Homeward Bound
Following victory in Europe, many of the nurses in the 108th began to consider what they would do next. Some began to plan for eventual discharge and a return home while others volunteered for the Pacific war. Some nurses were transferred to other units needing staff. Captain Abrams wrote in her 1945 annual report that "Because of the many changes in this theater, and the ever present rumors, there has been a feeling of restlessness and insecurity amongst all."
In order to qualify for discharge from the Army and a return home, nurses had to accumulate 'points'. Some nurses from the 108th volunteered to work with people recently liberated from the concentration camps in Germany in order to accumulate additional points. One such nurse was Loyola graduate Gertrude McMorrow. She later recalled meeting an officer from Allied headquarters who explained that she would be required to work with victims of unimaginable abuse. McMorrow was accepted for this special service. Fifty years later, however, she remained reluctant to describe the horrors she had witnessed.
Major General Paul R. Hawley, Chief Surgeon of the European Theater of Operations, wrote to Rev. Joseph M. Egan, S.J., president of Loyola University, commending the 108th General Hospital at the end of the war. His letter says in part "I find myself at a loss for words to describe the superb quality of medical personnel that came with this unit...Loyola University can be very proud of the 108th General Hospital. It has rendered outstanding service to our country; and it has been both an official and a personal pleasure for me to have had this fine unit under my direction."