“When we boarded the Queen Mary bound for Europe, there were twenty-five thousand troops and forty nurses aboard the ship”
~Mother Irene Boothroyd, OSB

In the spring of 1943 twenty-two-yearold Helen Boothroyd had been out of nursing school for nine months and was looking for her first big adventure.

At the time, the United States was embroiled in World War II and tensions ere high. It occurred to Helen that her newly acquired nursing skills could be put to good use on behalf of her country. She enlisted in the Army to put those skills to the test and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, serving in the Army Nurse Corps. Within six weeks, twenty-five thousand troops and forty nurses were on the Queen Mary heading to an undisclosed destination in Europe.

In early summer 1943, Helen arrived in England and was assigned to various hospitals there. Shortly after the D-Day invasion in June 1944, she was transported with her evaluation hospital via Utah Beach, to Normandy on the outskirts of the village of Sainte mere Elise. In just twenty-eight days, she and the medical staff treated five thousand people who had even wounded in battle. She recalls the intensity of being a war nurse as follows:

“I can remember being touched by so many men who were suffering greatly from their battle wounds. The scars from war and the wounds received can drastically disrupt and permanently alter lives. I remember this one special fella in England who hobbled out to sit with me while I was on my break. He was so pleasant and nice. Before his time in the service he had been a lead dancer for the Irving Berlin Show in New York. He lost his leg in battle in northern Africa and was devastated knowing he could never dance like he did before, let alone return to a career that he loved so much.”

Mother Irene, who is now ninety-two, still thinks about the soldier and wonders whatever happened to him. “I hope he found another passion and was able to live his life to the fullest,” she says. Mother Irene doesn’t remember every name many of the people she treated. Working so hard to stabilize them and save their lives left her with little time to get to know her patients. “All I could do beyond my medical duties,” she recalls, “was to offer them a smile, touch their hand, and give encouragement.” As a combat nurse, she followed the troops from Normandy all the way to Czechoslovakia.

Captain Helen Boothroyd was awarded five Bronze Stars, one for each of the major battles she was involved in. She went on to serve as a nurse in the Korean War and left the service in 1952. Boothroyd eventually chose to devote her life to God. She became a contemplative nun of the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis, in Bethlehem, Connecticut. In a lifetime of selfless service, Mother Irene Boothroyd, whose name means “peace,” has reached out to touch and help so many.

We applaud the lifetime commitment and service of Mother Irene Boothroyd whose love for mankind surpasses more than words can express.

Story/Photo Text Source: Portraits Of Service, Looking into the Faces of Veterans by Robert H. Miller and Andrew Wakeford
www.amazon.com/Portraits-Service-Looking-Faces-Veterans/dp/0984637451/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431628962&sr=8-1&keywords=portraits+of+service

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