Research Information System
Journal of Modern Turkish History, vol.18, no.35, pp.459-479, 2022 (Scopus)
The Turkish Government, by sending a brigade to the Korean Peninsula in the autumn of 1950, was among the active belligerents of the war. The Turkish brigade served actively during the years of intense conflicts and achieved significant successes against the North Korean troops. The achievement of this success resulted in the brigade to have many martyrs and wounded. The same was true also for other armies affiliated to the United Nations. The fact that the Turkish and United Nations-affiliated armies inflicted too many casualties during the conflicts caused the frontline hospitals to be inadequate. To solve this problem, American hospitals in Tokyo came into play. Many wounded soldiers were sent by air and sea to Tokyo for treatment. Sending of the Turkish wounded to the American hospitals in Tokyo created a positive situation in the treatment process. However, the fact that almost all of the Turkish wounded soldiers did not speak English made the treatment process difficult. Turkish military officers immediately took action to eliminate the language problem during the treatment process. Volunteer English-speaking nurses were immediately sent to Tokyo. Three nurses, namely Seher Şimşek, Münevver Sakin, Şükriye Tandoğan, were sent to American hospitals in Tokyo in February 1951 to serve for approximately one and a half years. In the following period, Emel Türkkan and Ayten Erkıvanç went to Tokyo. Towards the end of the conflicts, Safiye Tarhan and Münevver Gürdal were the nurses who would serve lastly. The nurses, who served in Tokyo until the summer months of 1954, made a name for themselves with their outstanding achievements. Nurses who worked in Tokyo until the summer of 1954 began to be recognized for their outstanding achievements. They were honored with outstanding service medals for their services, at the end of the war. This research examines the Turkish nurses who worked in American hospitals in Tokyo during the Korean War. Presidency of the Turkish State Archives, the US National Archive, the Military History and Strategical Studies Presidency Archive of the Turkish General Staff and the information in the newspapers of the period constitute the main structure of the research. In addition, the biographies of some nurses were also included in line with the available sources.