Goldia Aimee O'Haver Merrill (December 3, 1902 – April 30, 1997) was a United States Navy nurse who was held a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II, one of the Twelve Anchors.[1]
Goldia O'Haver | |
|---|---|
 Goldia O'Haver Merrill in 1945, from a 2003 publication of the U.S. Department of the Navy. | |
| Born | Goldia Aimee O'Haver December 3, 1902 Rock Island County, Illinois |
| Died | April 30, 1997 Apple Valley, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Goldie O'Haver, Goldia O'Haver Merrill (after marriage) |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Known for | Prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II |
Early life
editGoldia O'Haver was born December 3, 1902,[2] in Rock Island County, Illinois, the daughter of Joel Landon O'Haver and Cora Belle Hatton O'Haver. Her father was living in Hayfield, Minnesota during World War II.[3]
Navy nurse
editO'Haver joined the U.S. Navy as a surgical nurse in 1929.[3] During World War II, she was stationed at Cañacao Hospital near Cavite Naval Base in the Philippines. In January 1942,[4] she and eleven other navy nurses were among the Americans taken prisoner by Japanese troops in Manila.[5] In May 1943, the navy nurses agreed to transfer to a prisoner of war camp in Los Baños. The 12 nurses built up an empty infirmary and cared for other prisoners, despite minimal supplies and chronic malnutrition.[6]
O'Haver, one of the older nurses in the group, was a skilled seamstress; she used a sewing machine and scrap fabrics to make denim uniforms, muslin sheets, surgical gowns, and pajamas for the infirmary's patients.[7] She was held as a prisoner of war until February 1945, when the Los Baños prison camp was liberated.[8][9] She was hospitalized in San Francisco upon return to the United States.[10][11]
For her wartime service, O'Haver was awarded a Gold Star and a Bronze Star in September 1945, while she was working at a naval hospital in Long Beach.[3][12][13]
Personal life
editGoldia O'Haver married Robert Heath Merrill, a fellow prisoner of war, soon after their release in 1945.[14] She retired from the Navy Nurse Corps in 1946, and the couple lived in Apple Valley, California.[15] She was widowed in 1985, and she died in 1997, aged 94, in Apple Valley.[2] Her name, along with the names of the other military nurse POWs, is on a historical marker in Cavite City in the Philippines.[16][17]
References
edit- ^ "The Twelve Anchors: POW nurses' sacrifice, service honored". WGN-TV. 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
- ^ a b Goldia Aimee Merrill, Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File.
- ^ a b c "Hayfield Nurse Gets Award for Philippine Duty". St. Cloud Times. September 4, 1945. p. 11. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Navy Lists 4 Minnesotans as Missing". The Minneapolis Star. July 14, 1942. p. 13. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Johnson, Judith (January–February 2003). "Laura Cobb: A Navy Nurse in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp". Navy Medicine. 94: 7–13.
- ^ Norman, Elizabeth M. (2011). We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307799579.
- ^ Lucchesi, Emilie Le Beau (2019). This Is Really War: The Incredible True Story of a Navy Nurse POW in the Occupied Philippines. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781641600798.
- ^ "Waterloo Man's Sister Rescued in Philippines". The Courier. March 11, 1945. p. 19. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Freed Nurses on Way Home". The Journal Times. March 6, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Holly, Hazel (March 25, 1945). "Cavite Nurses Ask for Pacific Duty Again". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 24. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Nurses Rescued in Philippines Come to Hospital". The Oak Leaf. March 17, 1945. p. 1. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Goldie O'Haver – Recipient". Military Times Hall Of Valor. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
- ^ "News about Nursing". The American Journal of Nursing. 45 (7): 575–589. 1945. ISSN 0002-936X. JSTOR 3416554.
- ^ "Once Held by Japs, 4 Navy Nurses Vow They'll Stay on Job". Chicago Tribune. July 11, 1945. p. 15. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mueller, Chuck (October 10, 1993). "Everyday Heroes: Imprisoned Woman Finds Ways to Help". The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 13. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "To the Angels – Cavite City – Calabarzon – PH". Historical Marker Project. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
- ^ "To the Angels Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
External links
edit- Goldia O'Haver at Find a Grave
- "Navy Nurse Ex-Prisoners of War" (1945), photograph featuring Goldia O'Haver and her colleagues, from the Naval History and Heritage Command.
