AN is truly a place for all nurses. As we approach Veterans Day, tell us your story....If you are veteran let us thank you....if you know a vet...please thank them.
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I'm a veteran...and I'm very proud of my military service.
I grew up in the 60's, 70's, seeing Vietnam brought into my living room on the nightly news. It was scary for me as a child. However, the pictures showed so many young men getting hurt or killed in service to their country. We were the first generation of people who grew up with these images televised into our own living rooms. They were my heroes.
My Father served in WWII in the USN aboard the USS Vega in the south Pacific. His draft number had come up and he felt the USN would be a better fit for him so he enlisted. He came home from the war after being discharged due to "shell shock" which was a precursor to PTSD. He never ever talked about his service, but my Mom told me that he would wake up in the middle of the night sweating and screaming often. He died in 2002 and took his memories with him. He was my hero.
My Mother also served in WWII as a WAC in the USA. At that time, women were relegated to the roles of clerk, supply inventory and nurse. My Mom served at the Embarcadero in San Francisco. She was a clerk typist. For a young girl from rural MO, this was an adventure. In later years she often told me that had she stayed in the Army she would have been sent overseas to do typing after the war ended. She died in 1986 and was buried with full military rites. She was my hero.
I grew up with my parents as examples of selfless giving thru their military service. As I grew older, I realized that I wanted to serve too so in high school I decided to become a nurse. I applied and was accepted. After high school, I moved into the nursing dorm and settled into a routine. However, I was still restless and approximately a year later decided that nursing wasn't for me. So...I quit going to classes, went to the recruiter station, talked to several recruiters and signed on the dotted line. Now, I have to tell you that I chose the USN over the USAF because I liked their uniforms which I realize is an incredibly shallow reason and I'm a little ashamed to admit this. I went to basic training in Orlando, FL and wow was that cool. A trip to Disney was on the agenda as we neared graduation and then I got orders to Indianapolis for journalism and broadcasting school. Off I went. Now I am from IL and going to Indianapolis was not exactly my dream assignment. However, I liked the school and the education and learned a lot.
While in Indy, I met this really super cute USAF guy and we became friends. I got orders to Japan and off I went. When I was in Japan six months, my USAF friend got stationed there too. How neat! We picked up where we left off and soon became a couple. And...eventually we got married!
This was in 1980 when dual-service couples were still a rarity. When we told our boss that we got married, they just laughed at us and said they hoped that we enjoyed being apart as they didn't expect us to be stationed together ever again. LOL little did they know.
My husband served over 23 years in the USAF and I served 3 years in the USN.
We are NOT heroes but we ARE very proud veterans.
As November 11, 2015 rolls around, don't forget to thank our veterans. So many are REAL HEROES.
