Beyond Dancing: A Veteran’s Struggle–A Women’s Triumph

With a sense of adventure, a call to service, and a touch of defiance, twenty-one-year-old Anita Bloom enlisted in the army. It was 1943. She shipped off to camp and immediately became fast friends with several other new soldiers. Together, they memorized army regulations and learned how to march. Anita didn’t even notice the bite-sized cut on her thumb. Yet as the cut became infected and the pain became unbearable, Anita was sent to a civilian hospital. Losing sensation in her legs. Her doctors, unaided by penicillin, could not arrest the infection. She lost the use of her legs. Placed in a VA hospital, her new friends were the battle-scarred, paraplegics wounded in active service. Enticed by claims that she could learn to walk normally again, Anita left the VA hospital. Anita soon discovered she had been exploited. However, it was in this unpromising makeshift hospital that she met the physical therapist who would change her life forever. His perseverance inspired Anita to prevail over her handicap. Armed with leg braces and his faith in her, Anita came to realize her dream of regaining the independence which she so greatly desired.