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Nurse Esther Amundson

  • Unit: Base Hospital 35
  • Date of Birth: January 3, 1888
  • Entered the Military: April 8, 1918
  • Date of Death: October 20, 1918
  • Hometown: Montevideo, Minnesota
  • Place of Death: Mars-sur-Allier, France
  • Cemetery: Plot C, Row 18, Grave 25. St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiacourt-Regniéville, France
Contributed by Ms. Katie Craven
Open World Learning Academy
2017-2018

Early Life

On January 3, 1888, Esther Amundson was born in Montevideo, Minnesota, the second oldest of 12 children. In 1910, she left for Minneapolis to train as a nurse at Minneapolis Rest Hospital. Upon graduation, she worked in Minneapolis until February 1918, when she became a Red Cross nurse in Los Angeles, California.

When the U.S. entered into World War I, the U.S. Army recruited nurses through the American Red Cross.

Letter from W. C. Gorgas, Surgeon General of the United States, on the need for nurses to serve in the U.S. Army, December 4, 1917. National Archives and Records Administration (Record Group 165, Box 136).
Esther Amundson working as a nurse in World War I, 1918. Courtesy of Wendy Schryer.

Military Experience

Enlisting in the U.S. Army from Minnesota, Amundson trained at Camp MacArthur near Waco, Texas. In July 1918, she received her orders to travel overseas. On August 9, 1918, Amundson and other nurses bound for Base Hospital 35 boarded the Olympic and set sail from New York City. Eight days later, on August 17, the nurses embarked from Southampton, England aboard the Gloucester Caster headed for France.

While stationed at Base Hospital 35 in Mars-sur-Allier, France, Amundson cared for over 80 patients at a time. Less than two months after arriving in France, Amundson contracted pneumonia and died on October 20, 1918, just two weeks before the Armistice. 

A photograph of the hospital in Mars-sur-Allier, France, where Amundson served, January 6, 1919. National Archives and Records Administration (111-SC-45931).
A photograph of the recreation hall at the hospital in Mars-sur-Allier, France, where Amundson served, January 6, 1919. National Archives and Records Administration (111-SC-45937).
The morning report noting the death of Nurse Amundson and Nurse Macdonald, October 21, 1918. National Archives and Records Administration (Record Group 120, Box 319).

Eulogy

Esther Amundson is buried in St. Mihiel American Cemetery in Thiaucourt-Regniéville, France. Her mother, Otelie, traveled to her grave in 1931 as part of the Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimage. Amundson is also commemorated on the World War I Memorial in Montevideo, Minnesota with 45 other fallen heroes of that town.

Otelie Amundson visiting her daughter’s grave on a Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimage, 1931. Courtesy of Ancestry.
Esther Amundson’s grave at St. Mihiel American Cemetery in Thiaucourt-Regniéville, France, July 2, 2018. Courtesy of Cathy Gorn.

Reflection

Bibliography

Base Hospital #35, Records of the American Expeditionary Forces – World War I, Record Group 120 (Box 318); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Base Hospital #35, Records of the American Expeditionary Forces – World War I, Record Group 120 (Box 319); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Eddy, Private Clyde. View from tower at North end of Hospital Center…Mars Sur Allier, Nievre, France. Photograph. January 6, 1919. National Archives and Records Administration (111-SC-45931). Image.

Eddy, Private Clyde. Corner of Nurse’s Recreation Hall, Base Hospital 35, Mars Sur Allier, Nievre, France. Photograph. January 6, 1919. National Archives and Records Administration (111-SC-45937). Image.

“Esther Amundson.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed May 30, 2018. www.abmc.gov/node/320906#.XAf07VMvxR0.

Esther Amundson World War I Burial Case File; Correspondence, Reports, Telegrams, Applications and Other Papers relating to Burials of Service Personnel, Records of the Quartermaster General’s Office, 1915-1935, Record Group 92; National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Evening Star. “The Roll of Honor.” December 26, 1918. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-12-26/ed-1/seq-12/.

Hembre, J.O. “American War Dads.” Montevideo Historical Album and Centennial Program Book , 1971, 151-158.

Photograph of Esther Amundson. c. 1918. Courtesy of Wendy Schryer. Digital Images. ancestry.com.

The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review. New York: Lakeside Publishing, Co. Inc. 1919. https://books.google.com

Warren Sheaf. “Minnesota State News.” January 8, 1919. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059228/1919-01-08/ed-1/seq-1/.

Records of the Historical Section Relating to the History of the War Department, 1900-41, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Record Group 165 (Box 135); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Records of the Historical Section Relating to the History of the War Department, 1900-41, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Record Group 165 (Box 136); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

War Diary; Records of the Surgeon General’s Office, 1917-1927, Record Group 112 (Box 42); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.