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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Navy Nurse Corps
  • Unit of Service: Navy Nurse Corp
  • Highest Rank: Captain

View full service history

“I don’t recall the names, I don’t recall the faces, but I know they’re on that wall in Washington, DC, and they have a large part of my heart with them, every single one of them.” (Video interview, 17:42)

Serving as a nurse aboard the hospital ship USS Repose, anchored off the coast of Vietnam, Captain Rae Mary Leff treated casualties airlifted from the field by helicopter. While she was not in harm’s way, she witnessed the effects of combat through the patients she served. In her oral history interview, she discusses the close bonds that formed between doctors, nurses, corpsmen, and patients on the ship. The photographs in her collection provide a visual narrative of her “hectic and heartbreaking” time aboard the Repose, as well as some of her most memorable patients.

More Resources

View 39 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Postcard of the U.S.S. Repose in Vietnam [1966-1970] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Postcard of the U.S.S. Repose in Vietnam [1966-1970] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Rae Mary Leff Collection

Names

  • Leff, Rae Mary
  • Tunney, Chandler
  • Boy Scouts of America

State of Birth

  • PA

Home State

  • CA

Headings

  • -  Leff, Rae Mary
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy Nurse Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Navy Nurse Corps
    • Unit of Service: Navy Nurse Corp
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1952-1975
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Artifact: Artifact [2 items] -- Postcard (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [ item] -- Handwritten document (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [20 items] -- Photograph (collected unknown)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/15/2006)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/50634

Cite as

  • Rae Mary Leff Collection (AFC/2001/001/50634), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Service Unit

Gender

Race

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

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

Recording:

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

Photograph:

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

Computer file:

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

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), 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:

Leff, Rae Mary, Chandler Tunney, and Boy Scouts Of America. Rae Mary Leff Collection. 1952. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.50634/.

APA citation style:

Leff, R. M., Tunney, C. & Boy Scouts Of America. (1952) Rae Mary Leff Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.50634/.

MLA citation style:

Leff, Rae Mary, Chandler Tunney, and Boy Scouts Of America. Rae Mary Leff Collection. 1952. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.50634/>.