My fascination with nursing and World War I started long ago. World War I has always been my favorite war (if a person can have a favorite time of death, destruction, and the decay of society). Honestly, assassination of an archduke by a seditious group called the Black Hand? Treaties and promises that pulled major powers into play? Cossacks with swords riding horses battling massive tanks and cannons? It’s an incredible time in history.

Nursing came about later when I read my Great Aunt Lydia’s diary all about her time at a teaching hospital in Kansas City, right before the United States entered the war.