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F. Rosalind Westfall

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 820th Squadron
  • Location of Service: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Azores; Paris, France
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/10504

View full service history

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

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.

F. Rosalind Sellmer Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

[ Army Air Forces School of Air Evacuation, Ninth Graduation Exercises. ]
[ Biographical information and flight record for Rosalind Westfall Sellmer. ]
[ Certificate of Service and record of separation. ]
[ Speech written and read at the Women In Military Service for America Memorial Dedication Washington DC 10/77 ]
[ New clipping, "Army Medical Corps' Work to Prevent Disease Among Troops in Foreign Lands Successful" ]

Show more resources (4)

[ 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] ]

About this Item

Title

  • F. Rosalind Sellmer Collection

Names

  • Lugar, Richard
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
  • Ralph, Lane A.
  • Sellmer, F. Rosalind

Home State

  • Indiana

Headings

  • -  Sellmer, F. Rosalind
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
    • Unit of Service: 820th Squadron
    • Location of Service: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Azores; Paris, France
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1947
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a flight nurse.

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2002)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1977-10)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Creative works [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [5 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [7 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [31 items] -- Photograph (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/10504

Cite as

  • F. Rosalind Sellmer Collection (AFC/2001/001/10504), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Lugar, Richard, U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Lane A Ralph, and F. Rosalind Sellmer. F. Rosalind Sellmer Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10504/.

APA citation style:

Lugar, R., U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Ralph, L. A. & Sellmer, F. R. (1942) F. Rosalind Sellmer Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10504/.

MLA citation style:

Lugar, Richard, et al. F. Rosalind Sellmer Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10504/>.