Interview of retired United States Army Major Elsie Smith
on her career in the Nurse Corps and serving in two wars


Elsie Smith: 	…Washington.  Date of birth April 8, 1925, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  My address now is 7309 43rd Street West, Tacoma, Washington.  

Unknown speaker:	[inaudible 0:15]

Elsie Smith:	I had two years in active reserve in the army.  Came on active duty December 10, 1950.  Was assigned [coughing] to, uh, the Medical Field Service School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. [sniffing] Tsk, I was there ‘til December 12, when I was assigned to Percy Jones.  Um.  Went to Percy Jones – uh, went home for the, for the Christmas vacation, reported into Percy Jones January 1, 1951.  I stayed at Percy Jones ‘til 15th of June ’51 and was assigned then to Valley Forge Army Hospital.  Uh.  Left Valley Forge and went to the 343rd, which was a station hospital in Korea – or in Japan.  It was an old Zero factory.  Was there ‘til June 24, 1953, when I went to the 25th Evac Hospital in Korea.  Was stationed there ‘til the 20th of April ’54, then I went to Fort Bragg.  From Fort Bragg I went to Denver, Colorado, August 27th, 1954, where I took my anesthesia training.  I was there from ’54 to ’55 and was assigned to Valley Forge Army Hospital again.  From Valley Forge I went to Fort Ord, California, ’57.  From Fort Ord, California, I went to, uh, Europe, uh, 20th Station Hospital at Nuremberg.  Was there ’58 to ’60.  From there I went back to Fort Sam for the Advanced Nurse’s Course.  From there I went to Letterman General Hospital in ’60.  Was at Letterman until ’62.  From Letterman I was assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana.  Was there to ’65.  From there I was assigned – reassigned back to, uh, Korea and was there ‘til 1966.  While in Korea I had a heart attack, was air evaced home, was assigned to Madigan General Hospital and got out of the service there.  Um.  Tsk.

The awards and declarations: the U.N. Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and I got a Certificate of Achievement.  I have two campaign ribbons: Korean Winter and Korean Summer and Fall.

I joined the Women’s Overseas Service League in 1980.  Have been president for the past two years.  The only other service I have with a government agency is, uh, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and I was a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, uh, Puget Sound area, for four years.  I was secretary for Division 12-1 a couple’a years.  I have a GED level of, uh, 2 years’a college.  I had 3 years of anesthesia training.  Tsk.  The branch’a service was Army Nurse Corps.  Eighteen years active duty.  Uh.  Enlisted from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Retired at Madigan General Hospital.  I was an operating nurse prior to enlistment and an operating nu-, nurse in the army before I went into anesthesia.

I think when we first went in the army w-, pay was about, uh, maybe $100 a month.  Uh.  I entered as Second Lieutenant and when I retired, I was a Major.

Unknown speaker:	[inaudible 4:42]

Elsie Smith:	The uniform was pinks and greens and then they went into the taupe.  Tsk.  A lot of experiences.  Uh.  The 25th Evac Hospital in Korea was built right outside’a town and it overlooked the [inaudible 5:17], which was the airforce fighter bomber wing.  When I got out, I used my GI benefit to be a highway civil engineering technician although I never worked at it, and since then, I’ve been retired and enjoyin’ it.


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