Goldia O'Haver
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December 3, 1902
Goldia O'Haver | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Goldia Aimee O'Haver December 3, 1902 |
| Died | April 30, 1997 (aged 94) Apple Valley, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Goldie O'Haver, Goldia O'Haver Merrill (after marriage) |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Known for | Prisoner 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]
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]
Navy nurse
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]
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]
