When I separated from the Army in 1968 I changed clothes at a gas station across the street from the gate at Ft. Ord and left my uniform hanging in the restroom. At that point in my life I swore two things: (1) I would never be responsible for any human's life again, and (2) I would never wear a military uniform again. However, times and people change. When I got married in 1972 I went back to college and decided at the last minute to change my major from Computer Science to Nursing. In 1974, I decided to apply for an Army scholarship program. Thanks in large part to letters of recommendation from Doc Crum (former Battalion Surgeon) and COL Louis Menetrey, who was by then a brigade commander at Ft. Bragg, I was accepted. I was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant when I graduated in Dec '75. The rest, as they say, is history. This photo of me with my wife, Kathy, was taken at a formal military gathering in June, 1994. I was fortunate enough to retire from Active Duty as an Army Nurse Corps Lieutenant Colonel on 1 May,1995, with 22+ years of combined enlisted and commissioned service.
During those 22 years I was privileged to serve with many brave, talented and dedicated soldiers. The soldiers in this photo gallery are especially meaningful to me. It was truly a privilege to be able to help to care for soldiers and their families. I was prepared for leadership, not by training manuals and leadership courses, but by the officers and NCOs who led me when I was a 20 year-old grunt. The only problem was that the really good ones, like Tom Grady, Clark Welch, Carl Kizer, Jim George, Jim Deegan, Sonny Gratzer and LTC Louis Menetrey, made it look easy - and it's not. I also learned a lot from the bad leaders, who were in the minority and shall remain nameless.
I had many opportunities and challenges (what we called "opportunities to excel") during my career. I'm very proud of what we as a team accomplished in facilities ranging from teaching medical centers to our single OR in the Burn Unit at Ft. Sam Houston. In the '70s and '80s, Brooke Army Medical Center and Madigan Army Medical Center were pre-WWII relics. One morning I reported for my shift in the OR at BAMC's Beach Pavilion, which was a converted pre-WWII cavalry barracks, to find a bat hanging from the doorway to Recovery Room. In 1990 I moved my entire surgical department, including Surgery, Recovery Room and Sterile Processing, at Ft. Meade's Kimbrough Army Community Hospital into DEPMEDS (DEPloyable MEDical Systems) modular units behind the hospital, while our department inside the hospital was renovated. For 6 months we "camped out" in the backyard and provided care in the DEPMEDS surgical annex (dubbed "Ft. Berry" by my staff). We did a little over 1,000 surgeries during that time, including many emergencies. Our results and infection rates were excellent. Layout and resources were primitive by modern standards, but the staff were outstanding and the care given to our patients was the best that we could provide.
I could not have accomplished what I did during my military career without the love, support and encouragement of Kathy (Army Wife is the toughest job in the Army) and our children.