During the summer of 1964, I joined the US Army as a Women’s Army Corps, enlisting as a nurse to help pay for my last year at University of North Carolina School of Nursing.

I graduated in 1965 with a Second Lieutenant commission. After Basic Training at Fort Sam Houston, I remained in San Antonio at the Brook Army Medical Center for almost a year before receiving orders for Vietnam. In August 1966, I departed San Francisco with the other doctors and nurses tasked with the assignment of setting up a new hospital, primarily neurosurgical, the 24th Evac Hospital, in LongBinh, Vietnam. This was fairly early in the war, before the major TET offensive in February 1968. We all worked hard and played hard.

The experience was most rewarding to me as a person and a nurse. I was discharged at Fort Dix, N.J. and returned home to a welcoming family. After four months, l realized that I did enjoy military nursing so returned to be stationed in Fort Eustis, Va.; Brook Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston; and the 97th General Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany. Skip and I met there, and we both resigned from the Army and married in 1971.

After returning from Vietnam, rarely was a word spoken about my experiences. I decided it was safer not to discuss them. I kept a box and scrapbook of pictures and memorabilia, which I still have. Vietnam was never a socially acceptable topic. I did maintain contact with two nurses from the 24th until their early deaths. Many people learned that I am a veteran; few knew where I had served.

Fast forward to August 2023 at Meadowlark.

I have been home from Vietnam for 56 years. I read in the Meadowlark Messenger that a former Army Nurse who had been in Vietnam was coming to Meadowlark to speak at our special weekend for those with Parkinson's disease. I suddenly realized I had never before met another nurse who had been in Vietnam. I wanted to meet Lou Eisenbrandt.  Thursday evening, Aug. 24, in our Bison Room was my opportunity.

I listened with great attention to Lou's presentation as she described her/my hospital and our caring for US Military patients and Vietnamese civilians. Memories flooded back, so that when I was able to introduce myself and to tell her that I was attending just to meet her and that I was privileged to do so, the emotions took over; I was in tears. Lou came to me to hug me, and I was at peace [pictured above].

The evening continued with other Veterans telling their stories. I was so proud of all of us. The evening was both enjoyable and cathartic for me. I thank Michelle Haub, Special Programs Leader, for inviting Lou as our special speaker and placing her in a position to help me unlock many memories. I am certain Lou spoke to others in her audiences Thursday and Friday nights and touched each one in the way he/she needed to be touched. I am certain God is using her to help all with whom she comes into contact.