The holiday season is a perfect time to reflect on family, especially those we miss most dearly. In early 2023, my wife lost her grandmother, a remarkable woman who lived to be 98 – she golfed a 90 on her 90th birthday! The life of Eleanor Custis Wright could take up an entire blog post in its own right, but it was a gift she gave me from her father that I’d like to share today.
Dr. Edwin Nash Broyles Sr., born in Atlanta in 1894, graduated from the University of Georgia in 1915 and completed his medical studies at Johns Hopkins four years later. There he served at the School of Medicine, ultimately becoming Associate Professor of laryngology and otology and Director of the endoscopic clinic. In the portrait above, Broyles is holding a bronchoscope of his own invention, described by Johns Hopkins as having “greatly improved the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease.” Three children, Eleanor, Edwin Jr., and Henrietta were born in 1924, 1926, and 1929, respectively.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Edwin joined the Navy Medical Corps and served as a Captain (rank, not position) aboard the USS Relief (AH-1), pictured below. The vessel, launched in 1919, was the first in the Navy to be purpose-built as a hospital ship. It was over 480 feet long and had a bed capacity of 550, though during service in the Pacific Theater she would sometimes accommodate many more.
Life onboard a hospital ship during WWII would have been difficult, to say the least. Discomfort was the norm. Heat, tropical diseases, and accidents could befall anyone in the Pacific Theater, at sea or on land. Japanese pilots sometimes ignored the international agreements and would target hospital ships in strafing runs or kamikaze attacks. Despite the stress and sleep deprivation, doctors and nurses worked diligently to administer aid and assist in evacuating wounded soldiers and liberated prisoners, regardless of their nationality.
During her three years in the Pacific, the Relief would provide care for over 15,000 wounded and helped evacuate at least 10,000 more from immediate danger. She participated in five campaigns (Gilbert Islands, Western Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Okinawa, and Marianas Islands) and earned five battle stars, traveling over 60,000 nautical miles during the conflict. Her responsibilities didn’t end on V-J Day. In August 1945 the Relief steamed for Manchuria to rescue over 750 Allied POWs there, many imprisoned for 3 years or longer.
All the while, Dr. Broyles was performing necessary endoscopic work on those suffering from burns, bullet wounds, shrapnel, broken bones, drowning, and worse. For his incredible work, he would receive a Commendation Ribbon for meritorious service. He also received a map from a Japanese sailor as a token of appreciation for the medical aid rendered.
The map was published in the late 1930s and shows a large area across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Faded color highlights the territory under the control of various powers including Japan, China, England, America, and the Netherlands. Different natural resources are labeled in their respective areas of production. Symbols in the upper right identify various business enterprises across the region.
These elements were of key importance to the Japanese. Lacking sufficient quantities of ores, fuel, and agricultural products, Japan hoped to create a ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ from which it could extract much-needed raw materials. The title reflects this intent and the map’s purpose, approximately translating to “Look at the relationship between business and society and the development of the Southern Sea.” Foreseeing eventual conflict with the Western powers, the Japanese hoped to gain the upper hand with a surprise attack in December, 1941.
I don’t know why that individual gave the map to Edwin. Personal possessions were scarce for Japanese combatants and the gift was probably really was a genuine gesture of appreciation, as the family story goes. A picture in the lower right shows a Japanese merchant steamer, called a maru. Perhaps the sailor wanted to share a small sliver of his war experience using that image. Maybe the overall theme was the point – a sort of apology for Japan’s territorial ambitions that led them to war in the first place.
In any case, the map was passed to Eleanor in the postwar years. Sadly, she was the only child left to inherit the family heirloom. Edwin Jr. followed his father into the Navy, where he became a pilot and fought in the Korean War. On July 26, 1953, the day before the armistice was officially signed, his F2H Banshee was presumably shot down after a strike on the Hoeryong Air Field in North Korea. Edwin Sr.’s youngest child, Henrietta, married the son of Ernest Hemingway and passed away after an illness in 1963.
Eleanor (Custis, as she was usually called) gave me the map a few years back as I was beginning to get started in the trade. These days, it rests proudly on my wall as a reminder of compassion, self-sacrifice, and the true definition of patriotic duty. World War II was one of the most tragic events ever to take place in human history, but even amid such turmoil could be found signs of tremendous kindness and generosity. Don’t expect to see the map in the product inventory any time soon!
Image Credits/Sources
- Johns Hopkins University
- Eleanor Custis Wright Obituary
- John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
- Korean War Project
- NavSource Online
- Nursing Aboard Hospital Ship USS Relief, 1917-1946
- U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
- Henrietta Broyles Hemingway Obituary
- Many thanks to family members including Henny (Aunt), Ted (Father-in-law), Emma (Cousin), and Haywood (Wife). In loving memory of Custis, a real treasure.