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Edna Statman in uniform, Paris, France [1944]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
  • Service Unit/Ship: 817th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron
  • Location of Service: Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois; Bowman Field, Kentucky; England; France; Germany; Scotland; Belgium; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/91916

View full service history

"Why did I join the Army Nurse Corps? Because I believed in what this country stands for and could not sit idly by when I had something to offer." (Memoir, page 25).

The daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia, Edna Statman grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Family finances were tight following the Depression, and nursing provided an alternative to otherwise limited professional opportunities. With the outbreak of war came a call for volunteers to the Flight Nurse program, and she quickly applied for the chance to care for patients aboard medical evacuation airplane flights. After training stateside and in England, Statman landed with her squadron on Omaha Beach a little over two weeks after D-Day, in order to evacuate casualties from France. As a medical evacuation nurse, she cared for injured and traumatized patients while dealing with the inherently unstable conditions aboard a C-47 airplane.

Interview / Recording

More Resources

View 2 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 25 images in sequence.
[ Memoirs of Edna Statman ]

About this Item

Title

  • Edna Nina Statman Collection

Names

  • Fuggiasco, Deedrah J.
  • Farrar, Mike
  • Statman, Edna Nina
  • American Red Cross, Greater Long Beach Chapter

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Statman, Edna Nina
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Nurse Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • Other

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
    • Service Unit/Ship: 817th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron
    • Location of Service: Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois; Bowman Field, Kentucky; England; France; Germany; Scotland; Belgium; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2013-09-19; 2013-09-19)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [1 item] -- Photographs (collected 1944)
  • Manuscript: Memoir [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1990)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2013-09-19; 2015-09-30)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/91916

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/[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:

Fuggiasco, Deedrah J, Mike Farrar, Edna Nina Statman, and Greater Long Beach Chapter American Red Cross. Edna Nina Statman Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91916/.

APA citation style:

Fuggiasco, D. J., Farrar, M., Statman, E. N. & American Red Cross, G. L. B. C. (1944) Edna Nina Statman Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91916/.

MLA citation style:

Fuggiasco, Deedrah J, et al. Edna Nina Statman Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91916/>.