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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Air Force Nurse Corps
  • Unit of Service: 4162nd Air Force Hospital, 92nd Tactical Air Command Hospital, 6160th Air Force Hospital, 9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 820nd Medical Group, 81st Tactical Air Command Hospital
  • Location of Service: Travis Air Force Base, California; Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; Wake Island; Tachikawa Air Base, Japan; Plattsburg Air Force Base, New York; RAF Bentwaters, England; Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam; Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan; Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan; Oscoda, Michigan; Iraklion Air Base, Crete; Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/23490

View full service history

"These kids, they would watch you when you were changing their dressings. They would watch every movement, every expression on your face. So you just had to gear yourself not to have any expression." (Audio Interview, Part 1, 30:14)

A year after graduating from nursing school in 1955, Helen Hause joined the Air Force for a 20-year career, much of it as a flight nurse. She logged over 1000 hours in peacetime Japan, flying in unpressurized planes that rarely went above 10,000 feet. After a less pressured tour of duty in England, she was assigned to Vietnam for a year. She prepped wounded men for evacuation in an 85-bed plane, and managed to survive a series of mortar attacks on Ton Son Nhut, her air base. Hause's homecoming to her home in Detroit in April 1968 was hardly peaceful; the city was in flames in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Helen Eileen Hause Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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Helen Eileen Hause Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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[ Biographical information ]

About this Item

Title

  • Helen Eileen Hause Collection

Names

  • Hause, Helen Eileen
  • Smith, Lauren
  • Stearns, Cliff
  • U.S. House of Representatives/Cliff Stearns

Home State

  • Florida

Headings

  • -  Hause, Helen Eileen
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force Nurse Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Air Force Nurse Corps
    • Unit of Service: 4162nd Air Force Hospital, 92nd Tactical Air Command Hospital, 6160th Air Force Hospital, 9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 820nd Medical Group, 81st Tactical Air Command Hospital
    • Location of Service: Travis Air Force Base, California; Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; Wake Island; Tachikawa Air Base, Japan; Plattsburg Air Force Base, New York; RAF Bentwaters, England; Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam; Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan; Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan; Oscoda, Michigan; Iraklion Air Base, Crete; Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1956-1976
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran also served in the 21st Casualty Staging Flight, 1st Air Force Hospital, and 853rd Medical Group.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2004-05-31)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Microcassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-05-31)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2004-05-31; 2007-11-07)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/23490

Cite as

  • Helen Eileen Hause Collection (AFC/2001/001/23490), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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:

Hause, Helen Eileen, Lauren Smith, Cliff Stearns, and U.S. House Of Representatives/Cliff Stearns. Helen Eileen Hause Collection. 1956. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.23490/.

APA citation style:

Hause, H. E., Smith, L., Stearns, C. & U.S. House Of Representatives/Cliff Stearns. (1956) Helen Eileen Hause Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.23490/.

MLA citation style:

Hause, Helen Eileen, et al. Helen Eileen Hause Collection. 1956. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.23490/>.