CPT Dorothy Helen Hayward Oral History Tape 1, Side A

title:

CPT Dorothy Helen Hayward Oral History Tape 1, Side A

creator:

Hayward, Dorothy Helen (Leigh)

subject:

Army Nurse Corps

description:

Tape 1 of 2, side 1 of 2. Dorothy Helen L. Hayward (born name Leigh, married name Gaunt) grew up in Portland, Indiana as an only child. She attended Indiana University, then went to Indianapolis to attend nursing school, which she graduated from in 1939. She joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1942 because the man she wanted to marry was drafted and they hoped that, if she joined too, they would stay together, which unfortunately didn’t happen. He parents approved of her enlistment as long as she didn’t go overseas, and although she noted that on her enlistment in April 1942, she was ordered to Europe by November and simply didn’t tell her parents until she was on the ship. They landed in Scotland and went to London, England to receive their assignments. She was assigned to the 67th General Hospital in Taunton, England. The Army would’ve kicked her out if she was married, so before going to Europe she and her husband married in secret using an assumed name. Her husband was sent to Europe in 1944, and they saw each other whenever they could. Although the Army discovered she was married while she was overseas, they didn’t remove her from service because they needed all the people they could get. After 21 months in England, she volunteered to go to France with six other nurses. She landed 40 days after D-Day in July of 1944, and her first husband was killed that same month in the Battle of Saint-Lô. She was sent to the 30th Field Hospital and was assigned to be chief nurse of a platoon there. Her unit was then assigned to the 5th Infantry, 3rd Army at the direct request of General Irwin, following the troops through France, Luxembourg, and Austria. At one point they worked in a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp in Ebensee, Austria, taking care of survivors after the Army had made the camp livable for the nurses. With their care, several hundred former prisoners survived the effects of the torture and starvation they were put through while in the camp. The whole experience at Ebensee was quite shocking for her. They then moved into Traun, Austria in mid-May 1945 and cared for typhus patients. They continued moving through Austria and France, and by September 1945 Hayward was in Paris, France preparing to return home. She remained in the Army upon her return and was stationed at Fort Ord, California, which is where she met her second husband (who she was still married to as of the interview). She left the Army Nurse Corps in 1946, they married in 1947, and had three children together soon after. Upon her discharge Hayward had reached the rank of captain and for her service she was awarded an American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a bronze star, and World War II Victory Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Binker, Mary Jo

date:

2002-10-18

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

414.01; 2002.414

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

518500

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1942-46

rights:

Unrestricted