Cadet Nurse Doris E. Roepe Oral History Side A

title:

Cadet Nurse Doris E. Roepe Oral History Side A

creator:

Roepe, Doris Elaine (Woidke) (1926 August 26 - )

subject:

USPHS Cadet Nurse Corps

description:

Side 1 of 2. Doris Elaine Roepe (formerly Woidke) was born on August 26, 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio. When she was in junior high, her mother became ill and she left school to take care of her. Her father also left around the same time to work for the ICC in Washington, DC. After her mother passed, she and her sister moved to DC to reunite with their father. She returned to school and graduated from high school in Arlington, Virginia. Her father thought nursing was “dirty work” and opposed her desire to become a nurse, but Doris decided to go into the field regardless. The United States had already joined World War II and the Cadet Nurse Corps program had been put in place, so she took advantage of it to receive assistance in purchasing uniforms, books, and other supplies while in nurse’s training. She joined a class of 96 women at American University, where they studied and learned basic military procedure for nine months. From there, they went to the nearby Sibley Hospital, where they moved on to hands-on nurse’s training. They lived in a dorm nearby, and worked in different hospital wards on 3 month rotations. After graduating, she was able to choose between going into the military, public health, or acute care, and she chose to work in an acute care hospital., spending two more years at Sibley Hospital in that field. She received a BA in nursing from American University, and managed the reorganization of the OB-GYN shift schedules to help nurses have more regular schedules and get more sleep. She married her husband, who had been drafted in the Marines during the Korean War, upon his return in September 1954, and they had three children together in 1955, 1958, and 1959. After graduating from American University, she taught and worked as a school nurse at American University. She continued working in nursing until her retirement in 1994. Because she never joined the military after training, the highest rank Roepe achieved was cadet nurse. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Driver, Wanda

date:

2004-08-04

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

801; 2006.801

source:

Greensprings Collection | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

NR

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944

rights:

Unrestricted