Trust Territory School of Nursing in Chuuk. Later,
that school was relocated to Pohnpei, then to Palau, and then in the
late 1960s to Saipan. The final move was to the Marshall Islands in
1986. Despite these frequent moves, over the years the Trust Territory
School of Nursing graduated many students from all the Trust Territory
districts, including the Marianas District.
When the U.S. Department of the Interior assumed administration of
the Northern Mariana Islands in 1962, the U.S. Navy closed its hospital
on Maturana Hill and the native nurses who worked at the aging naval
hospital gladly transferred to the brand new Dr. Torres Hospital on As
Terlaje Hill on Saipan. Dr. Torres Hospital was a civilian-run, eighty-
four bed inpatient and outpatient care facility where nurses could,
with seniority and patience, develop a specialized practice, in surgery
or obstetrics for example.
The population in the Northern Mariana Islands was growing now and
there was a corresponding growth in the demand for nurses. Health
centers on Tinian and Rota had been built and were expanding. And
public health dispensaries were opened in some villages on Saipan, all
of them staffed by nurses.
Nursing remained one of the few professions open to women. It still
had its attractions: a regular salary, the status that the nurse's
uniform conveyed. But at its heart nursing also remained--and remains--
grueling work that demanded strength of mind and body, an attention to
detail and self-discipline.
We, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, appreciate and salute
the following nurses, who served from 1944 to 1978, for their
professionalism, courage, and service:
Dolores Reyes Agulto, Joaquin Santos Aguon, Jesus Castro
Aldan, Jose Palacios Aldan, Josepha Castro Aldan, Merced
Deleon Guerrero Aldan, Vicente Matagolai Aldan, Estefania
Rabauliman Amirez, Dionisia Taitano Apatang, Lucia Villagomez
Arizapa, Elena Camacho Arriola, Jesus Saimon Arriola,
Magdalena Demapan Arriola, Maria Kokure Arriola, Maria
Benavente Atalig, Maria Hocog Atalig, Rosina Ayuyu Atalig,
Rosario Imamura Atlaig, Rosario Cabrera Attao, Teresita San
Nicolas Attao, Rosa Litulumar Ayuyu, Carmen Nekai Babauta,
Maria Lizama Babauta, Roberto San Nicolas Babauta, Urbano
Crisostimo Babauta, Teresita Atalig Barcinas, Lucia Castro
Barcinas, Sylvia Barcinas, Felisa Chargualaf Basa, Trinidad
Arriola Benavente, Maria Attao Bermudes, Maria Pura Tagabuel
Billy, Olympia Selepeo Borja, Petra Hoashi Borja;
Rosita San Nicolas Borja, Alejandro Reyes Cabrera, Ana
Torres Cabrera, Angelica Muna Cabrera, Anita Torres Cabrera,
Herminia Pangelinan Cabrera, Jose Manibusan Cabrera,
Magdalena Brel Cabrera, Maria Duenas Cabrera, Dela Cruz
Cabrera, Victorina Bias Cabrera, Salomae Hocog Calvo, Dolores
Benavente Camacho, Estefania Flores Camacho, Fermina Mendiola
Camacho, Lucia Leon Guerrero Camacho, Namiko Ketebengang
Camacho, Rita Duenas Camacho, Rosa Ada Camacho, Rosa Blanco
Camacho, Ana Songsong Castro, Carmen Moses Castro, Daniel
Pangelinan Castro, Loretta Mesngon Castro, Maria Manibusan
Castro, Ruth Albert Castro, Taeko Elizabeth Kumangai Castro,
Antonia Taimanao Celis, Maria Muna Celis, Rita Sablan Celis,
Antonio Santos Cepeda, Juan Cruz Cepeda, Rosa Manibusan
Cepeda, Ana Maria Gogue Charfauros;
Ramona Seman Chong, Carmen Attao Concepcion, Irminia
Benavente Cox, Conrado Deleon Guerrero Crisostomo, Ana Kokure
Dela Cruz, Jesus Ogo Dela Cruz, Francisco Palacios Deleon
Guerrero, Gustav Acosta Deleon Guerrero, Mariana Camacho
Deleon Guerrero, Anunciasion Cruz Demapan, Justina Rdiall
Demapan, Luis Cepeda Demapan, Micaela Sablan Demapan, Juanita
Duenas Diaz, Maria Mendiola Diaz, Elisa Maratita Dim,
Elizabeth Naputi Dudley, Ines Cruz Duenas, Margarita Attao
Duenas, Monica Camacho Duenas, Estefania Atalig Dumale, Luis
Osomai Elameto, Amania Mechaet Elidechedong, Vicenta Lizama
Evangelista, Mary Farley, Rosa Tenorio Fejeran, Rosa Maliti
Fejeran, Rita Castro
[[Page H6861]]
Flawau, Lorenza Mendiola Garcia, Ramon Guerrero, Vicente
Guerrero, Maria Esteves Halstead, Carmen Wesley Hamilton,
Hasmid Haro;
Ana Ogo Hocog, Felisisima Ada Hocog, Maria Ayuyu Hocog,
Guadalupe Reyes Hofschneider, Maria Manibusan Igibara, Andres
Taisacan Igisaiar, Lucia Seman Iriarte, Carmina Weilbacher
Jack, Berthilia Camacho John, Ensel John, Engracia Aldan
Johnson, Carmen Olopai Kaipat, Damiana Olkeriil Kaipat, Diego
Litulumar Kaipat, Isaac Borja Kaipat, Natividad Dela Cruz
Kaneshi, Ana Igisaiar Kileleman, Neiar Kolios, Violet Laird,
Consolacion Limes Laniyo, Lourdes Olopai Laniyo, Mariano
Repeki Laniyo, Maria Taitano Lieto, Teresita Pialur Limes,
Hermana Ling, Daniel Mettao Lisua, Dionicio Mendiola Lizama;
Joaquin Reyes Lizama, Juana Hocog Lizama, Maria Ada Lizama,
Soledad Mesngon Lizama, Vicente Lizama, Carmen Mendiola
Lizama-Torres, Susana Rogopes Macaranas, Vivian Nee Adamson
Malmstrom, Magdalena Sablan Manahane, Milagro Hocog Manglona,
Magdalena Manglona Manglona, Delfina Villagomez Manibusan,
Donicia Rasiang Marciano-Hosono, Francisco Acosta Masga,
Maria Cruz Masga, Nathania Maui, Martha Muna Mendiola,
Bernadita Reyes Mercado, Juan Itibus Mettao, Likiak Kun
Mongkeya, Lorenza Ilo Mongkeya, Carmen Santos Muna, Isidro
Camacho Muna;
Vicenta Santos Muna, Jose Naog, Isidro Nekai, Rosa San
Nicolas Norita, Dominina Fitial Olopai, Gregoria Fitial Omar,
Elizabeth Atalig Paeda, Maria Indalecio Palacios, Maria Taman
Palacios, Milagro Sablan Palacios, Rita Taman Palacios,
Dolores Cepeda Pangelinan, Jose Basa Pangelinan, Juan Basa
Pangelinan, Magdalena Terlaje Pangelinan, Maria Aldan
Pangelinan, Maxima Cruz Pangelinan, Paul William Perry,
Rafaela Odoshi Perry, Maria Toves Quitugua, Remedio Naog
Quitugua, Viviana Osomai Rabauliman, Casimira Manglona Ramos,
Lourdes Maliti Rangamar, Dolores Cruz Rasa, Consolacion
Sablan Rasiang, Fuana Remeliik;
Angelina Sablan Reyes, Joaquina Pangelinan Reyes, Rosario
Taman Rios, Maria Borja Roberto, Angela Muleta Romolor, Pedro
San Nicolas Rosario, Rosa Benavente Royal, Takeshi Aloka
Royal, Juan Satur Ruben, Vicente Faibar Rubuenog, Ana Ayuyu
Sablan, Daniel Magofna Sablan, Dolores Reyes Sablan,
Margarita Mendiola Sablan, Olympia Reyes Sablan, Ramona
Cabrera Sablan, Rita Diaz Sablan, Rosalia Tenorio Sablan,
Fidelia Sablan Salas, Margarita Villagomez Salas, Rosa
Manibusan Salas, Isabel Manibusan San Nicolas, Juana
Manibusan San Nicolas;
Dolores Apatang Santos, Isabel Esteves Santos, Maria
Camacho Santos, Maria Arriola Santos, Maria Luisa Duenas
Santos, Martha Cabrera Santos, Carlos Rapagau Satur, Esteban
Nepaial Satur, Guillermo Litulumar Saures, Lourdes Mettao
Saures, Maria Benavente Sedmik, Antonia Rabauliman Seman,
Isabel Jones Seman, Margarita Benavente Seman, John Frank
Skilling, Teresita Wabol Skilling, Cresencia Maratita Songao,
Francisco Maratita Songao, Mary Grace Lejjena Songsong, Maria
Asuncion Stoll, Carmen Maratita Suzuki, Margarita Somol
Tagabuel, Gisina Songao Taimanao, Gloria Ramos Taimanao,
Marcelina Atalig Taitano, Sabina Rivera Taro;
Lino Pangelinan Tenorio, Maria Hattori Tenorio, Natividad
Cruz Tenorio, Rita Sablan Tenorio, Soledad Takai Tenorio,
Elena Litulumar Teregeyo, Enriquetta Peter Teregeyo, Maria
Reyes Thompson, Dirruchei Terry Tmakiung, Jovita Blanco
Tomokane, Francisco Ada Torres, Maria Jones Torres, Elizabeth
Sablan Torres-Untalan, Rita Songao Toves, Sophia Olopai
Towai, Consolacion Faisao Tudela, Margarita Cabrera Tudela,
Remedio Bermudes Tudela, Maria Salii Udui, Isabel Camacho
Villagomez, Margarita Aquininog Villagomez, Josepha Arriola
Weilbacher, Donicia Pialur Ythemar, Paul Joseph Ythemar.
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