"I started thinking, Well, I think it would be interesting to do something different. And I liked the look of that pretty white hospital ship." (Audio interview, 8:40)

Dorothy Tidwell Rhoades

War: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953 Branch: Navy; Navy Service Location: San Diego, California; Honolulu, Hawaii; Corpus Christi, Texas; Inchon Harbor, Hospital Ship, Korea; also: San Diego, California; Honolulu, Hawaii; Corpus Christi, Texas; Inchon Harbor, Hospital Ship, Korea Rank: Commander; Commander Place of Birth: TX

Dorothy Tidwell was a small town Texas nursing student during World War II when she saw a recruiting brochure for the Navy. While most of her fellow students were joining the Army, she gravitated toward the idea of some day serving on a hospital ship. During that war, she was landlocked, first in San Diego, then in Hawaii. She went on reserve status after the war, and when she was recalled to serve in Korea, she got her wish. Aboard the USS Repose, anchored off Inchon, she and her colleagues treated the wounded and ill from the final days of the Korean War.