Lucille Kasner Pettijohn, “Lu,” had an adventurous career as an Army nurse. She is pictured here at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
Lucille “Lu” Pettijohn of Grand Marais was working as a nurse at Minneapolis General Hospital when she and her friend, Taina Walton, decided to join the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) on May 9, 1941.
Lu (then Lucille Kasner) had graduated as a Registered Nurse from St. Mary’s Nursing School in Minneapolis in 1934 and already had some nursing experience, so she entered the service as a second lieutenant.
She and her friend were sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, two of the first 20 nurses assigned there. Women enlisting in the service were an unusual enough occurrence that the nurses had their photos taken and a small story ran in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune. Titled Nurses Off for Camp, it said, “The boys aren’t the only ones who are marching off to join the Army.”
When Lu and Taina arrived at Fort Leonard Wood, the camp was just being finished. Lu was assigned the task of establishing a proctology ward, overseeing construction, ordering required equipment, and of course, treating patients. In those days, horses were part of the Army, and that led to painful physical complaints. Lu’s scrapbook includes many notes of thanks from soldiers who appreciated her compassionate care.
After Pearl Harbor, Lu was transferred to the Air Corps, to Jackson Army Air Force Base in Mississippi. Since it was wartime, the nurses did see more training. There was 6 a.m. physical training and once, gas mask training. Lu recalled that entering a gas chamber and being ordered to remove your mask is not a pleasant experience. She is grateful that most of her military career was centered on caring for patients.
Lu never went overseas, but she did her share of traveling.
In 1944, she left Jackson for Malden Air Force Base in Missouri where she was in charge of closing a hospital. It was there she was promoted to first lieutenant. The next year was a hectic one for Lu, with several transfers.
In March 1945, she was sent to Sedalia Air Force Base, Missouri, and then in June she was sent to Blytheville, Arkansas, where she was ordered to set up a 50-bed hospital— from scratch. She served as Chief Nurse there until November 1945 when she was transferred to Stout Air Force Base, Indiana. She didn’t stay there long—in January 1946 she was transferred to Greenville Air Force Base, South Carolina.
She was able to stay there until her honorable discharge from the service at Fort Sheridan, Illinois in August 1946 as a captain. Shortly after moving to Grand Marais, a friend asked her why she was transferred so many times. Lu said she had no idea. “You didn’t ask questions in those days, you just went wherever you were told to go.”
During her career, Lu had served as a general duty nurse, charge nurse, operating room nurse, and administrator. She also enjoyed training enlisted men to work in the operating room.
When Lu got out of the service, she continued her nursing career and her education. She worked in a private doctor’s office in Minneapolis, at Northwestern Hospital and then tried a stint of Industrial Nursing with TWA airlines in Kansas City, Missouri. She eventually settled in at the VA Hospital in St. Cloud, working and attending college, earning her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Social Services.
She met Carl Pettijohn at the VA Hospital and the couple married in April 1965. They were happily married for many years, living in Phoenix, Arizona, St. Cloud, and San Antonio, Texas. When Carl became ill and the couple had to spend time in Minnesota so he could be seen at the Mayo Clinic, they began visiting Grand Marais, camping at the Grand Marais Municipal Campground. They came to love the North Shore and eventually bought a home in Grand Marais. Carl passed away in 1990.
Lu has since sold her home and moved into a lovely apartment in the Grand Marais Condominiums. Like many veterans, she is embarrassed to be the center of attention. When a suggestion is made that she was adventurous, Lu just smiles and says, “No—it just worked out that way.”
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