{"product_id":"for-the-boys-the-war-story-of-a-combat-nurse-in-patton-s-third-army","title":"For the Boys: The War Story of a Combat Nurse in Patton’s Third Army","description":"\"This novelistic narrative captures both the violence and trauma of WWII and its subject’s remarkable heroism.\"― Publishers Weekly\n\nA month after her 24th birthday, Lt. Mary Elizabeth Balster collapses among the rubble of a shelled supply room. Has the young nurse finally succumbed to the mounting emotional toll caused from months of caring for the sick and wounded just behind the front lines of General Patton’s Third Army? On the night of November 30, 1944, holed up in the Heinrich Himmler Barracks in Morhange, France, Lt. Balster’s evac receives a typical patient load (over 200 soldiers, including wounded enemy), but this time one of the admissions is a 19-year-old tanker she’d nursed back to health five months before in Normandy. The charge nurse on Surgical gently informs the lieutenant that the private is critical, admitted with two gunshot wounds and almost half his body consumed by burns. Rising determined to save him, Balster limps toward the shelled supply room determined to search for any blood plasma bottles still intact after Luftwaffe strafing.\n\nRecaptured from her mother’s reminiscences and letters home, N. C. R. Davis takes the reader through every heat-of-battle harrowing moment as Balster lived it, achieving a rare glimpse of one nurse’s point of view during the latter part of the European conflict.\n\nThe book mixes Lt. Balster’s observations, memories, and dreams to re-tell the true story of a richly rebellious and intense woman trying to navigate her life and nurture her sanity while nursing the wounded and dying frontline soldiers of the Third Army. Her strong-willed, beguiling personality fosters the grit necessary for her success as a combat nurse, but these same characteristics cause two men to fall in love with her. And the personal cost of war comes to a heartrending conclusion, as she must choose one man over the other to save herself.\n\nTable of Contents\n\nAcknowledgements\nAuthor’s Note\nPreface\n\nPART I: St. Paul, Fort Leonard Wood, Middle Tennessee, Winter 1933–Winter 1943\n1 On a Streetcar, Guilt Takes a Prisoner\n2 During Quarantine, a Nurse is Born\n3 Under Control\n4 Mail Call\n5 The Cave\n6 Hotel Jefferson, St. Louis\n7 Please Forgive This Depressing Missive\n8 No Excuses\n9 Pickled Caterpillars and Wood Tick Juice\n\nPART II: HMS Andes and Altrincham, Spring 1944–Summer 1944\n10 Shave Tail\n11 The Buckleys\n12 A Doctor Captain\n\nPART III: European Theatre of Operations, Summer 1944\n13 Christmas in July\n14 Bed-Check Charlie\n15 Poppies\n16 On a Grassy Knoll near Sainte-Mère-Église\n17 Lost Cots and Litters in the Sun\n18 It’s Just the Little Things, Daddy\n19 You Can’t Blame These Boys\n20 Got into a Little Dutch\n21 Toul\n22 These Boys\n23 Snow Globe\n24 Redmond\n25 General Patton’s Vagabonds\n26 KAR 98\n27 Blue 88\n28 For the Boys\n29 Lucky Strikes and a Limey\n30 Luxembourg\n31 Deposed Queens\n32 Buchenwald\n33 Hopes Unrealized\n34 The Green Danube\n35 Isolation Has its Perks\n36 Winter Storm Brewing\n\nAfterword\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 1636241581\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: BVV.1636241581.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Davis, NCR\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact  including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blue Vase Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43300573642813,"sku":"BVV.1636241581.G","price":17.34,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0589\/4225\/9261\/files\/1636241581-0.jpg?v=1782595648","url":"https:\/\/www.bluevasebooks.com\/products\/for-the-boys-the-war-story-of-a-combat-nurse-in-patton-s-third-army","provider":"Blue Vase Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}