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American Nightingale: The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy

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Like British Army Nurse Florence Nightingale before her, and American Army Nurse Sharon Ann Lane (KIA, 312th Evac., Chu Lai, 1969, Vietnam) after her, Frances Slanger was a true heroine.

Bob Welch struck gold when a former Nursing comrade of Slanger's read one of his articles and got in touch. Previously, details about Frances Slanger had been slightly scant and it had been reported that she had been killed by an Enemy sniper. Welch gets it right in indicating that she had actually been killed during an artillery barrage.

Even by Day 3, the slowly expanding Normandy beach heads were a dangerous place to be. Despite overwhelming Allied airpower, involving thousands of combat sorties per day, the Germans were still putting up determined resistance on the ground.

Even the act of wading ashore was not without its dangers, especially given that Frances Slanger was barely five feet tall. She was one of only four nurses to land at Normandy while it was still an intensely active combat zone. Yet in spite of the mines, the snipers, the artillery exchanges and the odd air attack, Slanger and her courageous sisters pitched in immediately to help care for the endless influx of wounded.

A few months later, she became the first Army Nurse KIA of the post-Overlord campaign.

While ever America can still produce women like Frances Slanger and Sharon Ann Lane, and men like the brave young warriors that they gave their own young lives to support, the enemies of Freedom will never win.

Never.

An outstanding book.

As a nurse that has retired from that field, I read this book and was touched beyond words about the person Frances Slanger and the nurse and heroine Frances Slanger. I am an avid reader and love to read about WWII era; this book opened a new area of history that hasnt been adequately covered. It is well written and I highly recommend!

I just finished reading American Nightingale. What a FANTASTIC book. The story of Frances Slanger is truly inspirational and the greatest testament to this inspiration, and to her heroism came from the very men that she cared for while in Europe. I am an avid reader of WWII books and I rank this up there as one of the best that I've ever read. Great job!

AMERICAN NIGHTINGALE is the breathtaking tale of an obscure Army nurse named Frances Slanger, the first woman soldier to die in World War II. Were it not for its author Bob Welch, and discerning editor Brenda Copeland at Atria, this poginant story may have succumbed to obscurity. It is the tale of a young woman who was a nobody, the daughter of a Jewish fruit peddler. Yet, in her simple duties she exemplified the American spirit. Here is a book that truly does live in one's memory long after being read. The work will hold the reader in its grip from rain-drenched beginnings in a field hospital tent on Normandy Beach, to the last page, as a ship named for the book's heroine moves out to sea--leaving in its gentle wake a reminder that no matter what small lives we may live, each of us can make a difference. Bravo Bob Welch from an avid reader and the editor-in-chief of Authorlink.com.

Award-winning journalist and author Welch has rediscovered World War II heroine, Frances Slanger, a Jewish Polish immigrant whose story has never been fully told. Slanger overcame poverty and discrimination to become a nurse, then courageously and selflessly served her adopted country in an Army medical unit. Welch takes us with Slanger's unit from its landing with D-Day invasion forces on the Normandy beaches Normandy, across France just behind the front lines to the borders of Germany as the team provides medical care to thousands of wounded soldiers. On the night before her unit was attacked, Slanger wrote a letter to the military newspaper "Stars and Stripe", affirming her dedication to helping the wounded, expressing her admiration for the American soldier and downplaying her own contribution. The letter inspired a country hungry for signs of human goodness and triggered an outpouring of emotion at the news of her death. will bring tears to your eyes. It reminds us the true meaning of courage at a time when, again, inspiration is sorely needed.

Just as World War II army nurse Frances Slanger compared human life to a fire-that is, if there is a spark of flame left in the embers, the fire can be nursed back to health-Bob Welch has blown on the embers of her touching and inspirational story to bring it back to life sixty years after her death.

What a story of sacrifice, honor, and courage in the midst of horrific battlefield conditions! Frances Slanger, who, in some ways, felt she was destined to help her adopted country throw off the yoke of Nazi domination in the European war theatre, was an uncommon woman of valor who deserves our highest accolades. Her heroic sacrifice-she was the first woman killed in the line of duty following the D-Day invasion-was largely forgotten following the fall of Berlin. But thanks to Bob Welch, who poured thousands of dollars of his own money and three years into researching this thoughtful, well-written book, we have Frances Langer's legacy available at our fingertips.

I highly recommend American Nightingale, the story of a Jewish heroine that time nearly forgot.

Mike Yorkey
co-author of the Every Man's Battle series

What a gift Mr. Welch has! Reading his work was like being taken by the hand, walked through the landing at Normandy and a personal introduction to each of the characters. I saw myself among them and felt what they felt. Francis' tenacity and perseverance is an inspiration even today.

A very touching story, so keep the hankies nearby.

What this book did for me in understanding that period of WWII was to actually "get" the D-Day picture from an up close view. I was guided through the experience step by step so that I truly grasped it.

The story is carefully and thoughtfully constructed and done in an interesting format. One cannot put it down until it's over. Auxillary material is quite meaningful as well.

In American Nightingale, Bob Welch demonstrates a capacity rare in
writers: a perceptive talent who respects history as he chronicles the
quietly profound legacy of one heroic individual who made a difference -
Frances Slanger, Army nurse. The book is a treasure because of the writer's
persistent research, his weaving of Slanger's words with his own to tell her
compelling story, and the ultimate truth that he confirms for all of us -
that war cannot and will not ever crush the unconquerable human spirit.
For me, this is one of those "Couldn't Put It Down" reads!

Frances Slanger has been overlooked in histories of World War II and D-Day, and it is entirely due to Bob Welch (and to his chief informant, Nurse Sallylou Cummings, a spry 82 when she contacted Welch) that we now know her name and her amazing story. If ever the word "hero" was deserved it was here, and it gains luster from use when applied to Slanger, Cummings, and all the nurses who landed on Normandy sixty years ago and more. Can you imagine trying to jump off a boat, eying the water ahead of you, and trying to guess if it was three feet of water--or ten? Poor Frances, burdened down with a pack almost half her size, sank to the bottom of the ocean floor almost immediately. Why, her helmet alone was nearly 50 ounces. Luckily some strong men rescued her, for she was needed on the bloody sands of Omaha Beach.

A girl of European origins, young Frances was nearly turned back at Ellis Island due to a swollen eye. We do not know the details, but we suspect that some now unknown kindness bent the rules a little bit and allowed Frances to remain with her kin even though she was, by strict standards, "damaged goods." The girl grew up eternally grateful to the USA for allowing her and her family safety and security (for they were Jewish fleeing an anti-Semitic overlord in Europe) and it seems only natural in retrospect that she should have chosen to become a nurse.

In Europe she died a heroine, but she always insisted, "No, it is not I who have done anything--it was always the boys, the brave boys." It was almost as though to call attention to her own heroism would have been to diminish it.

Bob Welch should be proud of what he has done here. The book isn't always brilliantly written, and he employs a confusing time structure of trying to tell the day by day story of Frances Slanger's war, with interspersed flashbacks of her difficult pre-war life, and it just doesn't always work. But it doesn't have to. The story is riveting nonetheless.

I enjoy the author's columns in our local newspaper and so read this book when it came out. I was impressed by all the information he included, making the book a great historic documentary of the times. Personal interviews with still living participants are especially relevant. Frances' personal story flowed through the center, driving the story. It's a compelling narrative of the suffering and sacrifices of soldiers in war time. It also adds to our knowledge of women in WWII.