1st Lt Natalie C. Gerace Oral History

title:

1st Lt Natalie C. Gerace Oral History

creator:

Gerace, Natalie C. (1926 December 24 - )

subject:

AF Nurse Corps

description:

This is the original, unedited interview audio. Natalie Gerace was born on December 24, 1926 in Rockaway Beach, New York. She attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC and graduated with a degree in nursing. She enlisted in the United States Air Force Nurse Corps in September, 1955 and attended basic training in Gunter Annex Air Force Base near Montgomery, Alabama. The basic training program was 6 weeks long, and there were only 6 nurses in her group, the rest were men. Upon completion of basic training, Natalie was assigned to the hospital at Bolling Air Force Base. She lived with her sister (also in the Air Force) and Captain Mary Bonner, also a nurse in the Air Force. Natalie's daily life was busy and interesting. She worked in the hospital rotating on 8-hour shifts, and patients at the hospital were not wounded airmen, but ill or injured. Natalie returned to Gunter Air Force base to attend a short session of flight school, but she was never assigned as a Flight Nurse and returned to Bolling Air Force Base. She had to go on an extended sick leave after being hospitalized, and eventually returned to active duty working in the Health Department at Bolling Air Force Base. Unfortunately, she soon became ill again and was discharged in May 1961. Natalie worked for the American Red Cross with the Blood Mobile in Washington, DC; Maryland; and Virginia for three years. She was then promoted to Nursing and Health Services, traveling and teaching for several years. She was promoted once again to a managerial position with Blood Services. She was also involved with Emergency Services during emergencies including a dike breaking in West Virginia, a hurricane in Louisiana, and floods in Alaska. Gerace retired from the American Red Cross in 1988 but continued to volunteer one day a week in the Records Department. She remembers working with blood records in the early days of the AIDS crisis and how hard it was to get people to provide information. Gerace passed away on September 14, 2016 at the age of 90. When she left the service, she had reached the rank of 1st lieutenant. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Driver, Wanda | Richardson, Fran

date:

2005-01-06

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

338; 2005.338

source:

Greensprings Collection | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

093280

coverage:

1950s | 1955-61

rights:

Unrestricted