Lt Col Genevieve G. Harrold, USAF NC Ret. Oral History

title:

Lt Col Genevieve G. Harrold, USAF NC Ret. Oral History

creator:

Harrold, Genevieve "Jimmie" (Guitrau) (1920 January 1 - )

subject:

Army Nurse Corps | AF Nurse Corps

description:

Genevieve “Jimmie” Harrold (formerly Guitrau) was born in French Settlement, Louisiana on January 1, 1920. She always wanted to be a nurse and did her training at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She joined the Army Nurse Corps in December 1943, serving until 1947. Her brother was also in the Army, but none of her other family members joined the service. She went to basic training in San Antonio, Texas, where she had to purchase her own uniform. After finishing her training, she was sent overseas to serve in Europe. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a French transport, landed in Scotland, and was stationed in England in a staging area. When she crossed the channel to continental Europe, she disembarked at Calais, France and was sent to Nancy, France to work at a hospital. She was an operating nurse in a field hospital on the front line. She helped clean the wounded, triage, stabilize, and move them to larger hospitals. She saw lots of gunshots, fractures, and brain injuries. She describes it as very emotional, but satisfying to be able to help. She spent time in Arlon, Belgium, meeting her brother there once. When she left the Army in 1947, she went back to her old hospital, but found the pay too low and decided to go back into the service. In 1949 she joined the Air Force Nurse Corps and served from 1949 to 1970, a period that includes the Koren War. During her 21 years in the Air Force, she met her retired Navy husband at Hamilton Air Force base in Novato, California. When she left the service in 1970, Harrold had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, and for her service she was awarded an American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal with a bronze star, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and Air Force Longevity Service Award with a silver oak leaf cluster. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Unknown

date:

2013-02-06

type:

Moving Image

format:

DVD-R

identifier:

1222; 2013.1222

source:

SAFN | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

039402

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | Korean War (1950-1953) | 1943-47 | 1949-70

rights:

Unrestricted