Interview of Lieutenant Colonel Bernice R. Couzynse (Ret.) on her service as a U.S. Army nurse during WWII and other conflicts

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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 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.

Date Issued:

1983-03-17T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Michigan State University. Libraries

Collection:

Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project

Place:

Africa, North, Italy, Naples, Italy, Italy, and Berlin (Germany)

Subject Topic:

Career in military nursing, Military life, Nurses, World War, 1939-1945, Veterans, Korean War, 1950-1953, Veterans, Women veterans, World War, 1939-1945, World War, 1939-1945, Participation, Female, Korean War, 1950-1953, Participation, Female, World War, 1939-1945, Hospitals, World War, 1939-1945, Hospitals, Military nursing, World War, 1939-1945, Medical care, and History

Subject Name:

Couzynse, Bernice R., 1919-1997, Couzynse, Bernice R., 1919-1997, United States, Army Nurse Corps, United States, Army, and William Beaumont Army Medical Center (El Paso, Tex.)

Subject Genre:

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

Language:

English

Rights:

In Copyright

URL:

https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m51410