Personal Narrative Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Software, E-Resource Audio Recording Ann Catherine Cunningham Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
- Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
- Unit of Service: 44th Medical Brigade; 68th Medical Group; 12th Evacuation Hospital; 18th Surgical Hospital; 36th Evacuation Hospital; Kenner Army Hospital
- Location of Service: Vietnam; Fort Lee, Virginia
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/48446
Ann Cunningham felt a civic duty to help her country but struggled with the limited career opportunities available to women in the 1960s. Attending nursing school led her to the Army Nurse Corps; as an Army nurse, she hoped she could provide medical aid not only to U.S. military personnel in Vietnam, but also to the Vietnamese communities around her surgical hospital. Working under intense conditions at the 18th Surgical Hospital at Camp Evans, Cunningham felt a great sense of camaraderie with her fellow medical personnel, but struggled with survivor's guilt once she returned to the U.S. In her oral history, she acknowledges how her work with the Vietnam Women's Memorial has helped provide a space for other female veterans of Vietnam and has been a supportive and healing experience for her.
Ann Catherine Cunningham Collection
Interview / Recording
Transcript
Share
-
PlayFeeling a call to action to do something "good for mankind" Cunningham went into nursing; discusses how there were only a few occupations that women could enter in the 1960s; felt she could serve her country and provide aid to the Vietnamese if she served with either the Army Nurse Corps or Air Force Nurse Corps. 00:01:02.0 - 00:03:24.0
-
PlayBasic training at Fort Sam Houston; experience of outdoor training at Camp Bullis; Army Nurse Corps focus on nursing skills over basic Army skills, which is different from today; not feeling like any training really prepared them for Vietnam. 00:04:02.0 - 00:07:18.0
-
PlayHer arrival into Vietnam, initial reactions to the heat and jungle environment; first assignment at the 36th Evacuation Hospital at Vung Tau; not being utilized as an operating nurse and deciding to transfer elsewhere. 00:10:45.0 - 00:13:18.0
-
PlayTransferring to the 12th Evacuation Hospital; working twelve-hour days during the monsoon season; experience of the hospital getting mortared and shelled consistently after the Tet Offensive. 00:17:31.0 - 00:19:34.0
-
PlayCloseness and camaraderie amongst the "old timers" at the hospital; changes in Army triage medicine during Vietnam versus prior wars; the importance of surgical hospitals like the one she served in; shifting abilities to treat everyone who came into the hospital. 00:24:52.0 - 00:28:44.0
-
PlayDiscussion of sexual assault within her hospital; her lack at awareness at the time it had happened until later; advances made by people who thought they might not survive out in the field the next day. 36:04.0 - 00:37:43.0
-
PlayHow Vietnam affected her; her appreciation for the Vietnamese people just trying to survive; loss of a fiancé in Vietnam; the way the war tore the country apart. 00:41:17.0 - 00:44:00.0
-
PlayFeeling guilty when leaving Vietnam but being very ready to go home; dealing with survivor's guilt; taking a bath when she first got home; feeling like a different person when she came home. 01:15:14.0 - 01:19:55.0
More Resources
About this Item
Title
- Ann Catherine Cunningham Collection
Names
- Stone, Sarah L.
- University of Mary Washington, Department of Historic Preservation
- Cunningham, Ann Catherine
- Stanton, Gary
Home State
- Virginia
Headings
- - Cunningham, Ann Catherine
- - 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: 44th Medical Brigade; 68th Medical Group; 12th Evacuation Hospital; 18th Surgical Hospital; 36th Evacuation Hospital; Kenner Army Hospital
- Location of Service: Vietnam; Fort Lee, Virginia
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Dates of Service: 1966-1970
- Entrance into Service: Enlisted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 2006-10-20)
- Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1998)
- Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [7 items] -- Photograph (collected 1967-1969)
- Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-10-20)
- Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2006-10-20; 2006-12-15)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/48446
Cite as
- Ann Catherine Cunningham Collection (AFC/2001/001/48446), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- audio
- image
- online text
Additional Metadata Formats
IIIF Presentation Manifest
Part of
Wars & Conflicts
Service Branch
Location of Service
Service Unit
- 12th Evacuation Hospital
- 18th Surgical Hospital
- 36th Evacuation Hospital
- 44th Medical Brigade
- 68th Medical Group
- Kenner Army Hospital