Amie Modigh Oral History
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- Amie Modigh and Sandra L. Venegoni pose in Battle Dress Uniforms
- Amie Modigh and Sandra L. Venegoni pose for an undated photograph wearing United States Army Battle Dress Uniforms.
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- Oral history interview with Amie Modigh
- Primarily documents Modigh's childhood in Sweden, 29-year career with the Army Nurse Corps as a reservist, and her civilian career in nursing, nurse education and administration. Modigh recounts her childhood in Sweden as the daughter of an army general; events during World War II; having a Finnish boy live with them during the war; blackouts; and evacuating inland due to threats on their coastal town by Nazi Germany. Modigh remembers her decision to become a nurse, and her father's preference of medical school instead due to the lower social status of nurses. She chronicles how her grandfather and her mother and aunts moved to Connecticut when her mom was a child, and of Modigh's visit there as a teenager which influenced her decision to return for college. " She recalls her five-year nursing program at the University of Connecticut; summer sessions at Yale University; traveling in Europe after she graduated; and returning to live in New York City and work at Cornell Medical Center as a pediatric nurse. She describes becoming a supervisor and instructor at Cornell where she created an internship program for nursing students; and being granted a federal traineeship to go to nursing graduate school at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Modigh also recalls her reasons for becoming an American citizen in 1960, as well as her reasons for remaining in Chapel Hill to be an instructor for the nursing department upon graduation. She recalls her reaction to President Kennedy's assassination; favorite movies and actors; witnessing drug addictions in nurses who had returned from service in Vietnam; her reaction to the Vietnam War; her desire to join the military; and her decision to join the Army Reserves after listening to one of her nursing student's presentation on the reserves. She remembers needing to hide her uniform when she first joined the reserves because of the stigma in the late 1960's about the military. " She discusses her first visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and other ways she was convinced to join the army reserves; choosing the 3274th hospital unit instead of the field unit in Winston-Salem, North Carolina because she thought she was more likely to go to Vietnam and of her desire to go to Vietnam; later being grateful that she did not go to Vietnam; and becoming a major and the chief nurse of her reserve unit her second year. She recalls sending her father a telegram about joining the army reserves, and that he did not receive it before he died. She also recounts her mother's reaction to her joining the military. " Modigh describes how she juggled her military and civilian careers; the different cultures within each job setting; recruiting the first black faculty member to the UNC School of Nursing; dealing with personnel issues as the chief nurse for her reserve unit; treatment of women in the military and reaction to female soldiers by civilians; an incident of sexual harassment towards one of her nurses in the reserves; her opinion of her commanders; and issues with promotion to colonel. " She describes how she found the job in 1983 with Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri; starting a teaching nursing home for their nursing school; transitioning to assuming command of the army reserve unit in St. Louis at 21st General Hospital; completely reorganizing the unit to better prepare them for war; taking her unit to the annual meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) for the first time; her attempts to change the culture of reservists into one of hard work and preparedness; attending training in San Antonio, Texas and Fort Sam in Houston, Texas for various military skills including basic training; and the training she encountered during her two weeks of consecutive reserve duty every year. " Modigh discusses how she moved with her aunt and her roommate Sandy Venegoni from Saint Louis to Richmond, Virginia in 1986; being recruited by Major General James Holsinger to be his chief nurse of the 2290th Army Reserve General Officer Command (GOCOM) which oversees the reserve units in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia; accepting that offer and the one to be the chief of geriatric services at the Veteran's Affairs in Richmond; juggling being an administrator and practicing clinician simultaneously; and why she stayed in the army reserves for 29 years. " She recalls when all of the reserve units under her command were called up to serve during Operation Desert Storm; her own active duty as commander over all of the reserve and national guard nurses at Walter Reed Medical Center during the war; helping other reservists deal with the stress of being called into active duty; comparing the pride of the military during Desert Storm with previous decades; starting the 91C training program for reserve nurses at the VA; the importance of realistic training for the reservists; her treatment by her civilian employer at the VA while she was on active duty compared to other reservists' experiences; her initial hesitancy to work for the VA and witnessing its changes over the years; her move to be chief nurse at Army Reserve Command (ARCON); and her decision to retire from military service in 1995. She ends with describing various medals that she earned; her opinion on the role of women in the military and in combat; and discussing with Sandy Venegoni how they met and shared their military experience and lives together.
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- Photograph of Amie Modigh and Companion at formal event
- Amie Modigh and a companion pose for an undated photograph at a formal event. They are attired in United States Army female mess uniforms.
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- Portrait of Amie Modigh
- Undated portrait of Amie Modigh attired in a United States Army female mess uniform.
