Elizabeth Bohtz Devlin Oral History Side A - Edited

title:

Elizabeth Bohtz Devlin Oral History Side A - Edited

creator:

Devlin, Elizabeth (Bohtz) (1919 March 28 - )

subject:

Army Nurse Corps

description:

Side 1 of 2. This is the edited interview audio. Elizabeth Devlin (formerly Bohtz) was born on March 28, 1919 in Detroit, Michigan. After finishing high school, she went to nursing school at Buffalo General Hospital in New York and graduated from there in 1941. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in June of 1942 and went to basic training at Pine Camp, New York. She joined because a nurse she worked with had served in World War I and told her it would be a good experience for her, especially since she’d never really traveled before. She also joined only a few months after her older sister since she had to take her state boards to finish her degree. From Pine Camp, she was sent to join the 23rd General Hospital Unit in Buffalo, New York and went to Fort Meade, Maryland with them. After staying there for a year, they shipped out to Casablanca, Morocco. From there, they went by train to Iran, then got on a ship to Bagnoli, Italy, which is just north of Naples. They were set up in a general hospital, so they served as a midpoint for wounded people who had first gone to field hospitals, then to them, then sent off either to the United States for further treatment or back to their units once they were healthy. After spending a year in Italy, including when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1944 and D-Day, her unit was moved to Vitell, France in 1945 where they worked out of a hotel. From there they went to Paris in July 1945, occupying a hospital that was winding down operations and closed that September. By November of 1945, they were on their way back to the United States, and she was discharged from Fort Dix, New Jersey in time for Thanksgiving. After returning home, she went to the University of Buffalo to get a degree in public health but decided after one semester that being a student wasn’t for her. Instead, she wrote to the VA to see if they had any openings, they offered her California or Texas, and she chose to go to Sawtelle, California. She worked there for about three years and in that time she got married and had a couple children, so she took a break from working for a while. When Devlin returned to work, it was at Santa Monica Hospital. When she left the service, Devlin had reached the rank of captain and had been awarded an American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Addcox, Corkey Jenkin

date:

2006-05-30

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

229; 2006.229

source:

CLIR -Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

134307

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1942-45

rights:

Unrestricted