Personal Narrative Manuscript/Mixed Material Audio Recording Helen Eileen Hause Collection
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
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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PlayServing as a flight nurse in Japan in the early 1960s; flying in unpressurized aircraft; dealing with a pregnant woman about to deliver. 00:09:16.7 - 00:15:18.8
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PlayAfter three years in England, going to Vietnam in 1967; had an 85-bed casualty staging flight; the routine of prepping the casualties for the flight; recalling the severity of their wounds is still unnerving years later . 00:25:11.4 - 00:28:15.4
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PlayNice living conditions when she first got to Vietnam; later moved into simpler accommodations; daily routine took her by the morgue every morning; injured men trying to read her expression when she changed their dressing for a sign of how bad off they were. 00:28:18.3 - 00:30:36.1
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Helen Eileen Hause Collection
Interview / Recording
Transcript
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PlayHer mixed feelings about serving in Vietnam: pride, sadness, terror; she and a temporary roommate surviving a mortar attack of Ton Son Nhut; aftermath of the attack; all medical personnel pitching in. 00:07:06.6 - 00:14:41.1
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PlayStopping in Japan on her way home to Detroit from Vietnam and learning that Martin Luther King had been assassinated; recalling the Detroit riots from the summer of 1967, when she was on leave for her sister's funeral; changing out of her uniform in the San Francisco airport; staying with a friend in Detroit for two days before her brother could get through to pick her up. 00:14:56.4 - 00:17:00.7
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
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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
Part of
Wars & Conflicts
Service Branch
Location of Service
- Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
- Iraklion Air Base, Crete
- Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana
- Oscoda, Michigan
- Plattsburg Air Force Base, New York
- RAF Bentwaters, England
- Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan
- Tachikawa Air Base, Japan
- Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam
- Travis Air Force Base, California
- Wake Island
- Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan
Service Unit
- 4162nd Air Force Hospital
- 6160th Air Force Hospital
- 81st Tactical Air Command Hospital
- 820nd Medical Group
- 92nd Tactical Air Command Hospital
- 9th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron