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“When I was flying, I had a boyfriend in every port, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have anything to do.”

   F. Rosalind Westfall Sellmer
Image of F. Rosalind Westfall Sellmer
F. Rosalind Westfall
War: World War II, 1939-1946
Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps
Unit: 820th Squadron
Service Location: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Azores; Paris, France
Rank: First Lieutenant
Place of Birth: Dunbar, WV
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Advances in aviation created a new kind of medical career in World War II: the flight nurse who accompanied severely wounded patients back from the front lines to the United States for treatment. Usually working with only one corpsman, nurses like Rosalind Westfall cared for patients’ needs during the long flights that made their way from Paris to the Azores, then to either Bermuda or Newfoundland, and finally to New York or Miami. Westfall always packed a ball gown for every trip, because once she touched down, there was a dance to attend to help ease the tensions accumulated from her stressful duties.

Interview (Audio)
»Interview Highlights  (4 clips)
»Complete Interview  (44 min.)
  Photos
»Photo Album (30 photos)
 Official Documents
»View List (2 items)
 Other Materials
»View List (6 items)
More like this
»Voices of War
 Audio (Interview Excerpts) (4 items)
How military service changed her life. (03:50) Social life on the ground; meeting her husband. (02:49) Her flight itinerary and duties. (06:17)
Decision to join the Army Air Corps; early flying days. (04:33)  
  
 Official Documents (2 items)
Army Air Forces School of Air Evacuation, Ninth Graduation Exercises. Biographical information and flight record for Rosalind Westfall Sellmer. 
  
 Other Materials (6 items)
Speech written and read at the Women In Military Service for America Memorial Dedication Washington DC 10/77 "Army Medical Corps' Work to Prevent Disease Among Troops in Foreign Lands Successful" New clippings with two photo of Rosalind Westfall Sellmer.
Business card, "Giovannin Apa, Gioelleria Artistica Pietre Semi-Prezoise" Menu for Kursaal Restaurant Elfi Bey Street, Cairo Army Day Program [April 6, 1946]
  
 
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  The Library of Congress
  May 29, 2007
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