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Ella Ortega [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
  • Unit of Service: Letterman Army Hospital; 36th Evacuation Hospital
  • Location of Service: Presidio, California; Vung Tau, Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/81751

View full service history

"If [the colonel] says 'You're going to Vietnam,' then, you're going." (Video interview, 9:53)

Army First Lieutenant Elia Ortega was initially drawn to the romantic vision of military nursing presented to her by recruiters-and their promise that she would not be sent to Southeast Asia unless she volunteered. After a year spent at the Presidio in California, nursing patients who had been wounded overseas, she was shocked to receive orders to go to Vietnam. Based on recommendations from her patients stateside, she requested to be stationed at the 36th Evacuation Hospital near Vung Tau, where she worked twelve hour days, six days a week, and grew close to her fellow Army nurses.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Elia Astrid Ortega Collection

Names

  • Dawes, Jennifer
  • Woolsey, Lynn
  • U.S. House of Representatives/Lynn Woolsey
  • Ortega, Elia Astrid

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Ortega, Elia Astrid
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Nurse Corps.

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
    • Unit of Service: Letterman Army Hospital; 36th Evacuation Hospital
    • Location of Service: Presidio, California; Vung Tau, Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1966-1968
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran specialized in spinal cord injuries, orthopedics, burns, and post-operations.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2011-08-23)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/81751

Cite as

  • Elia Astrid Ortega Collection (AFC/2001/001/81751), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Dawes, Jennifer, Lynn Woolsey, U.S. House Of Representatives/Lynn Woolsey, and Elia Astrid Ortega. Elia Astrid Ortega Collection. 1966. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81751/.

APA citation style:

Dawes, J., Woolsey, L., U.S. House Of Representatives/Lynn Woolsey & Ortega, E. A. (1966) Elia Astrid Ortega Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81751/.

MLA citation style:

Dawes, Jennifer, et al. Elia Astrid Ortega Collection. 1966. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81751/>.