Dr. SETI's Veteran's Pages: the Vietnam Women's Memorial

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Dr. SETI's Veteran's Pages
Remember the Women

I just read L. Daniel Mouer's "What is a Vietnam Veteran?" I must say that it hits close to home. I would like to make my own observation, and perhaps you can pass it along.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam Women's Memorial. I would invite everyone who goes to the Wall to stop by there first. I met a nurse who flew C-130 evacs from Vietnam to the Phillipines, who never thought she was a Vietnam vet because she was never stationed in Vietnam. The nurses saw us at our worst and yet somehow had the courage to tell us we'd be OK, despite the fact that many of us would not survive.

I still to this day remember my nurse "Nancy" (I never knew her name), who told me that I'd be OK, when the other men around me at the hospital surely were not going to make it. I'll never forget what those kind words and loving eyes said to me right before I slipped back under the morphine. I thought it was for the last time; it was not. I just wish I could tell her what she meant to me and, I'm sure, to all of us who came under their care. Their bravery and courage cannot be measured.

I wrote a note to Diane, the lady that put the Women's Memorial together, and she asked to read it at the ceremonies this year. In a roundabout way, I wll finally be able to tell "Nancy" what she meant to me.

Please stop by and visit the ladies on your way to the Wall this year, and blow a kiss to the ladies there for me.

Rock
4th Air Commando Sq.
1968-1970

Dr. SETI's note:
I had the mixed pleasure of attending, ten years ago, the ceremony marking the dedication of the Vietnam Women's Memorial. It was a moving moment, and the sculpture itself certainly speaks volumes. I went back there a few years later with my sister, 30-year veteran Terry Shuch (MSgt USA Ret.) It was the closest I ever saw her to tears. Don't go to the Women's Memorial, or to the Wall, unless you are prepared to feel deeply.

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