Second Lieutenant, US Army Nurse Corps, Edna Marie Temps Wallinger

Born: September 9, 1915, Hiawatha, Kansas

Died: September 1, 2000, Angola, Indiana

Second Lieutenant Edna Marie Temps Wallinger was called up from the Red Cross reserves to serve her country in the Army Nurse Corps in August of 1941.¹ She recalled later, “I had enlisted in the first reserve of the Red Cross while at Omaha [where she studied nursing] so I was eligible for service.”² Called originally to Camp Robinson in Arkansas, Lt. Temps was moved to Perrin Air Field in March of 1942.³ Perrin was an area near Denison, Texas that was being developed as an Army Air Corps training center the summer of 1941 and was ready to train airmen just after the attack on Pearl Harbor.⁴

For a new military installation the hospital, where Lt. Temps was in charge of one ward, was well designed to “keep every man trim for top-notch fighting,” having 126 beds, two medical and two surgical areas.⁵ The nurses’ quarters were excellent from Temps Wallinger’s point of view, having a comfortable place to sleep, an officer’s club with dancing, and even horseback riding and bicycling to keep physically fit.⁶

Second Lieutenant Temps was to serve out the rest of her military career at Perrin Air Field Hospital until her honorable discharge in January of 1944.⁷

Born in Hiawatha, Kansas to William and Lucy Temps on September 9, 1915, Edna Marie was the couple’s second daughter.⁸ The family moved to Hastings, Nebraska before 1920 and in 1927 Temps Wallinger’s music teacher gave a recital that she participated in.⁹ By 1930, the couple had two more daughters.¹⁰ Temps Wallinger was still exercising her musical talent, singing a solo in the church Easter Cantata in 1933.¹¹ When she graduated from Hastings High School, about the same time her little brother was born, Temps Wallinger went into the Immanuel Lutheran Hospital’s nursing training program.¹² She completed her probation, and was officially accepted as a nursing student in January of 1936.¹³ She went home for special events, and by February of 1938 was near the end of her training, graduating in October of that year.^14,15,16

Temps Wallinger was to work at the Randell Hospital for six months before she landed a job as the night supervisor at the Hamburg Hospital in Iowa.^17,18 Next, she moved to Holdridge, Nebraska where she was the supervisor of the maternity ward at Brewster Hospital.¹⁹

From Brewster, she was called upon to serve in the Army Nurse Corps. It was at Perrin Field that she met Lt. Robert Wallinger of the US Army Medical Corps. Somewhere between dancing in the officer’s club and working in the hospital, the pair became engaged in June of 1943 and were married in August.^20,21 Temps Wallinger was home in January of 1944, likely to announce her pregnancy and her discharge from the Army Nurse Corps.²² The Wallinger’s first son was born in Dennison, Texas in June of 1944 while his father still served at Perrin Field.²³

Temps Wallinger was now a military wife, and after a brief separation from her husband spent with her family in Kansas, she and her son joined her husband in Germany. ²⁴ However, she and her son were there for less than six months before Wallinger was recalled to the United States.²⁵ By June 1947, the Wallingers were visiting her family in Marysville, Kansas, though her husband would leave soon for Michigan to receive his official discharge.²⁶ But sometimes military paperwork takes time, so it was not until November, that the family was reunited in Kansas before setting off for their new home in Detroit, Michigan.²⁷ There, a second son was born in 1948, and the following year they spent the holidays with her family in Marysville.^28,29 It was not until 1950 that Temps Wallinger appeared to settle in Detroit with her children and her husband and, being involved in raising her children, visited her family less often.^30,31

Temps Wallinger would have been proud when her oldest son served in Vietnam and returned home safely, but it ended in tragedy as he was killed in an accident in January of 1974.^32,33

In 1977 Temps Wallinger and her husband retired to New Mexico, dividing their time between Cochiti Lake, Rio Rancho, and Albuquerque.^34,35 She remained in Albuquerque after her husband’s death in 1987 but was forced by ill health to move to Angola, Indiana in 1997 to be near her son.³⁶

Edna Marie Temps Wallinger passed away in Angola, Indiana on September 1, 2000. After cremation, she was sent to New Mexico to be interred with her husband.^37,38

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. “Wallinger, Edna Marie.” US, Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2019: US Department of Veterans Affairs. Last Updated 05 Jul 2020.

2 & 3. “Lt. Edna Temps Enjoys Being an Army Nurse with the Air Corps.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 5 November 1942. p 2.

4. “Our History.” Perrin Air Force Base Historical Museum. Copyright 2023. para. 2.

5 & 6. “Lt. Edna Temps Enjoys Being an Army Nurse with the Air Corps.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 5 November 1942. p 2.

7. “Wallinger, Edna Marie.” US, Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2019: US Department of Veterans Affairs. Last Updated 05 Jul 2020.
8. “Temps.” Year: 1920; Census Place: Marysville, Marshall, Kansas; Roll: T625_540; Page: 23B; Enumeration District: 77.
9. “Kreinheder Recital.” Hastings Daily Tribune. Hastings, Nebraska. 29 June 1927. p. 7.
10. “Temps.” Year: 1930; Census Place: Hastings, Adams, Nebraska; Page: 29B; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 2341000. Their third daughter, Wilma, had been born in 1919.
11. “St. Paul Lutheran Choir will Present an Easter Cantata.” Hastings Democrat. Hastings, Nebraska. 13 April 1933. p. 1.
12. “Miss Edna Temps.” Hastings Daily Tribune. Hastings, Nebraska. 6 September 1935. p. 3. The Hospital appears to spell their name Immanuel, but it is often spelled Emmanuel in the 1930s, likely due to name changes since that time. For the birth of her brother, see Temps: 1940 census where he is listed as 5 years of age.
13. “Miss Edna Temps.” Hastings Daily Tribune. Hastings, Nebraska. 25 January 1936. p. 2.
14. “Couple Celebrates Silver Wedding.” Hastings Daily Tribune. Hastings, Nebraska. 24 April 1937. p. 5.
15. “Miss Edna Temps.” Morning Spotlight. Hastings, Nebraska. 19 February 1938. p. 3.
16. “Lt. Edna Temps at Perrin Field.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 11 March 1943. p. 3. While this article gives the exact date of her graduation from Nursing Training, she had been at Perrin for a year by 1943, see the article below in note 17.
17. “Lt. Edna Temps Enjoys Being an Army Nurse with the Air Corps.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 5 November 1942. p 2.
18. “Miss Edna Temps.” Hastings Daily Tribune. Hastings, Nebraska. 8 September 1939. p. 3. There aren’t any exact dates in the Marshall County News article, so this article supplies 1939 as Temps Wallinger being in Iowa.
19. See note 17.
20. “To Be Married in August.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 17 June 1943. p. 2.
21. “Wallinger/Temps Marriage.” Grayson County Clerk’s Office; Sherman, Texas; Grayson County Marriage Records. Year Range: 1846-1965.
22. “Lieut Edna Temps Wallinger.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 13 January 1944. p. 2. Her official release date from service was 21 Jan 1944. No woman serving in WWII was allowed to have a dependent child, naturally or by adoption, and was honorably discharged when the situation arose.
23. “Texas Board of Health Bureau Vital Statistics: Births Wallinger Robert Jr.” Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997. Texas: Texas Department of State Health Services. Microfiche.
24. “Former Local Girl Sails for Germany.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 2 January 1947. p. 1.
25. “List of United States Citizens: Wallinger, Edna M.” The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at and Departing from Ogdensburg, New York, 5/27/1948 – 11/28/1972; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715, 1897-1957. Ship or Roll Number: George W. Goethals.
26. “Lieut and Mrs. Robert Wallinger and son Bobbie.” Marysville Advocate. Marysville, Kansas. 26 June 1947. p. 14.
27. “Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wallinger.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 20 November 1947. p. 1B
28. “Indiana State Dept. of Health Death Certificate: Martin A. Wallinger.” Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 2011; Roll: 13.
29. “Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Temps.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 29 December 1949. p. 5.
30. “Wallinger.” National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: 4118; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 85-2657.
31. “A Dinner at Augustine Hall.” Hastings Daily Tribune. Hastings, Nebraska 17 May 1961. p.6. This visit to see her brother installed as minister is the last trip recorded by the local papers.
32. “Wallinger, Robert A. Jr.” US, Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2019: US Department of Veterans Affairs. Last Updated 05 Jul 2020.
33. “Train Kills Snowmobiler.” Daily Journal. Fergus Falls, Minnesota. 21 January 1974. p. 16.
34. “Wallinger, Robert A.” Albuquerque Tribune: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 31 July 1987. p. C8.

35 & 36. “Wallinger, Edna M.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 4 September 2000. sec D p. 11.

37. “Indiana State Dept. of Health Death Certificate: Edna Marie Wallinger.” Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 2000; Roll: 17.

Compiled by: A. D. McLean, MA, MLIS. Central New Mexico Community College, retired 2022.

Featured Image:

“Lt. Edna Marie Temps in uniform headshot from engagement announcement.” Marshall County News. Marysville, Kansas. 17 June 1943. Retrieved: 25 August 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/345252322 p. 2.