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Overview of the lives of US Army nurses in the Vietnam War. From “Your Army Reports” No. 8.
Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
The United States Army Nurse Corps (NC) was formally established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. It is one of the six medical Special Branches (or “Corps”) of officers which — along with medical enlisted soldiers — comprise the Army Medical Department (AMEDD).
The NC is the nursing service for the U.S. Army and provides qualified nursing staff in support of the Department of Defense medical plans. This NC is composed entirely of registered nurses (RNs)…
Mission
All actions and tasks must lead and work toward promoting the wellness of Warriors and their families, supporting the delivery of Warrior and family healthcare, and all those entrusted to our care and ultimately, positioning the Army Nurse Corps as a force multiplier for the future of military medicine…
The U.S. Army Nurse Corps (AN) consists entirely of commissioned officers. Nurses who wish to serve as an Army Nurse are required to hold an unrestricted Registered Nurse (RN) license prior to receiving a commission. For the Active Army, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree is required. Reserve Component nurses may commission with a BSN, Associate of Science in Nursing degree (ADN), or a Diploma in Nursing but they must obtain their BSN in order to be eligible for promotion to the rank of Major. The US Army is evaluating this standard and may determine that entry level for Reserve Component officers will be a BSN. At this time the decision has not been made and nurses remain in high demand. The degree conferring school must furthermore be National League for Nursing (NLN) accredited in order for a nurse to be eligible for commissioning…
Vietnam
During the Vietnam War many Army nurses would see deployment to South East Asia. Army nurses would staff all major Army hospitals in the theatre, including: Cam Ranh Bay, Da Nang, and Saigon. Vietnam would be the first major deployment of men as nurses into the combat theater, as men could be located in more hazardous locations than what was considered safe for females. Many Army nurses faced enemy fire for the first time due to the unconventional nature of the conflict, and several nurses would die from direct enemy fire. On at least one occasion the US Army hospital at Cam Ranh Bay was assaulted and severely damaged, with a loss of both patient and staff life…
The Nurse Corps continues as a significant part of the Army medical department. Most training is conducted at Fort Sam Houston, Texas…
