Irish Nurse in U.S. Army Nurse Corps: French documentary

[RoseFields]

French TV3 documentary "Josephine H.", aired in France on 7 January, featuring the international archival search for descendants of Josephine E. Heffernan, U.S. Army Nurse Corps Chief Nurse, A.E.F. Base Hospital No. 59, Rimaucourt, France, 1918. Heffernan, born in Ireland and immigrating from Bray to the U.S. in 1906, trains as a nurse in New York, becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen and joins the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1913. During her service in France in 1918 she loses an I.D. bracelet; 90 years later it's found by a schoolboy and becomes the centerpiece of a retired French teacher's search for the identity of the owner and her family descendants. Great War nurse historian Marjorie DesRosier, U.S.A., picks up the search in September 2017 when the two women meet by chance in France. French filmmaker Helene Lam Trong follows the 2 month search as it winds its way through France and the U.S. and ends in Bray, Ireland, with the return of the bracelet at a family gathering of Nurse Heffernan's descendants and a solemn tribute. https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/1101/916742-bracelet/

 

The 45 minute documentary can be streamed via this link. (In French without English subtitles)

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-magazine/france-2/13h15/13h15-du-dimanche-7-janvier-2018_2539393.html

 

Additional historical photos of Josephine Heffernan's military nursing career

https://hlamtrong.tumblr.com/

 

Hope you have a chance to watch.

Marjorie DesRosier

Georgia, U.S.A.

[Terry_Reeves]

Marjorie

 

Very interesting. Well researched and well produced. Thanks for posting. 

 

TR

Edited 7 February , 2018 by Terry_Reeves