99 year-old WWII Nurse Doris Howard, receives recognition for her service
Doris Howard has a confession to make. From a small town in Wisconsin, Howard didn't want to join the army to just join - she wanted to explore the world. She enlisted in the military in 1942, weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
"I joined up as a nurse and we were taken across the country to California where we left the port on the USS Comfort," says Howard.
The USS Comfort was a hospital ship that would sail down the South Pacific during the height of World War II. She and her ranking members would help wounded soldiers at sea. There is still one thing she remembers that has she still can recall at 99 years-old.
"We thought we were safe under the Geneva convention...and that's when the kamikaze's came."
Her ship was hit by a Japanese kamikaze pilot which crashed a few feet away from Howard. She remembers the captain shouting 'abandon ship' as she was trying to regain consciousness from the loud blast.
"It was the one thing I remember the most and we were even there on D-Day with the destroyers and the troopers."
Doris returned safely after World War II had ended but never received her medals for her service during the deadliest war in history.
Today, the city of Reno gave her the honor of being the Grand Marshall of the Veterans Day Parade through downtown Reno.
Mayor Hillary Schieve even honored this Veterans Day as "Doris Howard's Day" by proclamation.
To end the honorary ceremony before the parade, she received her six medals of valor that she rightly deserved after the war.
To learn more about Doris' story in depth, click here.
For any suggestions, questions, or concerns, feel free to reach out to our reporter, Miles Buergin.
