CAPT Mary L. Conley, NC USN Ret. Oral History

title:

CAPT Mary L. Conley, NC USN Ret. Oral History

creator:

Conley, Mary (Lewis) (1924 June 3 - )

subject:

Navy Nurse Corps

description:

Mary Conley was born on June 3, 1924 in New Windsor, New York. Her mother died when she was 2 and a half years old and her father died when she was 11 years old, so she went to live with her Aunt and five of her cousins in Chelsea, New York. Although she didn’t live with any of her three siblings, they remained close. After high school, Mary worked at a hat factory doing clerical work. When World War II started, she joined the US Public Health Service’s Cadet Nurse Corps. A small government subsidy paid for her tuition, books, uniforms, and she received a small stipend of $10 per month. In exchange for her training, Mary was required to pledge to actively serve in hospitals within the United States. There was a severe nurse shortage during the war. Mary continued her path with Nursing and graduated from Our Savior’s Hospital in Jackson, Illinois with a certificate as a Registered Nurse (RN) in 1947. She continued working at that hospital for two years, but after her older sister had a baby Conley realized she missed her family and moved to Newburg, New York, working at Saint Luke’s Hospital. With the knowledge that her RN certificate was not enough and it would be too expensive to go back to school, she joined the Navy in 1956 to continue Nursing School. She entered the Navy as a LTJG and was stationed at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina and in Kodiak, Alaska from 1956 until 1962. Although she initially planned to get in, get her education, and get out, her experience of camaraderie and the stories other Navy nurses told convinced her to pursue Navy nursing as a career. She then went to Columbia University to get her bachelors and work as a recruiter, and University of Colorado for a masters. Mary had been assigned to Camp Pendelton, California when she volunteered to go to Vietnam as a Navy Nurse. She wanted to do her part and take care of the boys that were serving during the war, viewing her duty as a nurse as more important than the politics around the war. Mary was stationed at the Station Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam, which was bombed by the Vietnamese several times as they tried to hit the helicopter position beyond their compound and, she suspects, as retribution for an attack on a Viet Cong hospital. From Da Nang, Mary was transferred to the USS Sanctuary AH-17, a Haven-class hospital ship. Mary met her husband, Walter Conley (also in the Navy) aboard this ship while on the China Sea off Vietnam in 1970. Mary returned to the US and was stationed at Corpus Christi, then was sent overseas to her final station in Okinawa, Japan. Mary retired from the US Navy in 1979 with the rank of Captain, and was awarded a National Defense Medal, Vietnamese Campaign Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry Ribbon, Vietnamese Community Action Ribbon, Navy Commendation Medal with a Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation, and Meritorious Service Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Reborchick, Marcy

date:

2007-10-18

type:

Audio

format:

CD

identifier:

1086; 2007.1086

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

018864

coverage:

Vietnam War (1964-1975) | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1956-79

rights:

Unrestricted