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Title
Interview of Linden N. Anderson on her long career in the American Red Cross including service in WWII and the Korean and Vietnam wars
Creator
Anderson, Linden N. (Linden Norine), 1908-2008
Date
2004-02-18
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Linden N. Anderson talks about her long career in the American Red Cross which included service in World War Two and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Anderson reminisces about her childhood, attending the University of Texas, teaching in Texas public schools and finally joining the Red Cross in 1943. Anderson talks about her training with the "doughnut dollies", being stationed at the 91st General Hospital, shipping out to England and being stationed in Wales until her unit could be moved to a...
Show moreLinden N. Anderson talks about her long career in the American Red Cross which included service in World War Two and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Anderson reminisces about her childhood, attending the University of Texas, teaching in Texas public schools and finally joining the Red Cross in 1943. Anderson talks about her training with the "doughnut dollies", being stationed at the 91st General Hospital, shipping out to England and being stationed in Wales until her unit could be moved to a hospital at Oxford. Anderson says that her job was to provide entertainment for the wounded and build morale and that she often took patients on bus tours throughout England. After V-E Day, Anderson says that she returned to the States, but was soon recalled by the ARC to serve in Japan and in Korea during that conflict. Anderson also says that she remained in the Red Cross for twenty-years after Korea, discusses her duty stations in Libya, Germany, Korea and the U.S., describes treating casualties in Japan during the Vietnam war and finishing her career in Corpus Christi in 1973. Anderson is interviewed by Ruth F. Stewart.
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Title
Interview of retired Lieutenant Colonel Mary Templeton Gates on her twenty-year service in the U.S. Army Air Forces and later U.S. Air Force
Creator
Gates, Mary Templeton, 1914-2005
Date
2004-04-07
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Ninety year old U.S. Army and Air Force veteran Mary Templeton Gates talks about her childhood, education and service career. Gates says that her decision to go into nursing was the result of her family's long history in medicine and that after graduating from nursing school in 1938, she worked in Georgia and New York City before deciding to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps to become a flight nurse. Gates says that she turned down a teaching position to become chief nurse in a squadron sent...
Show moreNinety year old U.S. Army and Air Force veteran Mary Templeton Gates talks about her childhood, education and service career. Gates says that her decision to go into nursing was the result of her family's long history in medicine and that after graduating from nursing school in 1938, she worked in Georgia and New York City before deciding to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps to become a flight nurse. Gates says that she turned down a teaching position to become chief nurse in a squadron sent to the Pacific during the war and describes her career in the Army through service in hospitals in Guam, Hawaii and Bermuda. After the war, Gates says that she left the Army, but later enlisted for duty in the Air Force at the start of the Korean War. She says that she became a Lieutenant Colonel around 1960 and finally retired shortly after. Templeton is interviewed by Ruth F. Stewart.
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Title
Interview of Lillian Kivela on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Kivela, Lillian, 1920-2013
Date
1986-01-22
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Lillian Kivela talks about her service in the United States Army Nurse Corps during World War Two including, why she enlisted in June 1943, nurse's training, basic Army training, housing, uniforms, and her duties at the Schick General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa. She says that she was sent to New Jersey in preparation for being shipped to Europe and describes shipboard conditions and being seasick throughout the entire ten-day voyage. She talks about being housed in an unheated Welsh resort...
Show moreLillian Kivela talks about her service in the United States Army Nurse Corps during World War Two including, why she enlisted in June 1943, nurse's training, basic Army training, housing, uniforms, and her duties at the Schick General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa. She says that she was sent to New Jersey in preparation for being shipped to Europe and describes shipboard conditions and being seasick throughout the entire ten-day voyage. She talks about being housed in an unheated Welsh resort hotel, marching, walking a mile to the mess hall for meals, serving in the orthopedic ward at a hospital in Headington, a suburd of Oxford and experiencing an influx of patients following D-Day and the subsequent fighting, and the early use of penicillin to control infection. In her off-time, Kivela says that she often visited London for the theater, rode her bicycle around Oxford, became acquainted with British families and even met the Queen Mother and boxer Joe Louis when they visited the hospital. Back in the States, after the war, she says that she had a difficult time adjusting to civilian life and finally came to Michigan State College to finish her degree in microbiology. Kivela is interviewed by Elsie Hornbacher.
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Title
Interview of Mary Myers on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during and after WWII
Creator
Myers, Mary, 1917-2010
Date
1986-04-21
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Mary Myers talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from 1944 to 1950. Myers talks about her nurse's training, why she decided to enlist in the military, basic training and being sent overseas to Marseilles, France in November 1944 to help form the 236th General Hospital. Myers recalls being strafed by German planes in Paris, enjoying a Coca-Cola on Christmas day, her primitive quarters, bathing out of her helmet in cold weather, caring for Allied soldiers and German POWs, and the...
Show moreMary Myers talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from 1944 to 1950. Myers talks about her nurse's training, why she decided to enlist in the military, basic training and being sent overseas to Marseilles, France in November 1944 to help form the 236th General Hospital. Myers recalls being strafed by German planes in Paris, enjoying a Coca-Cola on Christmas day, her primitive quarters, bathing out of her helmet in cold weather, caring for Allied soldiers and German POWs, and the variety of wounds and diseases she treated. Myers says that officers and enlisted men and women shared the same mess hall and that she was always treated respectfully by U.S. troops and German POWs. Myers also talks about the end of the war in Europe and being shipped to the Pacific just in time for VJ-Day. After the war, she says that she stayed in the Army Reserves and used the G.I. Bill to earn an undergraduate degree and part of a graduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Myers is interviewed by Elizabeth Booker.
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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.
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Title
Interview of Peggy Lechtweis on her five years of service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Lechtweis, Peggy
Date
1983-05-05
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Peggy Lechtweis talks about her five years of service in the Army Nurse Corp during World War Two. Lechtweis discusses her induction, basic training, and shipping out to Fiji in the Pacific. She also describes life on base and her responsibilities as chief nurse at the hospital and putting in long shifts in operating rooms. She explains how her unit moved as it followed the advancing U.S. troops across the Pacific to Okinawa and describes the events on VJ-Day, and later treating Allied POWs...
Show morePeggy Lechtweis talks about her five years of service in the Army Nurse Corp during World War Two. Lechtweis discusses her induction, basic training, and shipping out to Fiji in the Pacific. She also describes life on base and her responsibilities as chief nurse at the hospital and putting in long shifts in operating rooms. She explains how her unit moved as it followed the advancing U.S. troops across the Pacific to Okinawa and describes the events on VJ-Day, and later treating Allied POWs after their release from Japanese camps. Lechtweis is interviewed by Lois Collet.
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Title
Interview of Virginia Louise Brown on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Brown, Virginia Louise, 1921-2011
Date
2004-01-14
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Ginny Brown talks about her childhood in Tennessee, graduating from nursing school in 1943 and joining the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in July of that same year. After her initial training, Brown says that she volunteered to go overseas and was assigned to the 48th General Hospital in Petworth England in January 1944 and to a combat medical unit in France in August of that same year. She describes living in a tent, showering in front of male soldiers, working in a field hospital in a potato patch...
Show moreGinny Brown talks about her childhood in Tennessee, graduating from nursing school in 1943 and joining the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in July of that same year. After her initial training, Brown says that she volunteered to go overseas and was assigned to the 48th General Hospital in Petworth England in January 1944 and to a combat medical unit in France in August of that same year. She describes living in a tent, showering in front of male soldiers, working in a field hospital in a potato patch and being stationed in Paris after liberation. After V-E Day, Brown says that she was assigned to a hospital on the Riviera, was shipped back to the U.S. from Marseilles, left the Army in 1946, but went back on active duty in 1953 and finally retired in 1980. Brown claims that women were discriminated against in the military and were often denied promotions because of their gender. Brown is interviewed by Ruth F. Stewart and Carol A. Habgood.
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Title
Interview of Elizabeth King Brown on her service in U.S. Army and Navy hospitals as a Red Cross personnel during and after WWII
Creator
Brown, Elizabeth King
Date
1986-03-14
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Elizabeth "Betty" Brown says she that she wanted to join the Women's Army Corps but failed to pass the physical, applied for the American Red Cross and served in Army and Navy hospitals for four years and then two years as a service club director. She talks about organizing recreational activities for patients in the 65th General Hospital in Europe during World War II and says that after V-J Day she was sent to Guam to work for several general hospitals. Brown describes the variety of...
Show moreElizabeth "Betty" Brown says she that she wanted to join the Women's Army Corps but failed to pass the physical, applied for the American Red Cross and served in Army and Navy hospitals for four years and then two years as a service club director. She talks about organizing recreational activities for patients in the 65th General Hospital in Europe during World War II and says that after V-J Day she was sent to Guam to work for several general hospitals. Brown describes the variety of uniforms she wore and coming up with creative ways to entertain patients. She says that just being away from home was the biggest wartime adjustment she had to make. Brown also talks about her postwar employment with the YWCA, earning a masters degree and serving in the Peace Corp. Brown is interviewed by Marjorie Brown.
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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.
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Title
Interview of Katie Kerr on her service in the American Red Cross during WWII
Creator
Kerr, Katie, 1916-2003
Date
1984-08-14
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Katie Kerr talks about her service in the American Red Cross during World War Two. Kerr describes becoming a medical technician, volunteering for the Red Cross in March 1944 and serving as a hospital recreation worker. She talks about her initial duties and training at American University in Washington D.C. and later being shipped to England. She talks about her time in England, how complicated relationships could become, recreation activities the Red Cross organized to entertain the troops,...
Show moreKatie Kerr talks about her service in the American Red Cross during World War Two. Kerr describes becoming a medical technician, volunteering for the Red Cross in March 1944 and serving as a hospital recreation worker. She talks about her initial duties and training at American University in Washington D.C. and later being shipped to England. She talks about her time in England, how complicated relationships could become, recreation activities the Red Cross organized to entertain the troops, and some of her patients and their injuries. She remembers V-E Day, anticipating being sent to the Pacific Theater, coming back to the States in July 1945, taking a job at Lansing, Michigan's Sparrow Hospital, and meeting her husband, a Michigan State Police Trooper. Kerr talks about how she felt when the atomic bomb was dropped and signs off the interview by reciting her serial number. Kerr is interviewed by Elsie Hornbacher.
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Title
Interview of Gladys Welch on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps
Creator
Welch, Gladys, 1908-1986
Date
1986-03-06
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Gladys Welch says she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps because two of her brothers were in the military and she felt she also needed to serve and that she actually served two "hitches" in the Army. She was first stationed in Iran from 1943 to 1946, during World War II and later reenlisted for service in Europe from 1946 to 1958. Welch recalls the heat in Iran and visiting the Holy Land while on leave and traveling extensively throughout Europe. She says that she did not initially plan on an...
Show moreGladys Welch says she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps because two of her brothers were in the military and she felt she also needed to serve and that she actually served two "hitches" in the Army. She was first stationed in Iran from 1943 to 1946, during World War II and later reenlisted for service in Europe from 1946 to 1958. Welch recalls the heat in Iran and visiting the Holy Land while on leave and traveling extensively throughout Europe. She says that she did not initially plan on an Army career, but found adjusting to military life to be easy decided to reenlist and serve to retirement. Welch also says that after her discharge, she returned to private nursing and taught psychiatric nursing at Mercy Hospital. Welch is interviewed by Marjorie Brown.
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Title
Interview of retired Colonel Mary Ruth Pullig on her long career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps
Creator
Pullig, Mary Ruth, 1919-2007
Date
2003
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Retired Army Colonel Mary Ruth Pullig talks about growing up in Arkansas and Louisiana, her education and her long career as a U.S. Army nurse. After nursing school and working at various hospitals in the south, Pullig says that she joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1943, did her basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas and was first assigned to Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver. She also talks about other Stateside assignments and says that she was finally sent overseas to New Guinea...
Show moreRetired Army Colonel Mary Ruth Pullig talks about growing up in Arkansas and Louisiana, her education and her long career as a U.S. Army nurse. After nursing school and working at various hospitals in the south, Pullig says that she joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1943, did her basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas and was first assigned to Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver. She also talks about other Stateside assignments and says that she was finally sent overseas to New Guinea and and then to the Philippines and describes the living conditions at both posts, the poor diet, working under enemy fire, some of the patients she treated and nursing civilians suffering from collateral damage wounds. After the war, Pullig says that she was stationed in occupied Germany for a time and finally came back to the States and earned bachelors and masters degrees. She says she is thankful for being given the opportunity to travel and see the world and that the young men who fought were good men overall and that she enjoyed her experience with them and helping people as a nurse. Ruth Stewart interviews Pullig.
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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.
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Title
Lee Gordhammer talks about her service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during WWII
Creator
Gordhammer, Lee
Date
198x
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Lee Gordhammer talks about her service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1942 to 1945. Gordhammer says she chose to work in motor transportation and became both an instructor and a skilled mechanic. She describes dodging "buzz-bombs" while in England, landing at Omaha Beach in July 1944, and ending the war in Paris. Gordhammer also discusses why she enlisted, her pre-war employment, military living conditions, uniforms, using the G.I. Bill to...
Show moreLee Gordhammer talks about her service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1942 to 1945. Gordhammer says she chose to work in motor transportation and became both an instructor and a skilled mechanic. She describes dodging "buzz-bombs" while in England, landing at Omaha Beach in July 1944, and ending the war in Paris. Gordhammer also discusses why she enlisted, her pre-war employment, military living conditions, uniforms, using the G.I. Bill to finish her education after the war, and finally working at the U.S. State Department.
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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.
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Title
Interview of retired Colonel Helen P. Onyett on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Onyett, Helen P. (Helen Pon), 1918-2005
Date
2004-04-08
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Retired U.S. Army Colonel Helen P. Onyett, the first Chinese American woman ever promoted to Colonel in the United States Army, talks about her youth and education in Connecticut and her service in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Oynett says she was encouraged by her teachers to become a nurse and talks about her training at the Waterbury Hospital School of Nursing and her later decision to join the Army. Onyett also talks about serving in a tent hospital in North Africa, caring for...
Show moreRetired U.S. Army Colonel Helen P. Onyett, the first Chinese American woman ever promoted to Colonel in the United States Army, talks about her youth and education in Connecticut and her service in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Oynett says she was encouraged by her teachers to become a nurse and talks about her training at the Waterbury Hospital School of Nursing and her later decision to join the Army. Onyett also talks about serving in a tent hospital in North Africa, caring for the wounded, using commandeered German wool blankets to keep warm, living on Army rations, and working long and brutal shifts. After leaving the Army at end of the war, Onyett says that she later joined the reserves and finally retired from the Army in 1978. Onyett is interviewed by Ruth Stewart F.
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Title
In a written memoir read by Marjorie Brown, Ruby Busch recalls her service in the American Red Cross during WWII
Creator
Busch, Ruby
Date
1986-04-30
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
In a written memoir read by Marjorie Brown, Ruby Busch recalls her service in the American Red Cross during World War Two. Busch talks about where she served, her uniforms, her medical care, her housing, her duties in Europe, and her memories of D-Day, V-E Day, and counting American bombers as they returned to England from their missions. Busch says she has enjoyed her experiences in the WOSL and associating with women who had similar experiences.
Title
Interview of Devere Powell on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Powell, Devere
Date
1984-10-10
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Devere Powell talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. She says she enlisted in April 1943, received her flight nurse's training at Bowman Field in Kentucky, was shipped to Hollandia, New Guinea in April 1945 and then to Manila and finally to Leyte where she joined the 801st Air Evac Squad. She discusses her job of escorting casualties from the Philippine Islands and Okinawa to hospitals in Manila and tells a poignant story of giving her flight wings to a...
Show moreDevere Powell talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. She says she enlisted in April 1943, received her flight nurse's training at Bowman Field in Kentucky, was shipped to Hollandia, New Guinea in April 1945 and then to Manila and finally to Leyte where she joined the 801st Air Evac Squad. She discusses her job of escorting casualties from the Philippine Islands and Okinawa to hospitals in Manila and tells a poignant story of giving her flight wings to a wounded former American POW as a souvenir. Powell says she was discharged from the Army as a First Lieutenant in December 1945. Interviewer Betty Thompson also discusses Powell's nursing career and her volunteer work in retirement.
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Title
Interview of Marion Steinhilber on her 27 year career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps
Creator
Steinhilber, Marion Anna, 1922-2011
Date
2003-10-21
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Marion Steinhilber talks about her 27 year career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, including her service overseas in World War II. Steinhiber says that she went on active duty in April 1944 and was sent to Atlantic City for basic training and that her first duty station was at Halloran General Hospital on Staten Island. Steinhilber says that she first thought that she would be stationed in Europe, but soon found herself bound for India, by way of Newfoundland, Casablanca, Cairo, and Abadan...
Show moreMarion Steinhilber talks about her 27 year career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, including her service overseas in World War II. Steinhiber says that she went on active duty in April 1944 and was sent to Atlantic City for basic training and that her first duty station was at Halloran General Hospital on Staten Island. Steinhilber says that she first thought that she would be stationed in Europe, but soon found herself bound for India, by way of Newfoundland, Casablanca, Cairo, and Abadan Island. After landing in Calcutta, she says that she joined the 142nd General Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan and then later the 20th General Hospital in Ledo, India. She talks about life in Ledo, including surviving monsoons, her quarters, the food, the pests, the quality of life for nurses and treating American and Chinese troops. Steinhilber says she returned to the States soon after V-J Day and was "separated" from the Army in May 1946, but was never "discharged". Steinhilber also says that she later found out that she was considered to be on "inactive reserve" and was called up for active duty in 1951 as the Korean War heated up. Steinhilber is interviewed by Ruth Stewart assisted by Carol Habgood.
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Title
Interview of Helen McPherson Reynolds on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII
Creator
Reynolds, Helen McPherson, 1917-2008
Date
1983-05
Collection
Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project
Description
Helen McPherson Reynolds talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. She says that after her induction in October 1942 and receiving training as an anesthesiologist, she joined the 232nd General Hospital unit and shipped overseas in February 1945. Reynolds says that she first landed in Saipan and was later sent to Iwo Jima to help prepare for the expected invasion of Japan. She says that she was one of the first ten nurses on Iwo Jima and describes the tent...
Show moreHelen McPherson Reynolds talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. She says that after her induction in October 1942 and receiving training as an anesthesiologist, she joined the 232nd General Hospital unit and shipped overseas in February 1945. Reynolds says that she first landed in Saipan and was later sent to Iwo Jima to help prepare for the expected invasion of Japan. She says that she was one of the first ten nurses on Iwo Jima and describes the tent hospital in which she worked, the heat and the casualties she was treating from the battle on Okinawa. She says actor Tyrone Power piloted the plane which transported the nurses to Iwo Jima. Reynolds says that she was discharged from the Army in January 1946.
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