War Angel

"Must read 🏆

War is hell. This book offers the point of view of the nurses who risked their lives to care for the military in Korea.

SYNOPSIS

It’s 1950. Mary Belanger, a Reserve Army operating room nurse is called up and must leave behind a philandering husband and the baby of his runaway sister. All too soon, Mary is thrust into combat surgeries dealing with unimaginable wounds and forced to grow in ways she never imagined. She and the other nurses do the impossible every day saving the lives of American servicemen. When the war reaches a stage there is hope for victory, their fate is dealt a cruel blow.

At a time when US Army regulations prohibited men from serving as nurses, the actual experiences of the MASH Nurses operating close to combat is told in this compelling tale.

Mary Belanger was living her life in Manchester, New Hampshire, as a non-practicing nurse when the Korean war began. She'd agreed to take care of her husband's niece when her sister-in-law disappeared and no one was available to take care of little Cindy. Her husband Rob, who had difficulty holding a job, was having an affair, and Mary and her mother were sharing child-care responsibilities for Cindy while Rob ran around. Rob himself was barely contributing to his niece's care.

Mary's mother suggested that Mary join the Army Reserves so that she could earn a little extra money, never expecting that Mary would be called up to active duty. But that's exactly what happened. After a whirlwind notice from the Army, Mary left the protection of New Hampshire to train to become an Army nurse and head to Korea to work in a MASH unit. She had questionable ""experience"" working in an operating room, but the Army was so desperate for trauma nurses, it was willing to take any nurse with even peripheral experience.

Mary tried to get an exemption from service by bringing up the situation with Cindy, but since Cindy was not her biological child, the Army wasn't buying the excuse.

The novel follows Mary's harrowing journey through training, her deteriorating relationship with Rob, complications with Cindy, the death of Rob's sister, combat nursing, gruesome surgeries, even racism in the military. The formerly insecure Mary experiences an overview of the world through the lens of a once-sheltered New Englander to realize how fortunate she has been in life. She also opens the possibilities of new relationships instead of Rob.

The author is skilled at describing the horrors of war with accurate, poignant, heartbreaking details. These depictions are especially important, in this reviewer's opinion, as today's world is engulfed in wars on many fronts. The reality of war is brought to life through Mary's eyes. Her observations of the poverty of the Korean people--especially mothers and children--demonstrate the effects of war on everyday lives while war rages around people who are simply trying to live. Mary's values of humanitarianism and empathy are what are lacking as wars continue to erupt in the 21st century. In reading Mary's experiences, I have to ask: have we learned nothing from the repeated failures of war? War, destruction, wanton killing, deprivation, and chaos solve no problems; instead, they create more calamity than they solve.

In my opinion, this is an important historical novel, because not enough people know enough about the Korean War and its impact on the history of not only the United States but also on the world. I highly recommend this book.

REVIEWED BY

Wanda Adams Fischer

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nurses that serve in War are some of our unknown hero's.

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2023

This was a hard novel to read and very thought provoking. I received this free from the author and I voluntarily chose to review it. I've given it a 5* rating. I'll start by saying, my father was a pow of WWII. My hubby and I were stationed in Bangkok, Thailand during the Vietnam War. His unit did the personnel work. We probably saw and heard more than some people realize. Needless to say, this story has a lot of feels and a lot of dealing with loss. And this gal, had troubles at home. They were worse than some and something she had to deal with along with being a OR Nurse. This author showed the pull and tug a lot of our military personnel are called to deal with. I call this a job well done.

Nancy Luebke

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth the Read

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023

War Angel: Korea 1950 is a wonderful, multi-layered work of historical fiction. It tells the story of a callow nurse from rural America dropped into the front in the bloody Korean War. The work details her personal challenges with responsibilities outside her comfort zone as a medic as well as her complicated relationship with her family and husband at home. The book is historically accurate and details the pioneering of use of MASH units, which saved American soldiers lives then by deploying medics close to the frontlines and has been improved upon ever since. It also outlines the conflicted and evolving role of women in the military and the contradictions inherent in that role. I found it to be a very enjoyable and gripping read.

Honest To A T

An Amazing Read

First I want to thank LibraryThing, the author and publishers for copy of the book.

The reader is absorbed into a rarely discussed period of history, the Korean War. The novel treat

s the life of nurses in the war zone during war, providing an accurate picture. Mary Belanger, the protagonist through whose eyes we view the story, is a Reserve Army operating room nurse, who is called up and must leave behind a cheating husband and the baby they want to adopt, born to his runaway sister. All too soon, Mary is thrust into combat surgeries dealing with unimaginable wounds and forced to grow in ways she never imagined. The reader not only experiences the horrors of war and how the nurses coped, but their interpersonal relationships, among themselves, and with the doctors and other military personnel, but also must confront race relations in the service, where Mary takes a leadership role. The reader also sees how the family, including her problematic husband and baby, and the happiness and hardships they endured, and how Mary was able to support them through letters far away. We become enthralled with victories and defeats of nurses and the Armed Forces with whom they interact, and get a real-feeling peek into the work of the MASH units, and even enlightening us as to life behind enemy lines.

Carrie

5 stars, Angels of Mercy

WAR ANGEL: KOREA 1950

by Mike Weedall

The surgical nurses of the Korean War hit the ground running, and they never stopped, all the way through the book.

Mary Belanger, a Reserve Army operating nurse is called up to serve in a war that took the armed forces by surprise. Mary doesn't want to go, but she doesn't have a choice.

Mary finds herself asked to do many things she's never done and not really wanting to do them either, but soon those things are like second nature to her.

""Tell my mother I love her."" How can you not love a book like that?

From the first moment that I opened the book, I was enthralled and could not put it down. I read it straight through. I thought the ending was a little abrupt, but it is a great story.

I received a complimentary copy of #WarAngelKorea1950 from #OutskirtsPress I was not obligated to post a review.

Highly recommended.

#strongfemaleprotagonist #war #death #duckboats #leathernecks #MASH #ORNurses #Reservists #racism #historicalfiction #USSConsolation #Army #Navy #AirForce #Marines #MikeWeedall @MikeWeedall

arc inspirational strong-female-protagonist

...more

Sally Mander

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads in exchange for a review.

When a reserve nurse is called into active service, she comes face to face with challenges and trials she could never dream of. Sadly, not all the challenges are on the battle front. She leaves behind a simmering maelstrom of problems that soon reach their own boiling point.

From the simpler problem of trying to obtain sanitary napkins to finding herself under fire from invaders, Lt. Mary Belanger faces the unimaginable, and she does it with a strength and fortitude she never thought she had.

After reading this book I found myself humbled by the selflessness and often unrecognized service these military nurses provided in conditions that are beyond comprehension. And not all the enemies are on the other side. Sometimes the problems at home or the men these nurses stand shoulder-to-shoulder with are also a very real problem.

top-shelf

RJ Mckay

""Just a small town girl"" Mary who joined the reserves and is now facing deployment to Korea must leave behind a chaotic family life; her husband cheats and her sister-in-law abandoned her infant daughter to Mary. With all that on her plate and no extensive surgical training she is thrust into the madness of war.

I initially thought I would rate this a ""4"" but that was just because I felt Mary's presence interfered with the story BUT.. the story itself (without her) was truly fascinating; the 14 hour long back to back surgeries, witnessing good soldiers torn apart by the violence of war; brutal living conditions. That was well written and very much worth a ""5"".

Thank you to LIbraryThing for a copy for my review.

Carol

I received an advance copy of this book. Thank you.

What an amazing story. I grew up watching MASH and loving it, this book is 100 times better at really portraying the conditions, their struggles, their fears. Having read this book, I cannot imagine that I could have faced what they did. The author, Mike Weedall, so clearly depicts their fears, their lows and their highs. The comradery is so touching. It is not a long book; it moves quickly and never bogs down. A really great read.

Carolyn