Virginia Russell Davis was from Bear Creek, North Carolina. Russell served as a flight nurse in World War II in the 810th Squadron from 1942-1945. She was stationed for two years in England and Europe. She assisted the wounded to hospitals in England from the battlefields. She met her husband who was a C-47 pilot in England. Taken from her interview on UNCTV, she recalled her job was to "bring a little bit of home to them", but her work was often difficult. She not only cared for the American soldiers, she found a wounded German soldier on board the C-47 that picked up wounded soldiers. During one of her takeoff’s to pick up wounded soldiers the plane she was on crashed. She attempted to help a suffering crewmember, but he did not make it. During a UNCTV interview she stated, “You had to keep going.”
Articles
- Lin, R. (2020). #VeteranOfTheDay Army Air Forces Veteran Virginia Caroline Russell Reavis. VAntage Point [blog]. Available online at https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/79823/veteranoftheday-army-air-forces-veteran-virginia-caroline-russell-reavis
- Trojanowski, H.J. (2008). Military Women, "Women Step Up to Serve." Tar Heel Junior Historian. Available online through NCpedia: https://www.ncpedia.org/history/20th-Century/wwii-women
Archives
- Virginia Russell Reavis Collection available from UNC Greensboro Women Veterans Historical Project