Interview of Winifred Gansel on her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII

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Description:

In an oral history interview, Winifred Gansel discusses her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War Two. Gansel talks about growing up in California, graduating from nursing school in 1931, her enlistment in the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor and being sent to New Guinea with the 80th General Hospital. Gansel describes life at the camp, working with the native people, surviving insects and lizards, dealing with hygiene issues, and what the nurses did to relax. She says that the 80th later moved with the troops to the Philippines and she talks about treating severely dehydrated and malnourished soldiers in tent hospitals there, and her duty in a polio ward. Gansel says that she came back to the States in November 1945, was discharged as a captain in March 1946, and returned to her position as a supervisor at the Santa Clara County Hospital in California. Gansel is interviewed by Norma I. Williams.

Date Issued:

1984-05-30T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Michigan State University. Libraries

Collection:

Women's Overseas Service League Oral History Project

Place:

New Guinea, Philippines, and Pacific Area

Subject Topic:

Military life, World War, 1939-1945, Veterans, Nurses, Women veterans, World War, 1939-1945, World War, 1939-1945, Participation, Female, Military nursing, Military nursing, World War, 1939-1945, and Medical care

Subject Name:

Gansel, Winifred, 1907-2003, United States, Army Nurse Corps, United States, Army, United States, Army, and General Hospital, 80th

Subject Genre:

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

Language:

English

Rights:

In Copyright

URL:

https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5j981