Michigan State University

MSU Libraries

Digital Repository

Search results

Pages

Title
Interview of retired Colonel Esther Jane McNeil on her long career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps
Creator
McNeil, Esther Jane, 1919-
Date
2003-10-22
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Eighty-four year old retired Army Colonel Esther Jane McNeil discusses her long career in the U.S. Army. McNeil says that she grew up in rural Pennsylvania, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in 1940, enlisted in the Nurse Corps in 1943 and was first stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. She says that despite some health problems, she was finally sent overseas to India and was made head of the operating room at the 20th General Hospital in Ledo, India. McNeil...
Show moreEighty-four year old retired Army Colonel Esther Jane McNeil discusses her long career in the U.S. Army. McNeil says that she grew up in rural Pennsylvania, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in 1940, enlisted in the Nurse Corps in 1943 and was first stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. She says that despite some health problems, she was finally sent overseas to India and was made head of the operating room at the 20th General Hospital in Ledo, India. McNeil was on leave in Darjeeling when she received orders to prepare for the invasion of Japan, but says that the war ended before her unit had even made it to the Philippines. After the war, McNeil says that she joined the Army Reserves and then went back to active duty during the Korean War. She also discusses the various positions she held until her retirement in 1971. McNeil is interviewed by Doris Cobb.
Show less
Title
Interview of Elaine Carlton on her service in the U.S. Army during WWII
Creator
Carlton, Elaine
Date
198x
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Elaine Carlton (born Olive Milborne) talks about entering service in the U.S. Army in July 1944 while living with her family in Belfast, Northern Ireland, taking rifle training in Litchfield, England, and disembarking from a ship in rough seas at Omaha Beach in France. She says that she was later stationed in Cherbourg, France and describes enemy sniper fire there, the condition of the housing, her duties, and a shipboard explosion that rocked the Cherbourg harbor. Carlton says that she was...
Show moreElaine Carlton (born Olive Milborne) talks about entering service in the U.S. Army in July 1944 while living with her family in Belfast, Northern Ireland, taking rifle training in Litchfield, England, and disembarking from a ship in rough seas at Omaha Beach in France. She says that she was later stationed in Cherbourg, France and describes enemy sniper fire there, the condition of the housing, her duties, and a shipboard explosion that rocked the Cherbourg harbor. Carlton says that she was assigned to General Eisenhower's headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany after the war, returned to the States in 1947, was married in May 1948 and discharged from the Army later that same year.
Show less
Title
Interview of Rose Stornant on her service as a legal secretary in the Women's Army Corps during WWII
Creator
Stornant, Rose, 1915-2002
Date
1984-07-11
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Rose Stornant talks about her service as a legal secretary in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. Stornant recalls her training and her different U.S. assignments before being shipped to England in March 1944. She remembers being in Salisbury England watching the gliders and Airborne troop transports heading for Normandy on D-Day and says that she wasn't sent to France until November 1944. Stornant says that she was in Paris during the Battle of the Bulge at the end of 1944 and also...
Show moreRose Stornant talks about her service as a legal secretary in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. Stornant recalls her training and her different U.S. assignments before being shipped to England in March 1944. She remembers being in Salisbury England watching the gliders and Airborne troop transports heading for Normandy on D-Day and says that she wasn't sent to France until November 1944. Stornant says that she was in Paris during the Battle of the Bulge at the end of 1944 and also talks about Christmas in Paris, the celebrations on V-E Day, Bastille Day, and V-J Day and finally earning enough points to be sent back to the States. She says that she worked in Chicago for a short time after the war, but finally returned to Lansing, MI to reclaim her old job. Stornant is interviewed by Elsie Hornbacher.
Show less
Title
Interview of retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Therese M. Slone-Baker on her military career
Creator
Slone-Baker, Therese, 1917-2013
Date
2004-01-14
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
In an in-depth oral history interview, retired Lieutenant Colonel Therese M. Slone-Baker talks about growing up in New York City, attending business school, taking a civil service job in Washington D.C., joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1944 and working as a secretary, special events coordinator and a recruiter until she leaving active military service in 1946 to join the reserves. Slone-Baker says she was recalled to active service in 1952 and became an officer and discusses the various...
Show moreIn an in-depth oral history interview, retired Lieutenant Colonel Therese M. Slone-Baker talks about growing up in New York City, attending business school, taking a civil service job in Washington D.C., joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1944 and working as a secretary, special events coordinator and a recruiter until she leaving active military service in 1946 to join the reserves. Slone-Baker says she was recalled to active service in 1952 and became an officer and discusses the various assignments she had throughout her career, including being the commander of a WASP squadron. She says that she finally retired in 1972 with 25 years of military service and feels that even though she did not have a "dramatic" career she did contribute and did her best to uphold the high standards of the service. Slone-Baker is interviewed by Ruth F. Stewart assisted by Carol A Habgood.
Show less
Title
Elsie Hornbacher talks about her overseas service as a teacher in Japan, Italy and Austria after WWII
Creator
Hornbacher, Elsie, 1918-
Date
1983-04-27
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Elsie Hornbacher talks about her overseas service as a teacher in Japan, Italy and Austria after World War Two. Hornbacher talks about going to Japan in 1949, her ocean voyage to Yokohama, shipboard life, riding out a typhoon, the destruction still evident in postwar Japan, Japanese culture, and how life for the Japanese gradually began to improve. Hornbacher discusses the school where she worked, the curriculum, her students, visiting Hiroshima and about the Korean War and American...
Show moreElsie Hornbacher talks about her overseas service as a teacher in Japan, Italy and Austria after World War Two. Hornbacher talks about going to Japan in 1949, her ocean voyage to Yokohama, shipboard life, riding out a typhoon, the destruction still evident in postwar Japan, Japanese culture, and how life for the Japanese gradually began to improve. Hornbacher discusses the school where she worked, the curriculum, her students, visiting Hiroshima and about the Korean War and American dependents evacuating from Korea to Japan. Hornbacher says that she was reassigned to Naples in 1952, and that the city was unsafe and controlled by the mafia. After "enduring" a year in Italy, she says that she was next sent to Austria which she found both colorful and interesting and was finally sent back to the U.S. in 1954.
Show less
Title
Interviews of retired U.S. Army Captain Cecelia G. Mehlick on her service in the Army Nurse Corps during and after WWII
Creator
Mehlick, Cecelia G. (Cecelia Gwendolyn), 1903-1984
Date
198x
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Retired U.S. Army Captain Cecelia G. Mehlick recalls her service in the Army Nurse Corps beginning in World War Two. In this oral history interview, Mehlick describes being inducted into the Army in April 1944, basic training at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin and later being sent to Mayo General Hospital in Galesburg, IL to be trained a a nurse anesthetist. Mehlick talks about her duties at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina and Ft. Belvoir in Virginia before being sent to Texas to help set up a surgical...
Show moreRetired U.S. Army Captain Cecelia G. Mehlick recalls her service in the Army Nurse Corps beginning in World War Two. In this oral history interview, Mehlick describes being inducted into the Army in April 1944, basic training at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin and later being sent to Mayo General Hospital in Galesburg, IL to be trained a a nurse anesthetist. Mehlick talks about her duties at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina and Ft. Belvoir in Virginia before being sent to Texas to help set up a surgical center during Army training maneuvers. Mehlick says that she was finally sent to Europe to treat front-line casualties and at war's end, spent many hours also treating German civilians. After breaking her ankle in Germany, Mehlick says that she was shipped back to the U.S. and lists a number of later assignments she had both in the U.S. and Europe before retiring after 20 years of military service.
Show less
Title
Interview of Dorothy M. Harrison on her service in the American Red Cross during WWII
Creator
Harrison, Dorothy M. (Dorothy McDonald), 1914-2004
Date
1983
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
In a 1983 oral history interview, Dorothy M. Harrison talks about her childhood in Royal Oak, MI, attending the University of Michigan and her service in the American Red Cross during World War Two. Harrison says she volunteered for the ARC in late 1942 and after receiving their training, her unit was shipped to Europe as part of a forty-ship convoy which was attacked by a German submarine during the crossing. Harrison also talks about opening a service club with the 93rd Heavy Bombardment...
Show moreIn a 1983 oral history interview, Dorothy M. Harrison talks about her childhood in Royal Oak, MI, attending the University of Michigan and her service in the American Red Cross during World War Two. Harrison says she volunteered for the ARC in late 1942 and after receiving their training, her unit was shipped to Europe as part of a forty-ship convoy which was attacked by a German submarine during the crossing. Harrison also talks about opening a service club with the 93rd Heavy Bombardment Group in Hardwick, England, moving to the 337th General Service Engineers and later to the 363rd Photo Reconnaissance Group as part of the push across Germany as the war ended. She describes her quarters, her duties, celebrating Christmas with the troops during the Battle of the Bulge, struggling to get the equipment and supplies she needed to keep the clubs running, and the sexual harassment she experienced. Harrison says that she returned to the U.S. in September 1945, resumed her career as a librarian and married and moved with her husband to Louisville, KY to raise a family.
Show less
Title
Interview of Patricia Young Berri on returning to the United States in March 1945 near the end of her service in the American Red Cross during WWII
Creator
Berri, Patricia Young
Date
1986-05-29
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Patricia Young Berri talks about returning to the United States in March 1945 near the end of her service in the American Red Cross during World War Two. She talks about working in Houston as a civilian, being approached to rejoin the Red Cross and what the Women's Overseas Service League has meant to her. Berri is interviewed by Marjorie Brown.
Title
Interview of Winifred Gansel on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Gansel, Winifred, 1907-2003
Date
1984-05-30
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
In an oral history interview, Winifred Gansel discusses her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Gansel talks about growing up in California, graduating from nursing school in 1931, her enlistment in the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor and being sent to New Guinea with the 80th General Hospital. Gansel describes life at the camp, working with the native people, surviving insects and lizards, dealing with hygiene issues, and what the nurses did to relax. She says that the...
Show moreIn an oral history interview, Winifred Gansel discusses her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Gansel talks about growing up in California, graduating from nursing school in 1931, her enlistment in the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor and being sent to New Guinea with the 80th General Hospital. Gansel describes life at the camp, working with the native people, surviving insects and lizards, dealing with hygiene issues, and what the nurses did to relax. She says that the 80th later moved with the troops to the Philippines and she talks about treating severely dehydrated and malnourished soldiers in tent hospitals there, and her duty in a polio ward. Gansel says that she came back to the States in November 1945, was discharged as a captain in March 1946, and returned to her position as a supervisor at the Santa Clara County Hospital in California. Gansel is interviewed by Norma I. Williams.
Show less
Title
Lillian Malloy talks about her service in the U.S. Army Air Corps
Creator
Malloy, Lillian, 1914-1997
Date
1984-10-10
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Lillian Malloy says that she joined the U.S. Army as soon as the enlistment office in Battle Creek, MI opened after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She says that she was first sent to Des Moines, Iowa for basic training and also received administrative and clerical training before being sent to Eglin Field in Florida as part of the first group of women earmarked for service in the U.S. Army Air Corps. She describes finally shipping to England aboard the Queen Elizabeth, her duties there and...
Show moreLillian Malloy says that she joined the U.S. Army as soon as the enlistment office in Battle Creek, MI opened after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She says that she was first sent to Des Moines, Iowa for basic training and also received administrative and clerical training before being sent to Eglin Field in Florida as part of the first group of women earmarked for service in the U.S. Army Air Corps. She describes finally shipping to England aboard the Queen Elizabeth, her duties there and traveling around England and Ireland after V-E Day. Malloy also talks about her postwar European duty stations, describes the living conditions and remembers watching General Eisenhower run a staff meeting. She says she might have stayed in the service if she had not had to care for her sick mother.
Show less
Title
Dorothy M. Harrison reads from the memoir of the late Anna Catherine Corbin, who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II
Creator
Corbin, Anna Catherine, 1912-1970
Date
1983-10
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Dorothy M. Harrison reads from the memoir of the late Anna Catherine Corbin, a Louisville Women's Overseas Service League member, who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Corbin describes deploying as part of the 300th General Hospital unit out of Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, being shipped to North Africa on a converted ocean liner, landing at Bizerte, Tunisia and later being sent to Naples, Italy. Corbin talks about setting up a hospital in a former TB...
Show moreDorothy M. Harrison reads from the memoir of the late Anna Catherine Corbin, a Louisville Women's Overseas Service League member, who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Corbin describes deploying as part of the 300th General Hospital unit out of Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, being shipped to North Africa on a converted ocean liner, landing at Bizerte, Tunisia and later being sent to Naples, Italy. Corbin talks about setting up a hospital in a former TB sanatorium in Naples, treating soldiers with terrible wounds, the enormous number of casualties that came from the Battle of Anzio, working 23 hour shifts and how few patient fatalities the hospital had in the face of such carnage. She says that she was shipped back to the States in August 1945 and was discharged in October 1945.
Show less
Title
Interview of Betty Vogel on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Vogel, Betty, 1921-2005
Date
2003-10-23
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Betty Vogel describes her youth and education and her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. After graduating from the nursing program at Abbott Hospital in Minneapolis in 1942, Vogel says that she decided to join the Army after seeing Japanese atrocities depicted in a newsreel. She says that she was inducted in September 1943 and after training, was shipped out to Scotland in January 1944 on the USS Brazil. She says that she was later stationed at a hospital in Barford,...
Show moreBetty Vogel describes her youth and education and her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. After graduating from the nursing program at Abbott Hospital in Minneapolis in 1942, Vogel says that she decided to join the Army after seeing Japanese atrocities depicted in a newsreel. She says that she was inducted in September 1943 and after training, was shipped out to Scotland in January 1944 on the USS Brazil. She says that she was later stationed at a hospital in Barford, England and that on D-Day the casualties came in so fast that they had no time to even clean them up. In July of 1944, Vogel says that she was sent to a hospital near Paris and treated American and German casualties from the Battle of the Bulge and actually married her husband Edward during that same battle. When she had earned enough points, Vogel says that she was sent back to the States and was discharged at Fort Sheridan, IL in December 1945. Vogel remembers being scared much of the time that she was in the field during the war and says that she doesn't believe that women belong in combat. Vogel is interviewed by Ruth F. Stewart assisted by Carol A. Habgood.
Show less
Title
Interview of Anna Lisa Moline on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Moline, Anna Lisa
Date
1986-04-07
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Anna Lisa Moline talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Moline talks about her pre-war education and employment and says that she joined the Army in April 1941 after a good friend enlisted. She discusses her first state-side assignments, leaving New York for Scotland on December 7, 1942 and joining the 30th General Hospital to help set up a hospital in a bombed out Catholic school. Moline says she and a friend were recruited for a secret mission and were...
Show moreAnna Lisa Moline talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Moline talks about her pre-war education and employment and says that she joined the Army in April 1941 after a good friend enlisted. She discusses her first state-side assignments, leaving New York for Scotland on December 7, 1942 and joining the 30th General Hospital to help set up a hospital in a bombed out Catholic school. Moline says she and a friend were recruited for a secret mission and were sent to Russia to treat causalities from Allied bombing missions who landed in Soviet controlled territory. Moline remembers being bombed by the Germans in Russia, taking patients into the trenches for safety, living in a barracks with an earth floor, ant infestations, and terrible latrines. Moline says that after the war she worked at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing as an assistant superintendent, but left because of stress related health issues caused by her time in the Army. Moline is interviewed by Marjorie Brown.
Show less
Title
Interview of Lois Kuen Johnson on her experiences serving overseas in the American Red Cross rest camps near the end of WWII
Creator
Johnson, Lois Kuen
Date
1983-06
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Lois Kuen Johnson talks about her experiences serving overseas in the American Red Cross rest camps from February 1944 to November 1945. Johnson explains that she volunteered for the opportunity to travel and discusses her duties, housing conditions, her uniforms, being stationed in Italy, and serving coffee and pastries to the troops as they moved from Naples to the front. She describes helping an Italian non-combatant deliver a baby and an incident in which she spotted an enemy intelligence...
Show moreLois Kuen Johnson talks about her experiences serving overseas in the American Red Cross rest camps from February 1944 to November 1945. Johnson explains that she volunteered for the opportunity to travel and discusses her duties, housing conditions, her uniforms, being stationed in Italy, and serving coffee and pastries to the troops as they moved from Naples to the front. She describes helping an Italian non-combatant deliver a baby and an incident in which she spotted an enemy intelligence agent. She says that although she did adapt well to working and living overseas, she did sometimes feel lonely. Johnson is interviewed by Gudrun Bodgercln and June Stoltz.
Show less
Title
Interview of Margaret Goodrich on her twenty-four year civil service career in the U.S. Army Library Service
Creator
Goodrich, Margaret (Librarian)
Date
198x
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Margaret Goodrich talks about her twenty-four year civil service career in the U.S. Army Library Service and running libraries for military personnel around the world. Goodrich talks about her employment prior to joining the Library Service and says that in July 1945 she became the first Army librarian assigned to a post in Germany. Goodrich says that she left the Army after six years but rejoined during the Korean conflict and took a position as a librarian at the Fitzsimons Army Medical...
Show moreMargaret Goodrich talks about her twenty-four year civil service career in the U.S. Army Library Service and running libraries for military personnel around the world. Goodrich talks about her employment prior to joining the Library Service and says that in July 1945 she became the first Army librarian assigned to a post in Germany. Goodrich says that she left the Army after six years but rejoined during the Korean conflict and took a position as a librarian at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver. She discusses her U.S. and overseas assignments, a librarian's duties, and a particularly hazardous episode in Vietnam when the car she was riding in was fired upon, forcing her to duck for cover with fellow passenger, actor James Franciscus. Goodrich is interviewed by Marjorie Brown.
Show less
Title
Interview of Dorothy Schroeder on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Schroeder, Dorothy
Date
1986-03-07
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Dorothy Schroeder talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Schroeder says she graduated from nursing school in 1941 and after working as a civilian in Miami, was inducted into the Army on January 28, 1944. She says that she shipped to Liverpool and Glasgow with the 191st General Hospital in October 1944 and was later stationed in France, just outside of Paris at a former mental hospital. She remembers treating casualties from the Battle of the Bulge, meeting...
Show moreDorothy Schroeder talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Schroeder says she graduated from nursing school in 1941 and after working as a civilian in Miami, was inducted into the Army on January 28, 1944. She says that she shipped to Liverpool and Glasgow with the 191st General Hospital in October 1944 and was later stationed in France, just outside of Paris at a former mental hospital. She remembers treating casualties from the Battle of the Bulge, meeting her future husband in an operating room, site-seeing along the Riviera, sailing on the Mediterranean, visiting Lourdes, and attending a memorial service for President Roosevelt in Notre Dame Cathedral in April 1945. Schroeder says that she shipped back to the States in January 1946, was discharged that February, later married, started a family and worked at the Saint Joseph Infirmary in Louisville, KY for many years. Schroeder is interviewed by Jean T. Campbell.
Show less
Title
Interview of Lieutenant Colonel Bernice R. Couzynse (Ret.) on her service as a U.S. Army nurse during WWII and other conflicts
Creator
Couzynse, Bernice R., 1919-1997
Date
1983-03-17
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Lieutenant Colonel Bernice R. Couzynse (Ret.) talks about her long military career and serving on four continents as a United States Army nurse. Couzynse says she completed nursing school in the fall of 1942 and by March 1943 had enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps. She tells of deploying to North Africa with a hospital unit, being under attack by German aircraft, moving up to Naples after the invasion of Italy, setting up a hospital at an agricultural college, moving with the troops as they...
Show moreLieutenant Colonel Bernice R. Couzynse (Ret.) talks about her long military career and serving on four continents as a United States Army nurse. Couzynse says she completed nursing school in the fall of 1942 and by March 1943 had enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps. She tells of deploying to North Africa with a hospital unit, being under attack by German aircraft, moving up to Naples after the invasion of Italy, setting up a hospital at an agricultural college, moving with the troops as they advanced, being near the front lines and treating extreme battlefield injuries. At the end of the war in Europe, Couzynse says that she did not have enough points to rotate home and was slated to be sent to Japan as part of the U.S. invasion forces. Ironically, she says that she did later serve in Japan during the Korean Conflict. Couzynse recalls her duty in Germany in the early 1960s, the Berlin Wall crisis when all leaves were cancelled, and finally finishing her career as head nurse at William Beaumont Hospital in El Paso, TX in April 1971. She credits the Army with giving her a chance to have an interesting career, to travel, and to make many friends. Couzynse is interviewed by Doris J. Triick.
Show less
Title
Interview of Dorothy McDonald on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps
Creator
McDonald, Dorothy
Date
198x
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Dorothy McDonald says that she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps at the age of 36 because of the attack on Pearl Harbor and then goes on to discuss her war experiences in a wide-ranging oral history interview. She talks about her duty stations in France and Germany, sleeping four nurses to a tent, and her uniforms. McDonald says that wading ashore at the Normandy beach made an impression upon that she will never forget. McDonald also says that she did not use the G.I. Bill after war, that her...
Show moreDorothy McDonald says that she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps at the age of 36 because of the attack on Pearl Harbor and then goes on to discuss her war experiences in a wide-ranging oral history interview. She talks about her duty stations in France and Germany, sleeping four nurses to a tent, and her uniforms. McDonald says that wading ashore at the Normandy beach made an impression upon that she will never forget. McDonald also says that she did not use the G.I. Bill after war, that her war experiences and training did not help further her career and that she hated Army drilling and calisthenics because she joined "to be a nurse and not a soldier."
Show less
Title
Mary E. Price talks about her more than thirty-years as a U.S. Navy nurse and her service in three wars
Creator
Price, Mary Eleanor, 1912-2003
Date
1990-09-01
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
In a speech to the Women's Overseas Service League's Orange County California unit, Mary E. Price talks about her more than thirty-years as a U.S. Navy nurse and her service in three wars. Price says that she started nursing school at the Georgetown University Hospital in 1933, joined the Naval Reserves in 1938 and was first sent to the Panama Canal Zone in early 1940. She talks about her pay and her hospital duties in the Canal Zone and the great anxiety everyone felt after the attack on...
Show moreIn a speech to the Women's Overseas Service League's Orange County California unit, Mary E. Price talks about her more than thirty-years as a U.S. Navy nurse and her service in three wars. Price says that she started nursing school at the Georgetown University Hospital in 1933, joined the Naval Reserves in 1938 and was first sent to the Panama Canal Zone in early 1940. She talks about her pay and her hospital duties in the Canal Zone and the great anxiety everyone felt after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Price says that she was next assigned to the Bethesda Naval Hospital for thirteen months and later to a hospital ship for the rest of the war. After the war, Price says, she returned to school on the G.I. Bill, but was reactivated for duty in Japan and the Philippines for almost two years during the Korean War. She says that she went back to school after Korea, earned her graduate degree in hospital administration and taught Navy corpsman during the Vietnam War. Price says that her last assignment was at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in California. Recorded by Mary Braumer. Vivian Peterson introduces and concludes the recording.
Show less
Title
Interview of Penny Edlin on her service with the U.S. Army 82nd General Hospital during WWII
Creator
Edlin, Penny, 1922-2007
Date
198x
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Sarah Penrose "Penny" Schemmel Edlin discusses her service with the 82nd General Hospital during World War Two. Edlin talks about her childhood, her education as a physical therapist, joining the Army as a commissioned officer in August 1943, her very rigorous basic training, and being shipped to England in February 1944. She also talks about the harsh living conditions in the hospital camps where she served including, the bad food, unsanitary conditions and rodent infestations, and shares a...
Show moreSarah Penrose "Penny" Schemmel Edlin discusses her service with the 82nd General Hospital during World War Two. Edlin talks about her childhood, her education as a physical therapist, joining the Army as a commissioned officer in August 1943, her very rigorous basic training, and being shipped to England in February 1944. She also talks about the harsh living conditions in the hospital camps where she served including, the bad food, unsanitary conditions and rodent infestations, and shares a story about a planned German POW prison break near one of the camps and treating the German prisoners who claimed they couldn't speak English. After VE-Day, Edlin says that her unit moved to France to close down hospitals and later to a hospital in England to treat emaciated American POWs who were returning from the German prison camps. She says that romances between U.S. Army officers and nurses was quite common during the war and that she, in fact, married a man from her unit after she returned to the States. Edlin is interviewed by Dorothy M. Harrison.
Show less

Pages