Theisen, Margaret Haverly (1914-2007)

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:9846#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Margaret Theisen was born October 12, 1914 in Wesley, Iowa. After graduating from high school, she moved to Iowa City, where she worked for the editor of Better Homes and Gardens. After attending the University of Iowa School of Nursing, she took a position at the VA hospital in St. Cloud, where she met her future husband, Earl Theisen. Both served in World War II, he in Hawaii and she as an Army nurse in England, France, Belgium, and Norway. Theisen was awarded the Bronze Star for her service as a surgical nurse during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, she and Earl were married on November 29, 1945 and then went to work at St. Cloud Hospital. She later returned to the VA hospital, where she worked for another 25 years before retiring in 1978. Theisen passed away on June 16, 2007 and buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Transcript Summary: Margaret Theisen discussed her experiences as a nurse with the 46th Field Hospital during World War II. She briefly described her early life growing up in Iowa and working as a nurse at the VA hospital in St. Cloud, but she mostly focused on her World War II experiences during training and as an Army nurse in England, France, Belgium, and Norway. Her descriptions of these events included the living conditions nurses faced, ranging from accommodations in tents to nights in European chateaus, and the ways in which the nurses bonded. She particularly chronicled the lasting relationships she formed with a Belgian family she lived with while stationed in Pepinster and a couple she befriended and traveled with while stationed in Norway. She also described the fear nurses had of being captured during the Battle of the Bulge, the emotional impact of treating some of her patients, and the importance to her of the letters her and her husband exchanged during the war. She concluded the interview with a brief description of her postwar life, including moving back to St. Cloud and working at the VA.

Interview by Nancy Baker

Includes archival material