Nellie received her MAES training at Bowman Field, Louisville, Kentucky.

There were two evacuation and re-supply missions that Lt. Gurdish participated in; one in June 1944 and the other in August 1944. She is also listed on a 15 February 1945 medical evacuation mission from Paris to the U.S. aboard C-54, #42-72248.

She was a member of the 437th TCG Association and, appeared on their rosters from 1972 until 2008.

According to Pennsylvania marriage records she and Clarence W. Bixby, Jr. were married in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on 09 November 1945.