Paula J. Johnson Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Only a part of this collection has been digitized.
Where can I find more information?: https://uncg.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/865
What's in the full collection?: 8 June 2001 Oral History Transcript; photographs of Paula in WAVES uniform while in Washington D.C. during corpsman training, circa 1952; photograph of husband in Marine uniform, circa 1953.
Full biography: Paula Jean Gooch Johnson (b. 1933) served in the United States Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) as a corpsman during the Korean War. Paula Johnson was born in Cabell County, West Virginia, and graduated from Barboursville High School in 1951. After a year in the workforce, she enlisted in the WAVES and was sent to Bainbridge, Maryland, for boot camp In October 1952. Johnson remained at the Women's Hospital Corps School in Bainbridge for corpsman training." In June 1953, Johnson was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, to work in the women's ward, emergency room, and intensive care unit. She also worked for several months for a doctor in the hospital. Johnson was discharged from Charleston in 1954 and met her husband Gene; they married that year at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina." Following the Korean War, Johnson had children and moved around a bit, finally settling in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they lived for thirty years. Johnson worked in Cone Hospital as an EKG lab technician. Later, Johnson worked for the state in the crime control department working with juvenile delinquents. In 1985, she attended UNCG and graduated with a BA in psychology and a BS in social work. Johnson also tutored at Walnut Grove Elementary School and was active in the local WAVES group in Greensboro.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Schools and Colleges
Branch of service: Navy -- WAVES
Conflict: Post World War II, Korea (1947-1963)
Subject headings: Korean War, 1950-1953
United States. Navy--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Oral history interview with Paula J. Johnson; Primarily documents Paula Johnson's work as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy WAVES. Johnson briefly discusses her childhood and her desire to attend college. She notes how the family's inability to pay for her education and her knowledge of the GI Bill led her to join the WAVES. Topics related to Johnson's experiences in the WAVES include: boot camp and hospital corps school in Bainbridge, Maryland; her duties in and out of the classroom; the daily routine, including intense physical training and grooming in bootcamp; and specific medical training experiences. Of her time in Charleston, South Carolina, Johnson describes the difficulty of working in the intensive care unit, including treating men with broken limbs and psychotic patients; a friendly doctor, Commander Musow; and her social life, including the date where she met her future husband. " Post-service topics include being discharged after marriage in 1954; wishing she had stayed in; her education in psychology and social work at UNCG; and her job working with juvenile delinquents and the need for discipline in children.

: Paula J. Johnson in Washington, D.C.; Paula J. Johnson is pictured in her WAVES uniform in Washington, D.C., during basic training, circa 1952.

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Women Veterans Historical Project

Paula J. Johnson Collection

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