Interview of retired Colonel Patricia Silvestre on her career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and service during the Vietnam War

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Description:

Retired Colonel Patricia Silvestre talks about her personal history and education and her career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps which included service in the Vietnam War. Silvestre says she was running short of money for nursing school when she discovered the Army Student Nurse Program and enlisted in 1956. She talks about finishing her classes, doing basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas and then driving to her first assignment at Fort Lewis in Washington. She says that her first overseas assignment was in Korea as head nurse on an orthopedic ward and she describes the living conditions, her clothing, the weather and her social life, and says that she believes that hospital staff was really able to help the Koreans. After Officer's Candidate School, Silvestre says that she was sent to Vietnam as a chief nurse and was stationed at a children's hospital near the DMZ where she dealt with a great variety of tropical diseases and war related wounds. Silvestre says that she ended her career at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver in 1984 after serving at various Army operations around the United States. She says that her experience in Vietnam changed the way she thinks of war because she witnessed its terrible consequences. Silvestre is interviewed by Ruth Stewart.

Date Issued:

2003-10-22T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Michigan State University. Libraries

Collection:

Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project

Place:

Korea (South) and Vietnam

Subject Topic:

Career in military nursing, Political and social views, Military life, Nurses, Vietnam War, 1961-1975, Veterans, Women veterans, Vietnam War, 1961-1975, Vietnam War, 1961-1975, Participation, Female, Military nursing, Military nursing, and War

Subject Name:

Silvestre, Patricia A. (Patricia Ann), 1936-2006, Silvestre, Patricia A. (Patricia Ann), 1936-2006, Silvestre, Patricia A. (Patricia Ann), 1936-2006, United States, Army Nurse Corps, United States, and Army

Subject Genre:

Interviews, Interviews, Interviews, Interviews, Interviews, and Personal narratives, American

Language:

English

Rights:

In Copyright

URL:

https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m53q6c