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Vietnam War Nurses

Page 5

by Patricia Rushton


  I was a lieutenant commander and 33 years old in Vietnam. I had been in the Navy Nurse Corps for over 12 years. I wanted to go to Vietnam because I came in the military to be a military nurse. I had a lot of experience and I felt the patients were entitled to some of that. Most of the nurses I worked with were experienced. The majority of them were lieutenant commanders with some lieutenants. We didn’t have an ensign on our staff and we only had one Lieutenant JG that I remember at Naval Station (NSA) Da Nang while I was there.

  The corpsmen said I didn’t check all their IVs every night every hour or two. They said that when I checked one, it was always one that had failed. One of the younger nurses asked how I did that. I said, “I don’t really know. One might have a sixth sense something might be wrong. I think it is just experience.” I think maybe I would look at them but not necessarily walk over to them. As I talked with the patient I would look at the drip of the solution but I didn’t stand there and count it. I expected them to check the IVs and bring it to my attention.

  We were near the beach but we didn’t have the opportunity to go often. You couldn’t walk anywhere other than on the hospital compound. There was a small exchange and a few places to eat. There was a place to get our uniform laundry done or pay the Vietnamese to do it. It was a rather self-contained hospital compound. If you wanted to go to the main exchange, you had to call for transportation. Normally they liked you to get a group together. At China Beach, named for the China Sea, there was an exchange. You wouldn’t go down there by yourself. I didn’t like to go to China Beach because that’s where all the troops were. MAG 16 had a private beach across the street and I enjoyed the privacy. That whole strip along there was beach. The Marine airstrip was between us and the water. We were not far from it but you couldn’t walk there from a safety stand point. We never left our compound, even to go to the beach without someone to drive us. At our command, the females were not permitted to drive. When I questioned the chief nurse about this, she replied that I would need a government driving license. I had one. Then she said that I would need to know how to shoot a weapon, and I told her that I had been on a pistol team at a previous duty station. Her final reply was, “How would it look?” I concurred that we might be viewed as easy targets.

  NSA Hospital, Da Nang.

  After Nixon came into office the amount of casualties dropped. He apparently told the military we could only take a defensive stand. The patient load lightened up a bit. I got a chance one day to go up to Quang Tri. I wanted to see the hospital. We rode up on a Jolly Green Giant, which was an Air Force helicopter. We flew up to Quang Tri and then they took us by jeep over to the hospital. The only nurses there were the male nurse anesthetists. I met the head nurse of ICU, which was a corpsman. One interesting thing about this hospital was they had some inflatable wards. It resembled the curved shape of the Quonset hut, but the walls were supported by inflatable chambers in the walls.

  Inflated ward, 3rd Marine Division Hospital, Quang Tri.

  The corpsman that was in Quang Tri ICU took advantage of the fact he had nurses there and asked their opinions. He did a consultation about some of his patients and asked for suggestions. That must have been quite a stress to have that much responsibility. I think he was a corpsman that had gone to “C” school. It is a year and a half advanced training. These guys can be sent on a ship and be the chief medical officer for the ship. These men could probably come home and take the OPN (LPN) boards or go into the PA program. A lot of the earlier PAs were ex-corpsmen.

  Two of the four nurses who traveled that day to Quang Tri left on the air evac plane that took patients to Da Nang. We found later that they were unable to land in Da Nang because the ammunition dump was exploding. Val Pack and I remained in Quang Tri to return later with the same Jolly Green Giant helicopter. We were offered an opportunity to go to Dong Ha, a smaller medical facility about 6 miles from the DMZ. Travel was via jeep. This facility treated a lot of children. We did not remain long, then returned to Quang Tri, only to be told that we probably could not return to Da Nang that day because of the explosions at the ammo dump. This was the first we had heard about it. Finally, we got the chaplain to take us to the airport to see if the Jolly Green was returning and it was. So we boarded the plane and returned.

  Just as we got off the chopper, a pickup truck came out and picked us up. I got into the truck and decided to take a picture of an explosion as it was happening. The pickup driver said, “Put your fingers in your ears and open your mouth.” I said, “Huh” and he said, “Huh, hell! Just do it!” Immediately following the plume from the explosion would be a concussion wave. If you didn’t plug your ears, the concussion wave would rupture your eardrums. It was something that had to be done immediately. The minute that it took passed. The corpsman took his fingers out and so did I. He said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry but you had about a second to get your fingers in your ears or you were going to have permanent ear damage.” I thanked him for alerting me any way he could.

  I was in Vietnam from July 1968 to July 1969.

  The nurse who had been my recruiter, who had been a flight nurse during World War II, told me that the Navy nurses were extremely protected versus the Army nurses. The Army nurse wore fatigues. The Navy nurses came in a dress uniform. She said she remembered one time, and I don’t know where she was, she asked for a bucket so she could wash her hair. The guy said, “Use your helmet like everybody else.” She said, “I don’t have a helmet. I’m a Navy nurse.” “ Oh, I am sorry ma’am. I’ll get you a bucket.” Navy nurses were treated differently because of how they dressed, no helmet and a dress for a uniform. I thought wearing whites on duty in a war zone was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard of. But, Mary Cannon, the previous chief nurse had been an Army nurse and she told me she wasn’t going to be the Navy nurse that put Navy nurses in fatigues. The hospital laundry had to launder our uniforms so that they were washed, pressed, and starched. We had one washer and dryer in the quarters, but that was for other personal items.

  A Vietnam woman had been raped on the hospital compound. So, we had to be escorted by a Marine escort, especially at night, wherever we went unless we were on the ward. I think I had the only ward assignment where you had to walk outside to other wards that I covered. There was just an uncovered sidewalk through some areas that were support buildings and not occupied at night. It hadn’t been worrying me at all until this incident. So, if I could, I would get a corpsman to walk with me. Otherwise I had to get a Marine guard to come to escort me.

  So, I had this corpsman walking along with me. He was in his fatigues with his flak jacket on. I am walking in my white uniform with my white cap and my white hose and white shoes. We were walking in an area where we could be seen from the fence line. Beyond the fence line was no man’s land. He said, “Excuse me ma’am. I don’t mean any disrespect, but would you mind walking further ahead of me? I don’t know if you realize what a great target you are.” “Oh yes, I realized that right along. But look at it this way. If Charlie hits me, he will be darned sure he hit a nurse. It is probably going to be the last of him and everybody else in the area.” He said he wasn’t sure that would protect him. But I had been walking through this area ever since I had been there and nobody had even taken a shot at me. We also had Marines in towers in raised pillboxes on the perimeter of the hospital compound. The hospital compound was an entity unto itself. It wasn’t part of a larger compound. It was a relatively small compound. I felt pretty protected. But, I never had to test that theory. The only concern was incoming mortars and even when that happened they would say, “Oh they were just short rounds. They were aiming for MAG–16 across the street.”

  The following are excerpts from letters to my mother during that time.

  25 January 1969—I had been to Hong Kong and back. I did tapes as well. I did letters only when I was on duty. I said, “You know, turn a woman who hasn’t been shopping in six months loose in the greatest shopping center in the world and watch out. Seriously, I h
ad a ball and it was worth every cent of it. The greatest treat of all was talking to my family.” I had just told my mother about all these things I had bought. I bought shoes and had a coat handmade and a camera. Some of this I just had shipped straight home. Some of it I brought back to Da Nang and shipped it out from there when I came home.

  4 February 1969—This was my pay entry base date. “Dear Mom, do you remember what we were doing twelve years ago today? We drove up to Raleigh, North Carolina, and I was sworn into the Navy Nurse Corps. I never knew then I would still be in twelve years later. A lot has happened in those years, hasn’t it? I’ve been to Portsmouth, Cuba, Charleston, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and now Vietnam. I’ve gained experience I would never have had if I had stayed at James Walker.” James Walker was my nursing school. “Not to mention getting my BS degree (while I have been in the Navy). There have been some good years and some bad ones. Sometimes I wonder what our life would have been like if I had not left Wilmington.”

  “Occasionally I think seriously about getting out of the Navy. But you know how much I’m part of that and it’s a part of me. That’s where my friends are and so I’m a lifer,’ as they say, here in Da Nang. I can still think of getting out if I should find a prince charming, though it does seem likely he has been found by somebody else.”

  “I have some news for you. I got a real surprise today. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to you. As you would say, I knew that you would get it,’ but I really wasn’t expecting it. When I got up tonight at 18:00, I had a letter under my door. I have been accepted for school in rehabilitative nursing. There is just one problem and it makes me view this with mixed emotion. I’m going to go to the State University of New York in Buffalo. (My family lived in Florida). I’m convinced they’re trying to make a Yankee out of me. I will be going in September and I will be able to take a four month leave and maybe even assigned TAD somewhere for a couple of weeks, hopefully near home. I don’t know what to say. I have been somewhat depressed at the thought of being so far from home again and in the cold weather. I know it’s a lot closer than I am now. I should be very pleased they think I’m worth sending to school.”

  4 February 1969—“Naturally there’s a lot to do so I’m just now taking a break. I only have two active orthopedic wards. On one ward they admitted seven patients today and one we received tonight. On another ward they admitted seventeen patients today. They discharged fifteen; those were going out air evac to Japan. We also transferred nine up to a third ward, a convalescent ward. I was just drawing some blood for crossmatch on two POW patients that will have surgery in the morning. I am, at the same time, starting an IV so we will have the needle in the vein to give blood for their surgery. I must run now. I have to check on my patients and go to midnight chow.” This was really all before midnight or 1:00 am. I worked from seven at night until seven in the morning. I added four more patients on my ward between 7:30 P.M. and midnight.

  We were mostly dependent on eating in the hospital with an occasional meal at the officer’s club. We had a small refrigerator in our quarters, but it wasn’t big enough to put much in with a bunch of us eating.

  23 February 1969—“Just a note to let you know I’m safe, sound and happy. I heard on the news today Da Nang is under attack with many casualties. I guess that story is even bigger back at home. Fact is they managed to hit an ammunition dump about four miles away at the deep water piers and, I think, the airport. We did receive many patients but nothing worse than last August. We do anticipate more activity. However, everybody is on guard. I don’t think we have anything to worry about except receiving casualties, so don’t you fret.”

  26 February 1969—“Just another short note to let you know things are not so bad here. I get scared every time I listen to the news. More so than what is actually happening. The Da Nang Air Base and the Republic of Vietnam storage area were attacked. That was several days ago but thus far things have been exceedingly quiet here. We’ve been on alert several times but they haven’t even hit MAG 16, across the street. Most everything has been in town or at Freedom Hill.” I didn’t tell her that Freedom Hill wasn’t that far away.” They hit the Navy Exchange storage area over there, which means they got the booze. They really didn’t get it but they destroyed it. You should have heard the moans about that. But Mom, they are really hitting some of our boys in other areas. We’ve been receiving quite a few but it isn’t any worse than I’ve seen before. We seem to be under a little more pressure, as I know everybody is concerned that this is the start of another offensive like last year’s attack. Actually the intelligence reports are that they had been able to prevent them from having the ability to strike like they did last year. Please remember we are probably very safe here. The Marines guard this place well and I’m not just saying this to make you feel better.”

  14 March 1969—She had asked me about picking up something at the Navy Exchange and I couldn’t. I said, “I’d like to do that but I have a ration card for all of this year. The only way I could get it would be if I could get out of country on leave. We are permitted one refrigerator, one TV, one regular camera, one movie camera, one slide projector, one movie projector and a couple of watches. Otherwise the small amount that does make it into the country would be purchased by the people who have the time to go to the exchange regularly. Right now all they have in stock are cassette recorders.”

  “The only real opportunity for much buying is on R&R or leave. We only had four days in Hong Kong. We arrived about 23:30 Sunday night and left about 06:00 Friday morning. Actually I feel like I did pretty well for the time I was there. You may have heard we had some excitement here. It seems a Chinese Communist mortar fell in an open field between the cook’s quarters and ward 5B. As it happens, a few people picked up some slight flesh wounds. Both places were practically deserted as most everybody was at the movies. This incident could have been a real disaster. The patients and the corpsmen attend an outdoor movie in the middle of the compound. Had the mortar landed about fifty yards from where it did, it could have done some real damage to approximately 200 people. It was the first incident of war damage and personnel injury on our hospital compound since I’ve got here. It was fortunately very mild. Everybody here said that it must have been amateur night as it was the only mortar received anywhere around in the whole area. Hitting a hospital is a ‘no no.’ The American press eats it up. I hope you haven’t been too worried. I was safely in my quarters at the time. I missed all the excitement.” I didn’t tell her how close my quarters were.

  20 March 1969—“The hospital got hit again earlier tonight. Fortunately there was not one casualty, not even a scratch. It hit just the entrance to a ward sending shrapnel into the ward. It scattered more around the area. I repeat, no injuries whatsoever, just a few jangled nerves.”

  “Now the part I was debating about. It was my ward and I was on duty. It must have landed about ten to fifteen feet from me. I was at the desk and got up to get my jacket and helmet when I heard the incoming rounds. I always bring it with me when I come on night duty. The desk is about seven feet from the door, which is where the thing hit. Fortunately my path took me away from the impact just before it hit. I wasn’t in danger. I do think somebody up there likes me. Anyway, now that it’s over, it’s just improbable that I will ever be that close again. I know that none of this will convince you that I’m okay and the situation here is really not that bad and only occasionally dangerous. I thought that you would want to know. If I had gotten a little scratch, I could have gotten a purple heart. That is one ribbon I never want to have. I never want to be that close again. It took about two hours for the butterflies to develop in my stomach. Before that I was just running around tending to business and escorting all the people that came over to investigate the situation. I reckon we’re really in a war zone.”

  My mother is an extremely emotional person and she had a heart problem. I promised her I would be honest. Before I went I told her that I was probably safer in Vietnam i
n a war zone then I had been on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I had been on recruiting duty in Western Pennsylvania for two and a half years and frequently had to be on the turnpike.

  I had requested to go to Vietnam but I never told her I had. I waited until my orders came in and then I called her and said, “Guess what? I got orders to Vietnam. I’m so excited.” Take care and try not to worry. Lightening never strikes twice I’m told. I’m not worried. Besides that somebody said to me, “You must have gone to church on Sunday.” I really do believe that somebody up there likes me and looks out for me. With that type of care why should I worry?

  Lou Ellen Bell, 2012.

  31 March 1969—“Life goes on as usual here in Vietnam. The hospital hasn’t been that busy so we’re going back on eight-hour shifts (from 12 hour shifts) as of tomorrow. Hope that it isn’t an April Fool’s joke. It could be that if we suddenly started getting a lot of patients we will have to go on longer shifts again. Let’s hope our men don’t get into that kind of action, for their sakes, not ours. We never put in the kind of work some of these men do.

  As I walked to work this morning, I was listening to the singing of the birds. Apparently it is spring here. We haven’t heard any birds until recently. Anyway, walking along in the quietness of the early morning and listening to those birds it’s hard to remember that this is a war zone. I am only reminded when I see the injured or hear the bombing. Not much longer before I leave this job for someone else. By the time you receive this letter I will have begun my last one hundred days. If all goes well, it should go rather fast.”

 

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