The United States Navy Bureau of Medical History Office has made a number of transcripts and recordings of oral histories available through the Medical Heritage Library.
Interviews were conducted with through the 1990s and 2000s with doctors, nurses, corpsmen, and NCOs who had been involved in a variety of historical events throughout the 20th century.
Joseph Brennan of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion, was present at the D-Day Normandy beach landings.
Doctor Walter Burwell served on the USS Suwanee in the Pacific during World War II while the Japanese were conducting kamikaze attacks on ships.
Ruby Brooks was a nurse aboard the USS Haven during the evacuation of survivors of Dien Bien Phu from Saigon during the Vietnam war.
James Bray was a corpsman in World War II and was captured as a prisoner of war.
Doctor James Chandler, serving in Vietnam, can list “removed live rocket-propelled grenade from patient” on his resume.
As always, for more from the Medical Heritage Library, please visit our full collection!