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{
    "localId": "2661962",
    "label": "Melton, Nora Frances",
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    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2661962"
}

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    "id": "2661962",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2661962",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Melton, Nora Frances",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2661962",
    "collections": [
        "Records of the American National Red Cross",
        "Historical Nurse Files"
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    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2661962",
    "naId": 2661962,
    "coverageEndDate": {
        "day": 30,
        "logicalDate": "1936-12-30",
        "month": 12,
        "year": 1936
    },
    "coverageStartDate": {
        "day": 18,
        "logicalDate": "1917-06-18",
        "month": 6,
        "year": 1917
    },
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{
    "seq": 78,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/partnerships/40033/0001/DCD00073/40033_649063_0487/40033_649063_0487-00656.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "M\nel\nZ\nO\n-2-\nT\ncan nurse in a strange French ho spital with only an interpreter\na\namong sick and wounded boys who called always for the \"American Nurse\"\ntogo with them to the operating room, to stand by them when their\nwounds were being dressed by doctors whom they did not understand,\nF\nto be with them thru the long hours of the night when they were putting\nT\nup the final fight in a strange land and far away from any of their\nown. Naturally, these things leave their mark.\na\n5\nAs a result of my service I am suffering from a disabili ty\nC\nincurred directly in line of duty. This has rendered me incapable\nof carrying on my pre-war vocation. Due to exposure I contracted a\nsevere cold and was operated upon in September 1918 for temporary\nS\nrelief of a sinus infection. Since my return home in May 1919 I have\nbeen under treatment continuously having had four operations which\nnecessitated hospital care and several minor ones which have caused\ngreat pain and discomfort, aside from loss of time from work and ex-\npense. For nearly five years I have been unable to either smell or\ntaste. This together with a progressive deafness and accompanying\nnervousness proves a great hendicap.\nAfter returning from France I was unable to work regularly\nuntil March 192 ( when I entered the War Risk Bureau as follow-up-nurse,\nthen the Federal Board for Vocational Education and finally the\nVeterans Bureau. I have been in this office three years; am the old-\nest nurse in line of service in this work. My efficiency record stands\nof the highest. I alone have the necessary Civil Service qualifica-\ntions for follow-up work. Regardless of these facts, I am now being\nremoved f rom a position which I consider justly mine by every right,\nwhich right is conceded by members of the personnel committee as mine,\nfor absolutely no other reason than that I have no army discharge and\nam not considered ex-service.\nI gave my services, my strength and my heal th, -\nnow my livelihood is ing taken. I have nothing in return, not even\nthe right to hold a position by which I may earn my living in a\nmanner commensurate with my physical condition. This is rather a broad\nstatement but it has come to that as this is the second time in one\nyear that I have been released from the Government which I have faith-\nfully served for nearly fourteen years, because my hard months in\nFrance are counted as naught, - are no t recognized.\nI feel that there shoul d be same recompense. I shoul d have\nprotection or support from some where. When I was needed I did not\nfail. My need is now and I stand alone. For my services I ask\nnothing except the right to continue with my work as long as I am able.\nWhat I have is the gratitude of many boys both black and white, for\nwhom I cared and stood by in their long, dark hours of pain and\nhelplessness. That to me was a sacred trust, more precious than an"
}