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Martha Bell [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
  • Unit of Service: 12th Evacuation Hospital; 3rd Field Hospital
  • Location of Service: Saigon and Cu Chi, Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Colonel
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/84713

View full service history

"I might have been home but my mind was somewhere else." (Video interview, 40:27)

Looking to expand her horizons beyond her home state of New York, Colonel Martha Bell joined the Army Student Nurse Program in 1967--though she didn't imagine that it would eventually take her as far away as Vietnam. Arriving in country, she treated primarily Vietnamese patients rather than American GIs, first at the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi, and then later at the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. In her interview, she discusses the "bonds like glue" that she developed with her fellow nurses, the disillusionment she felt upon seeing the politics of war played out in Saigon, and the lessons in empathy and ingenuity that her Vietnam service taught her.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Martha Roed Bell Collection

Names

  • Bell, Martha Roed
  • Molina, Sarah
  • Durham Academy
  • Adair, Jordan
  • Katherine Hodges

Home State

  • North Carolina

Headings

  • -  Bell, Martha Roed
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Nurse Corps.

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 Nurse Corps
    • Unit of Service: 12th Evacuation Hospital; 3rd Field Hospital
    • Location of Service: Saigon and Cu Chi, Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1967-1995
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a nurse in the medical/surgical Vietnamese ward.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2012-11-19; 2013-10-24)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2012-11-19; 2012)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/84713

Cite as

  • Martha Roed Bell Collection (AFC/2001/001/84713), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Bell, Martha Roed, Sarah Molina, Durham Academy, Jordan Adair, and Katherine Hodges. Martha Roed Bell Collection. 1967. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.84713/.

APA citation style:

Bell, M. R., Molina, S., Durham Academy, Adair, J. & Katherine Hodges. (1967) Martha Roed Bell Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.84713/.

MLA citation style:

Bell, Martha Roed, et al. Martha Roed Bell Collection. 1967. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.84713/>.