Top of page

Ruth Deloris Buckley, Paris, 1945

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
  • Unit of Service: 95th Evacuation Hospital, 5th Army
  • Location of Service: North Africa; Italy; France; Germany; United States; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/24232

View full service history

"I always wondered what kind of a feeling it would be to think you are a goner; but I found I wasn't excited, or afraid, or felt any unusual emotion." (October 3, 1943 letter, quoted in article, "Lt. Delores Buckley gave the girls hysterics...")

Deloris Buckley always seemed to be in the center of the action wherever she went as a nurse working in the European Theater of World War II. On the way from Africa to Italy, her ship was sunk by a German bomber who ignored the giant red crosses painted on the vessel's side and deck. Buckley and her fellow nurses took to the lifeboats and were picked up by a British destroyer. On a beach in Italy, another bomber dropped his payload in an effort to avoid a pursuing plane, and Buckley was severely wounded by shrapnel. After convalescing, she went right back into the fray, finishing out her service in the relative calm of liberated France.

Ruth Deloris Buckley Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

[ Award of the Purple Heart [February 16, 1944] ]
[ Front Line Nurse ]
[ Transcript of World War II-era interview with Ruth Buckley ]
[ Newsclipping: "Lt. Delores Buckley of Waverly loses clothing but saves life in sinking in Mediterranean" ]
[ Newsclipping: "Lt. Delores Buckley gave the girls hysterics when she came aboard" ]

Show more resources (6)

[ Newsclipping: "Wounded nurses yearn for front" [Wednesday, May 17, 1944] ]
[ Newsclipping: "23 killed in bombing of American hospital" ]
[ Newsclipping: "Lt. Buckley wounded when Huns bomb the hospital" ]
[ Newsclipping: "Wisconsin nurse gets purple heart" ]
[ Newsclipping: "Heroic nurse" ]
[ Press release: "Wounded nurses like rest home, but anxious to get back to work" ]

About this Item

Title

  • Ruth Deloris Buckley Collection

Names

  • Fast, Richard C.
  • Buckley, Ruth Deloris

Home State

  • Minnesota

Headings

  • -  Buckley, Ruth Deloris
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Nurse Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
    • Unit of Service: 95th Evacuation Hospital, 5th Army
    • Location of Service: North Africa; Italy; France; Germany; United States; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1940-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 1944-05-04; 2012-02-27)
  • Photograph: Digital print [1 item] -- Photograph (collected 1945-02-02)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1944)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 1944-05-04)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1944)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected 1944)
  • Manuscript: Civilian papers (certificates, forms, wills, etc) [7 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Radio broadcast (collected 1944-05-04)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/24232

Cite as

  • Ruth Deloris Buckley Collection (AFC/2001/001/24232), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • 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:

Fast, Richard C, and Ruth Deloris Buckley. Ruth Deloris Buckley Collection. 1940. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24232/.

APA citation style:

Fast, R. C. & Buckley, R. D. (1940) Ruth Deloris Buckley Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24232/.

MLA citation style:

Fast, Richard C, and Ruth Deloris Buckley. Ruth Deloris Buckley Collection. 1940. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24232/>.