Minnesota's Women Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project: Interview with Edythe "Edy" D. Thompson Johnson

Titles: Minnesota's Women Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project: Interview with Edythe "Edy" D. Thompson Johnson (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Edythe "Edy" D. Thompson Johnson was born in Wisconsin and attended Lutheran Deaconess College Hospital School of Nursing where she obtained her nursing diploma. She served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. She also served in the Reserves and retired from the Army with the rank of Colonel. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family; childhood; education; patriotism and importance of service to the country; graduating from high school and pursuing her lifelong dream to become a nurse; obtaining a nursing diploma from Lutheran Deaconess College Hospital School of Nursing; being cognizant of the Civil Rights Movement and political issues; Communism; working in obstetrics (OB); President John F. Kennedy's assassination; studying journalism; importance of religion; factors that led her to join the Army Nurse Corps; training at Fort Sam Houston; family reaction to her decision to join the Army Nurse Corps; working at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco; reaction to Vietnam orders; gender discrimination; diversity in basic training; identity as a nurse; the anti-war movement; thoughts on the politics of the war; going to Vietnam; hearing about the Tet Offensive; daily life in the evacuation hospital; memorable patients; interactions with other staff members; leisure activities; dating; contact with the Vietnamese; being educated about Vietnamese culture; serving as a surrogate mother or sister to soldiers; difference between civilian nursing and nursing in a combat zone; safety and stresses; being head nurse; homecoming; emotional repercussions of war; staying in the Army Reserves; returning to Minnesota and working in OB and as a night supervisor at the hospital where she trained; working for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL); the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; joining the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA); getting married; importance of the Vietnam Women's Memorial; post-war adjustments; going back to Vietnam as a civilian and working with orphans; the role Vietnam had in her life.

Dates

• 06/07/2005 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewer: Heikkila, Kim
• interviewee: Johnson, Edythe D.

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 113
• Accession Number: AV2007.38.9

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Minnesota's Women Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project' <OH 113>

Quantity: 4 hours sound cassette 75 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 210 minutes length

Subjects

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