1LT Florence Taylor Grewer, Killed While Trying to Save the Lives of Others On Board the USS Comfort.

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Florence (Taylor) Grewer was the successful Superintendent of Nursing at Cowlitz General Hospital in Longview, Washington. Her calling as a nurse beckoned her to leave the Pacific Northwest and join the US Army Nursing Corps. That patriotic and adventurous spirit would take her half way around the world to assist WWII wounded. Florence Grewer’s dedication to duty cost her her life as she was trying to save the lives of others.

Florence Taylor was born March 23, 1902 at Forman, North Dakota to Herodotus “Hero” and Minnie (Merryfield) Taylor. Her father was a bank cashier until his untimely death in 1919. Her mother, Minnie, was a homemaker. In 1920, Minnie was working as a clerk in a county office to support Florence and her 2 older sisters.

Florence attended nursing school at Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Around this time, she met and married Paul H Grewer, who was a dentist. The pair were living in Glen Ullin, North Dakota at the 1930 US Census. Unable to have their own children, the Grewer’s adopted a baby boy and named him Douglas Paul Grewer.

The marriage to Dr Grewer ended in divorce. Florence and her son Doug moved to Seattle, Washington, where her sister Mildred lived. It was in Washington that she returned to her first love, her nursing career.

In the 1940 US Census, Florence has her mother Minnie living with her and her son. She is the Superintendent of Nursing at Cowlitz General Hospital in Longview, Washington. Her nursing career is in full swing.

Whether it was patriotic duty to her country or a sense of adventure, Florence Grewer signed up for the US Army Nursing Corps. On October 10, 1942, in Seattle, Washington, Florence Grewer became a commissioned officer in the US Army.

In 1944, 1Lt Florence Grewer was assigned to board the USS Comfort, a newly refitted hospital ship that was run by the Navy and staffed by Army medical personnel. Florence was the chief nurse anesthetist working in the surgical area.

The USS Comfort left San Pedro, California on June 21, 1944 for Brisbane, Australia, and Hollandia, New Guinea. The hospital ship evacuated wounded from Leyte, Philippine Islands. They made two trips back to San Pedro, California with wounded soldiers. (Full Comfort history here).

On April 28, 1945, the USS Comfort left Okinawa with a full load of wounded at 3:55pm on route for Guam. The ship sailed after dark with full illumination and had large red crosses painted on it to clearly mark it as a hospital ship without any weapons. At 10:41 p.m., a Japanese kamikaze plane tore through three decks into the ship where Comfort's three operating rooms were located and exploded. This was the exact location where 1Lt Florence Grewer was working. The crash killed 30 people, including six Army nurses, six Army doctors, and seven patients. The attack wounded 48 others.

The USS Comfort was able to continue sailing on to it's destination. At the age of 43, 1Lt Florence Taylor Grewer was buried on Guam until the end of the war. She was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery on February 7, 1949, in Section 21, Plot 179.

1Lt Florence Taylor Grewer was survived by her son, Douglas Grewer; mother, Minnie Taylor; sisters Millie Courtice, and Vivien Coleman.

Awards:

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal

Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal

Women's Army CORPS Service Medal

American Red Cross Bronze Medal

Sources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49193549/florence-taylor-grewer

https://www.history.com/news/hospital-ship-uss-comfort-world-war-ii-kamikaze-attack

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96255014/florence-taylor-grewer-obit/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96255882/florence-grewer-estate/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96321237/florence-taylor-grewer-p1/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Comfort_(AH-6)#CITEREFDANFS:_Comfort

Too Close for Comfort by Dale P. Harper

1920 US Census

1930 US Census

1940 US Census

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you notice anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to add, please contact me at dklehman81@gmail.com.

Debi Lehman SBTS Writer

SBTSProject/Washington/Cowlitz