2LT Gertrude I. Tuttle Oral History

title:

2LT Gertrude I. Tuttle Oral History

creator:

Tuttle, Gertrude Irene (Seither) (1923 August 26 - )

subject:

Army Medical Specialist Corps

description:

Gertrude “Trudy” I. Tuttle (formerly Seither) was born on August 26, 1923 in Irvington, New Jersey. She trained as a physical therapist in the Sister Elizabeth Kenny treatment regimen, and by 1944, she was working for the March of Dimes Foundation, which was fighting Infantile Paralysis-polio. She fought polio epidemics in Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky while working there. Her mother pushed her to go into the military, and in August of 1944 she walked past an Army recruitment office in New York City and decided to sign up for a commission with the Army Medical Specialist Corps. She went to basic training at Haddon Hall in Atlantic City, which had been renamed the England General Hospital, and was billeted at the Chalfonte Hotel with 7 other physical therapists and over 50 nurses. After training, she remained at England General Hospital in the PT department. In September, a hurricane hit the city and flooded the hospital, forcing her to move to Fort Dix, New Jersey since her department had become unusable. Once there, she applied for overseas duty and expected to go to the European theater, so she was surprised to receive uniforms and gear for hot weather. She was sent to Camp Stoneman, California for 30 days before shipping out to the South Pacific as replacement for troops for people who had earned enough points to return to the United States. On the 30-day journey, she met and fell in love with a sailor on board, and found out a week after they landed in New Guinea that he was injured in action. She wasn’t allowed to see him, but snuck off the base anyways. She returned without being noticed, and soon after was assigned to the hospital ship Hope until they landed in Leyte, Philippines and she went to the 126th General Hospital. While there, she developed jungle rot on her face and hands from working in the heat and humidity, and by September of 1945 it was bad enough she was shipped back home. She was in Hawaii on the trek home when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered. She received treatment at Fort Dix, and was discharged upon completion of that treatment in February 1946. Her future husband returned later, they married in June 1946, and had seven children together. When she left the service Trudy had reached the rank of 2nd lieutenant, and for her service she was awarded an American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Philippine Liberation Medal. A transcript of the interview is not currently available, a manuscript written by Tuttle that describes her military service is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Fowler, Carol

date:

2009-12-08

type:

Moving Image

format:

DVD-R

identifier:

1037; 2010.1037

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

278127

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944-46

rights:

Unrestricted