Interview of retired Colonel Mary Ruth Pullig on her long career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps

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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 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.

Date Issued:

2003-01-01T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Michigan State University. Libraries

Collection:

Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project

Place:

Germany (West), Texas, Fort Sam Houston, New Guinea, and Philippines

Subject Topic:

Career in military nursing, Knowledge and learning, Military life, Foreign service, Nurses, World War, 1939-1945, Veterans, Women veterans, World War, 1939-1945, World War, 1939-1945, Participation, Female, Military education, Military nursing, and Military nursing

Subject Name:

Pullig, Mary Ruth, 1919-2007, Pullig, Mary Ruth, 1919-2007, Pullig, Mary Ruth, 1919-2007, United States, Army Nurse Corps, United States, Army, Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, 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/m5p428