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Mary Weiss Hester as a flight nurse, tending to a wounded patient aboard a C-47 [1953]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Air Force
  • Unit of Service: 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron (MAES); 90th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing
  • Location of Service: Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Lowry AFB, Colorado; Montgomery, Alabama; Los Angeles, California; Tokyo, Japan; Korea; Forbes AFB, Kansas
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/32449

View full service history

"I was glad to serve. My father had served in World War I. My brother was in World War II in the Army Air Force. He said, 'If you're going to join the service, join the Air Force.'" (Video Interview, 26:02)

In 1950, Mary Weiss, who had never been more than 40 miles from her Indiana home, decided to join the Air Force, then recruiting students at her nursing school. Her desire to travel was fulfilled after she signed up for flight school and became a flight nurse, logging over 760 hours between Japan and Korea during her 14 months abroad. She also met her future husband, Kenneth Hester, in flight school, and they were married in Tokyo while still in the service.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Mary L. Hester Collection

Names

  • National Archives - Central Plains Region
  • Bresette, Evie
  • Wacht, Raymond J.
  • Hester, Mary L.
  • Emily Hughes Dominick

Home State

  • Kansas

Headings

  • -  Hester, Mary L.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Unit of Service: 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron (MAES); 90th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing
    • Location of Service: Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Lowry AFB, Colorado; Montgomery, Alabama; Los Angeles, California; Tokyo, Japan; Korea; Forbes AFB, Kansas
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1951-1953
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Digital print [29 items] -- Photograph (collected 1951-2004)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected 2004; 2005-05-13)
  • Video: Hi-8/Digital 8 [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-10-05)
  • Manuscript: Mixed (Multiple types of manuscripts) [3 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1953-2000)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/32449

Cite as

  • Mary L. Hester Collection (AFC/2001/001/32449), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

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:

National Archives - Central Plains Region, Evie Bresette, Raymond J Wacht, Mary L Hester, and Emily Hughes Dominick. Mary L. Hester Collection. 1951. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.32449/.

APA citation style:

National Archives - Central Plains Region, Bresette, E., Wacht, R. J., Hester, M. L. & Emily Hughes Dominick. (1951) Mary L. Hester Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.32449/.

MLA citation style:

National Archives - Central Plains Region, et al. Mary L. Hester Collection. 1951. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.32449/>.