The American nurse sheltered thousands locals during her stay in Nantong from 1937 to 1939

[Photo/yzwb.net]

Vincoe Mushrush (1906-1997) was an American nurse who worked at the Nangtungchow Hospital run by the United Christian missionary society at the time. She helped shelter thousands of locals from Japanese wartime atrocities and provided medical services to the wounded during her stay in Nantong, Jiangsu province, from 1937 to August 1939, when the city was occupied by Japanese troops.

According to Zhu Jiang, a director from the Nantong Municipal Archives Bureau, Japan's full-scale invasion of China started on July 7, 1937.

"The American missionary hospital in Nantong was under attack from Japanese bombings on August 17. Miss Mushrush, together with other American medical workers, organized rescue operations immediately and saved more than 40 patients from the flames of war," said Zhu.

After the bombing on August 17, 1937, many foreigners were evacuated from Nantong. However, Miss Mushrush stayed to offer help to locals.

Since she placed an American flag on the roof of the hospital, the missionary hospital and the neighboring Chongying Girls' School, they survived Japanese bombardment and became a refugee camp for the needy.

When the situation became worse and more and more civilians were being injured from atrocities committed by Japanese troops, classrooms and even her bedroom of became crowded with the wounded.

"I've got only $40 left and the chef told me the coal remained could last for only three weeks," wrote Miss Mushrush in a letter to her friends.

During the most difficult days, people from Nantong and other parts of the world came to help. "We are running out of food and medicine for the refugees and the wounded. When we used the last piece of gauze, a neighbor donated a batch of gauze and someone sent over two cars of rice to us. And more gauze and rice were sent over afterwards," Miss Mushrush described in her letters.

Zhu collected the letters and diaries of Miss Mushrush and concluded that "from March 1938 to the beginning of 1039, Miss Mushrush received 89 hospitalized patients, 3,471 out-patients and provided medical service to 17,050 wounded."

Miss Mushrush also mentioned in one of her articles that "the refugee camp usually sheltered about 500 refugees a month. For the last eight months, we received 376 refugees per month in average and offered relief aid to 2,607 persons a month."

Vincoe Mushrush left Nantong for Wuhu city in Anhui province in August, 1939, and returned to serve in American armies later. She was one of the medical workers that participated in the Normandy landings in 1944.

"As a Nantong resident, I sincerely appreciate the great help Miss Mushrush rendered for Chinese people in the darkest days when the city was occupied by Japanese troops. Her name together with her story should be remembered in history," added Zhu, who has been collecting Miss Mushrush’s dairies and letters in an effort to record the American nurse's story in Nantong into her book.

A file photo of the Nangtungchow Hospital run by the United Christian missionary society in Nantong, Jiangsu province.[Photo/yzwb.net]