North Myrtle Beach resident remembers World War II service, caring for soldiers in Europe

Dorothy “Dot” Honsaker Smith, 92, arrived in North Myrtle Beach in 1976 with her husband, the late Robert Smith, who served for a time on North Myrtle Beach City Council and Horry County Council. She said they decided on the Grand Strand ostensibly because her husband was a golf nut.

Originally from Uniontown, Pa., Smith says she remembers driving from North Myrtle Beach to Myrtle Beach in the off season and not even seeing another car on the road. At that time, she worked as a nurse at the original, and later current, location of Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, capping off a varied and successful nursing career — including a stint in the Army Nurse Corps in Europe during World War II.

“I went through a nurse’s training on a hundred dollars,” she said, adding that she attended nursing school from 1940 to 1943 — keeping up a sometimes grueling schedule of work and classes. She would regularly work all night as part of her training and then attend classes early in the morning.