Interview of Mary Duncan Clark 
on her twenty-eight year career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps


Interviewer:	What is your name? 

Mary Duncan Clark:	My name is Mary Duncan Clark. 

Interviewer:	[00:05] When did you join the Denver Unit of WOSL?

Mary Duncan Clark:	It was early in the ‘70s.

Interviewer:	[00:12] Were you in the Service?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Yes, I was in the Army Nurse Corps.

Interviewer:	[00:18] Uh, what made you decide to come in the Army Nurse Corps?

Mary Duncan Clark:	My friends who were members.

Interviewer:	[00:25] What did you do before you came in the army?

Mary Duncan Clark:	I went to nurse’s training and then I worked a few months at the Indiana University Hospital.

Interviewer:	[00:34] What were your duties in the service?

Mary Duncan Clark:	I started out as a Staff Nurse, went to Supervisor, Chief Nurse of Vietnam in the Nha Trang in ’64 and ’65 and Chief Nurse in [inaudible 00:46] in ’68 to ’70.

Interviewer:	[00:48] How long were you in the service?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Twenty-eight years.

Interviewer:	[00:51] Where did your travels take you?

Mary Duncan Clark:	England, France, Germany, Japan, Vietnam, Fort Dix, Fitzsimons three times, and [inaudible 1:01] again.

Interviewer: 	[1:03] What kind of housing did you have?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Billets.

Interviewer:	[1:09] What was the nature of the medical care available to you?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Very good.

Interviewer:	[1:14] What was your uniform dress?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Nursing uniform, fatigues, dress uniforms.

Interviewer:	[1:21] Uh, can you relate a couple of your more exciting experiences to me?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Traveling overseas, I traveled with one of my friends who was a nurse and we visited Germany, Italy, Greece, Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Asia, and then came back through Greece, Italy, and Germany. We were told by some of the military that we were risking our lives if we went through Lebanon and some of those countries that was communist and they didn’t, uh, allow uniforms there. Military. We went, uh, anyway, but we, when we packed our suitcase, we had, um, purchased some Kotex and Tampax and decided we’d put our uniforms in the bottom of the suitcase, then our civilian clothes, and then this Tampax and, and Kotex on top, and maybe they wouldn’t look. Well, when we went through, we opened our luggage, and they didn’t even look at, and just looked at’m and didn’t touch anything. And no examination was made. We couldn’t laugh at them at that time, but when we arrived back to our quarters, we had a very good laugh over that. Then in, uh, I enjoyed very much working on the Board in Japan helping with the orphans from the American military men. We helped them be adopted and helped raise money to have a place for them to stay, eat, and sleep. And that’s about it.

Interviewer:	[3:17] What was the greatest adjustment you had to make when you came in the service?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Uh, I didn’t have any, I don’t think. Really.

Interviewer:	[3:26] Did you plan on making, uh, the Service a career when you first joined the army?

Mary Duncan Clark:	Yes, uh, in a way, right after the war, uh, D-Day, I decided I was gonna make a career.

Interviewer:	[3:45] What didja – did you after your service was concluded?

Mary Duncan Clark:	I’m working now at home and at, at my business.

Interviewer:	[3:55] What has being a member of WS – WOSL meant to you?

Mary Duncan Clark:	I’ve seen many people you do not meet with at other organizational meetings.

Interviewer:	Okay, thank you very much.


/jw