Frances Chesley
Second Lieutenant Frances Olive Chesley was born on October 24, 1910, in Maine and served in the Army Nurse Corps during WWII. She enlisted in the Nurse Corps on May 1, 1943, and was eventually stationed aboard the hospital ship USS Comfort. Comfort operated throughout WWII with a Navy crew and Army medical personnel. Operating from Hollandia, New Guinea where a major Army hospital center had been established to handle casualties from Pacific Theater operations, the hospital ship frequently evacuated wounded from Leyte and the Philippine Islands.
While in waters offshore Okinawa on April 28, 1945, the USS Comfort was struck by a Japanese suicide plane. The Kamikaze crashed through three decks exploding in the surgical section, which was filled with medical personnel and patients. 28 people lost their lives in the attack, including Ms. Chesley. She was 34 years old. 48 others were wounded, and there was considerable damage to the ship. Lt. Frances Chesley was Maine's first nurse to be killed in action during WWII.
The flag that draped Frances Chesley's coffin during her military funeral in 1945.
The WWII Veterans History Project is honored to carry on her legacy in a permanent display in the Traveling Museum of WWII including the original flag that draped her coffin during her military funeral in 1945. The flag was generously donated by Ms. Chesley's great-nephew.
The victims of the USS Comfort kamikaze attack, including Ms. Chesley. The flag in the Traveling Museum of WWII is in this photograph.
The display honoring Lieutenant Chesley in the Traveling Museum of WWII.