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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps); Army Nurse Corps
  • Unit of Service: 74th Hospital
  • Location of Service: Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; Fort George Meade, Maryland; Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, DC; Tripler Hospital, Hawaii
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant

View full service history

"I was sorry at one time that I wasn’t a man when World War II came out." (Video Interview, 35:57)

World War II was both a frustrating and fulfilling experience for Dorothy Walters. She wanted to make a significant contribution to the war effort, so she went to work in a defense plant. But that wasn’t enough, and she joined the new Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, first as a clerk, then as part of the Medical Corps, practicing giving injections on oranges. She then decided she wanted to be a nurse and entered the Cadet Nurse Corps of the Public Health Service, but the war ended before she graduated. After working at a children’s hospital with victims of polio, Walters finally got a chance to serve as a full-fledged military nurse during the Korean War, stationed in Washington, D.C. and Honolulu.

More Resources

View 15 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Honorable Discharge Certificate [September 29, 1955] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Certificate of service [August 2, 1943] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Memoir, "Days of War" by Dottie Cutts ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Honoring Dorothy Walters Cutts ]

About this Item

Title

  • Dorothy Cutts Collection

Names

  • Veterans Memorial Museum
  • Cutts, Dorothy Walters
  • Adams, Rebekah
  • Poniatowski, Stephen

State of Birth

  • NY

Home State

  • AL

Headings

  • -  Cutts, Dorothy
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps).
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Nurse Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps)
    • Unit of Service: 74th Hospital
    • Location of Service: Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; Fort George Meade, Maryland; Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, DC; Tripler Hospital, Hawaii
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1955
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
    • Unit of Service: 74th Hospital
    • Location of Service: Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; Fort George Meade, Maryland; Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, DC; Tripler Hospital, Hawaii
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1951-1955
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [3 items] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 02/09/2002)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [11 items] -- (collected unknown)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 02/09/2002)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/447

Cite as

  • Dorothy Cutts Collection (AFC/2001/001/447), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

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/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:

Veterans Memorial Museum, Dorothy Walters Cutts, Rebekah Adams, and Stephen Poniatowski. Dorothy Cutts Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00447/.

APA citation style:

Veterans Memorial Museum, Cutts, D. W., Adams, R. & Poniatowski, S. (1942) Dorothy Cutts Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00447/.

MLA citation style:

Veterans Memorial Museum, et al. Dorothy Cutts Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00447/>.