The Arts in the Cadet Nurse Corps

ANTHEMS | POSTERS | REWARD UNLIMITED VIDEO | POETRY | SCRIPTS

The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps program made use of the visual and performing arts and the humanities to recruit and encourage Cadet Nurses' patriotism through this program. On this page are links to a few of these arts and humanities-based approaches to stir the hearts of Cadet Nurses, their families and friends, and indeed the entire nation.

ANTHEMS

The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps Hymn was a gift to the Corps on its second birthday in 1945. R. Deane Shure, Director of Music at the Mt. Vernon Methodist Church, Washington, D.C. composed the musc and Frances Shippen, a member of the staff of the Division of Nurse Education, USPHS, wrote the lyrics.

Faithful ever to my country, to the Corps my sacred trust,
Grant that I may follow wisely, all the guidance offered me.
Give me kindness, grant me patience,
That I may not fail this noble challenge here to heal the suffering ones.

Help me to allay the sorrowing in a world all torn by strife,
May I hold the lamp of nursing in the spirit of the Corps,
Give me strength, and grant me knowledge,
To pursue my chosen way with courage here to heal the suffering ones.

Now I dedicate my service, pledge myself and all I am,
Thus to make of life a triumph, over sorrow over death,
Give me pride in my endeavour
In the service of my Corps, O grant that I may heal the suffering ones.

 

The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps March was written for a marching band. Beatrice Ziman wrote the lyrics, and Edmund Ziman wrote the music.
Listen to a recording...
Download conductor's score...
Thanks to Ross Hartsough for making the original 78 rpm recording available, to AZ Digital Transfers for this digital conversion, and to the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland, where the sheet music is housed.

Verse

The Maltese Cross is marching again,
To answer the call - a new crusade,
We give our care to valorous men
To heroes and all who need our aid.
Cadets in gray are here to carry along
The valiant fight to keep America strong!

Chorus

We're the Cadets,
We're in the Corps,
Doing our part to help the nation win the war,
Doing the job we're chosen for,
United States Cadet Nurse Corps,
Working together day and night,
Guarding our country's strength and might
From coast to coast we'll sing a toast,
Student nurses of the Corps!

Hymn

We serve
Our land
With mind
And hand
Our pledge
We give
To help preserve a world where free men live,
Our lamps
We light
Our hearts
Unite
From shore to shore
Hail Cadet Nurse Corps.

We're the Cadets,
We're in the Corps,
Doing our part to help the nation win the war,
Doing the job we're chosen for,
United States Cadet Nurse Corps,
Working together day and night,
Guarding our country's strength and might
From coast to coast we'll sing a toast,
Student nurses through the land
With heart and hand
From shore to shore
Hail Cadet Nurse Corps.
 

POSTERS

The federal government commissioned different artists to design a number of recruitment posters.  These posters are available in a variety of sizes from the University of North Texas Archives. They are considered public domain, and, as such can be duplicated.

Date: 1943
Creator: United States. Federal Security Agency.
Description: Profile image of a woman wearing a gray dress cadet nurse uniform.

Date: 1943
Creator: Edmundson, Carolyn Moorhead, 1906-
Description: Image of a woman in a gray dress military uniform with a "CADET NURSE" sleeve patch. She has light-colored hair and wears a beret.

Date: 1945
Creator: Ross, Alexander, 1909-
Description: A woman in a gray military uniform is shown in the right foreground. In the left background are two young women in dresses, carrying books and looking at the uniformed woman.

Date: 1944
Creator: Whitcomb, Jon
Description: Color poster of two women in cadet nurse uniforms (probably two views of the same woman). The woman on the left wears a military-style uniform with blue jacket and cap. The woman on the right wears a white nurse's uniform with a nurse's cap. Both women are wearing cadet nurse shoulder patches and caduceus (medical symbol) pins.

 

REWARD UNLIMITED

Reward Unlimited was an approximately 11-minute recruitment film that was distributed and played in schools, churches, movie houses, and other places where young women would gather to learn about the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. It was produced by B. P. Fineman and David O. Selznick, and the cast included Dorothy McGuire, James Brown, Aline MacMahon, Spring Byington, Tim Tully, and Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins. Beatrice Kalisch and Philip Kallisch wrote an article on this documentary and other aspects of the publicity campaign to recruit Cadet Nurses. It appeared in 1973 in Nursing Outlook under the title Be a Cadet Nurse: The Girl with a Future. 

A video stream from the Ball State University Digital Media Repository dramatizes the need for Cadet Nurses during World War II.
Catalog Reference: http://libx.bsu.edu/u?/WWIIHistFilm,76

This film is also available for purchase at criticalpast.com:
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675021853_Military-nursing_United-St...

 

POETRY

TBD

SCRIPTS

TBD