Goldia O'Haver
A young white woman, smiling, wearing a U.S. Navy uniform.
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
DiedApril 30, 1997
Apple Valley, California
NationalityAmerican
Other namesGoldie O'Haver, Goldia O'Haver Merrill (after marriage)
OccupationNurse
Known forPrisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II

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]

Early life

Goldia 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]

O'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]

Navy nurses wearing makeshift denim uniforms, standing in a group outdoors, speaking to a man in uniform.
In this 1945 image of the Navy nurses rescued from Los Baños prison camp, the women are wearing makeshift denim uniforms sewn by Goldia O'Haver.

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

Goldia 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

  1. ↑ "The Twelve Anchors: POW nurses' sacrifice, service honored". WGN-TV. 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  2. 1 2 Goldia Aimee Merrill, Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hayfield Nurse Gets Award for Philippine Duty". St. Cloud Times. September 4, 1945. p. 11. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Navy Lists 4 Minnesotans as Missing". The Minneapolis Star. July 14, 1942. p. 13. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Judith (January–February 2003). "Laura Cobb: A Navy Nurse in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp". Navy Medicine. 94: 7–13.
  6. ↑ Norman, Elizabeth M. (2011-06-29). We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of the American Women Trapped on Bataan. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307799579.
  7. ↑ Lucchesi, Emilie Le Beau (2019-05-07). This Is Really War: The Incredible True Story of a Navy Nurse POW in the Occupied Philippines. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781641600798.
  8. ↑ "Waterloo Man's Sister Rescued in Philippines". The Courier. March 11, 1945. p. 19. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Freed Nurses on Way Home". The Journal Times. March 6, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "Nurses Rescued in Philippines Come to Hospital". The Oak Leaf. March 17, 1945. p. 1. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ↑ "Goldie O'Haver - Recipient". Military Times Hall Of Valor. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  13. ↑ "News about Nursing". The American Journal of Nursing. 45 (7): 575–589. 1945. ISSN 0002-936X. JSTOR 3416554.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ "To the Angels - Cavite City - Calabarzon - PH". Historical Marker Project. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  17. ↑ "To the Angels Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
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