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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Dates of Service: 1966-1968
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: 71st Evacuation Hospital
  • Battles & Campaigns: Tet Counteroffensive
  • Location of Service: Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/97581

View full service history

“You died a little bit each time you lost a patient.” (Audio interview, 01:02:21)

Drawn to the military out of a sense of patriotism (and the promise of a significant and steady paycheck), Nancy Wells was commissioned into the Army Nurse Corps in 1964, with just two years of professional nursing under her belt, and departed for Vietnam in the spring of 1967. She was initially assigned to the 85th Evacuation Hospital, located near the South China Sea in Qui Nhon, and later transferred to the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku, in the Central Highlands. During her time in both locations, Wells developed deep bonds with her patients and was profoundly affected by their suffering. In her oral history, she comments on the importance of humor in coping with life in country, and describes the sights, smells, and sounds of the two hospitals in which she served.

Nancy Alice Wells Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Nancy Alice Wells Collection

Names

  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Shorak, B.J.
  • Wells, Nancy Alice
  • Taylor, John

State of Residence at Time of Collection Donation

  • Michigan

Headings

  • -  Wells, Nancy Alice
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: 71st Evacuation Hospital
    • Location of Service: Vietnam
    • Battles & Campaigns: Tet Counteroffensive
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1966-1968
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a nurse.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2014-11-07)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [1 item] -- Photographs (collected unknown)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2014-11-07)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/97581

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Special Format

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Battles & Campaigns

Service Unit/Ship

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

State of Residence at Time of Collection Donation

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

National Court Reporters Association, B.J Shorak, Nancy Alice Wells, and John Taylor. Nancy Alice Wells Collection. 1966. Personal Narrative. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afc2001001.97581/.

APA citation style:

National Court Reporters Association, Shorak, B. J., Wells, N. A. & Taylor, J. (1966) Nancy Alice Wells Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afc2001001.97581/.

MLA citation style:

National Court Reporters Association, et al. Nancy Alice Wells Collection. 1966. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/afc2001001.97581/>.