ADDENDUMS

Helen Zenkovich, with a strong patriotic desire to serve her country and to share her nursing skills, was commissioned into the Navy Nurse Corps in 1944. She served until 1946.

I am grateful to my Russian parents for a good start in life and (teaching me to) accept the realities it brings.

My father was from Minsk, Russia. He was a village school teacher prior to being conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War. He came to the US in 1907. (My) mother traveled with another group of immigrants to Ellis Island. (My parents) met and married in Sious City Iowa (where I was born.)

Helen was recalled to active duty on 25 September 1950, when she received orders for the Haven. She was assigned as a Nurse Anesthesiologist with doctors Pender and Lou Carpenter.

I was happy to be assigned for duty aboard the USS Haven...Korea was virtually unknown to me, but I was excited about the thought of going to the ''strange'' country...I was amazed at the size and vastness of the ship.

Arriving in Korean waters on 18 October 1950, Zencovich remembers receiving an average census of 530 patients. By November, the patient load increased to 778. Serving in the operating room, Zencovich remembers:

During ...abdominal surgery on Korean casualties, many were found to be infested with large tapeworms...appear(ing) in lengths of 10-12 inches.

By this time, Zenkovich was promoted to full lieutenant. Nurses on the Haven tended US, UN, South Korean military and civilian patients and prisoners of war. They also left the ship on occasion to assist the Korean population.

A crew of sailors was assigned to man a small dinghy (boat) to transport us ashore. The Korean adults and children were friendly and curious about Americans. (My) shipmate, Lt. Margaret Lee purchased a large bag of assorted unwrapped candies to treat the children. When we arrived on shore, they came running to greet us. I began to hand out pieces of candy to the few who approached up. In an instant, children and adults came from seemingly nowhere and surrounded me with outstretched hanfd and arms saying, 'Chop, chop, Mama-san.' What to do? Finally. I tossed the bags of candy into the air and what a sight. (They) scramble(d) for the falling candy.