WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:08.630 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:15.009 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:19.030 now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 00:00:21.939 --> 00:00:25.239 Hey Veterans Radio, my name is Dale Throneberry 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:29.219 on the cw2 helicopter pilot in Vietnam in 1969 00:00:29.219 --> 00:00:31.899 Welcome home to all the veterans that are listening 00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:34.039 today We're really excited because we've got 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.500 two army nurses that are going to be on our program 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:39.000 That we're in Vietnam and I know all of you that 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:41.259 ran into the nurses when you were in Vietnam 00:00:41.259 --> 00:00:44.219 They were all angels as far as we were concerned 00:00:44.219 --> 00:00:47.479 and they saved our lives and they kept our spirits 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.399 up. And I'm really excited to have both of them 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:53.939 on. We've got Sarah Bloom, who is written a book 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:56.960 about her experiences in Vietnam called Warrior 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:00.439 Nurse. And we've also got Sandy Wilson, who is 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.579 a Vietnam nurse here locally, who's very actively 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:06.359 involved in Vietnam Veterans of America, and 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:10.980 kind of especially in the Agent Orange arena. 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:14.590 when we start talking about that later on. So 00:01:14.590 --> 00:01:16.689 we'll get to that in just a minute. But a couple 00:01:16.689 --> 00:01:20.329 of first one really big announcement coming up 00:01:20.329 --> 00:01:23.709 is Radio on the River, folks. Yes. Remember, 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:26.209 Veterans Radio has been broadcasting now since 00:01:26.209 --> 00:01:30.719 2003. I don't know how we did that one. But we're 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.760 still here. And recently, we've started doing 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.019 what we call Radio on a River as a fundraiser. 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:41.920 We changed our business model from a really nonprofit, 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:45.560 for -profit organization to a nonprofit. And 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:47.519 we've had this fundraiser now for the last four 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.519 years. Coming up on September 28th this year, 00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:53.239 we are going to be out at Freedom River. And 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.040 Freedom River is out in Gregory. Binkney area 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.120 out there and it's just a great site that's being 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:06.439 built. for veterans to congregate. They've got 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.340 soccer fields, baseball fields, pickleball fields 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.500 out there. They're going to set up educational 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:14.379 programs and all sorts of things. And so we're 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.840 going to be out there this year on September 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:19.500 28th. We're going to have some musicians out 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.120 there, Lem Genovese, a Vietnam veteran is going 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:24.240 to be there with his 12 -string electric guitar. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.319 I don't know how that works, but the music is 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.419 awesome. And we're also going to have a Huey 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:34.879 there. So a UH -1 Huey from the Michigan Flight 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:36.819 Museum is going to be there and rides will be 00:02:36.819 --> 00:02:40.159 available at an extra cost. But I think we're 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:42.020 going to have a couple of raffle tickets that 00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:45.240 are going to be available for people to purchase 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.840 to get a chance to ride on the Huey. So we're 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:49.819 really excited about that. I don't think they'll 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.000 let me have the controls, but I'm sure I'm going 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.740 to get at least one ride in that thing. So September 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:59.240 28th. This year, Sunday from 1 to 5 p .m., more 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.719 information, go to our website, veteransradio 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:06.659 .org. All right, so I got that out of the way. 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:10.319 Right now I want to make sure that we thank our 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:13.060 major donors for their continuing support of 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:15.520 veterans radio without their support We can't 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.539 get this program off the ground. We can't keep 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:20.800 it going So legal help for veterans specializes 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:23.479 in veterans disability claims Please give legal 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.020 help for veterans a call at eight hundred six 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:28.819 nine three four eight zero zero or go to their 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:32.530 website legal help for veterans comm The National 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:34.669 Veterans Business Development Council, better 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:37.969 known as NVBDC, is the nation's leading third 00:03:37.969 --> 00:03:40.229 -party authority for certification of veteran 00:03:40.229 --> 00:03:42.689 -owned businesses. For more information, go to 00:03:42.689 --> 00:03:46.409 their website, NVBDC .org, or give them a call 00:03:46.409 --> 00:03:52.379 at 888 -237 -8433. PuroClean, known as the paramedics 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:54.939 of property damage, each PuroClean office is 00:03:54.939 --> 00:03:57.780 independently owned and operated. In fact, PuroClean 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:00.360 is one of the nation's leading restoration franchise 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:04.240 networks. And just like for veterans, you get 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:07.439 a special 25 % off your franchise fee. That's 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:10.639 pretty cool. So for more information, go to pureclean 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.979 .com. The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center 00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:16.180 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, 00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:20.360 go to va .gov slash Ann Arbor Health Care. And 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.339 finally, the Erwin Prescor and American Legion 00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:25.839 Post 46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:29.660 of America Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan. 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:33.079 If you'd like to be a sponsor for Veterans Radio, 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.720 please go to our website, click on the donate 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.060 button, Thank you in advance. Right, let's get 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:43.639 into our program. So joining me on Veterans Radio 00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:48.019 today's first off is going to be our guest, Sarah 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:51.620 Bloom. And Sarah is a decorated Vietnam veteran 00:04:51.620 --> 00:04:54.620 nurse who earned the Army Commendation Medal 00:04:54.620 --> 00:04:57.199 serving as an operating room nurse during the 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:00.379 height of the fighting in 1967. She received 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:02.459 her bachelor's degree from Seattle University 00:05:02.459 --> 00:05:06.279 and master's from University of Washington at 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:09.000 age 80. She doesn't look like it, folks, but 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.439 it's radio. She retired after more than 34 years 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:17.360 of healing trauma between 2000 and 2012. Let's 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.199 see, she's written a book entitled Women Under 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:23.540 Fire, Abuse in the Military, and she's also written 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:25.279 the book we're going to be talking about today 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.480 called Warrior Nurse Healer, PTSD and Healing. 00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:32.540 It's her second book. She's a scary lady. She's 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:35.949 a third degree black belt. in a Cato and is a 00:05:35.949 --> 00:05:38.170 rower, a coxswain in the rowing club and love 00:05:38.170 --> 00:05:41.509 to play African drums. Sarah, that's a lot. Thank 00:05:41.509 --> 00:05:44.910 you very much. Welcome to Veterans Radio. Thanks, 00:05:45.069 --> 00:05:48.430 Dale. I'm glad to be here. It's exciting to have 00:05:48.430 --> 00:05:51.389 you. So let me, as I mentioned, the other person 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:55.110 that I've got here also is a good friend of ours, 00:05:55.149 --> 00:06:00.209 and that is Sandy Wilson. Sandy Wilson also was 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:03.829 a nurse when I put her notes. There it is. Sorry, 00:06:03.970 --> 00:06:09.689 folks. There we go. She's a director at large 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:11.769 for the Vietnam Veterans of America. She's on 00:06:11.769 --> 00:06:13.829 their board. She's been involved with them for 00:06:13.829 --> 00:06:16.790 a long, long time. She served in Vietnam at three 00:06:16.790 --> 00:06:21.290 different hospitals during 1968 -69. She spent 00:06:21.290 --> 00:06:23.689 20 years in the reserves and retired as lieutenant 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:26.730 colonel. She serves as a chair for the VVA's 00:06:26.730 --> 00:06:29.310 National Agent Orange and Toxic Exposure Committee. 00:06:29.989 --> 00:06:32.790 So, Sandy Wilson, welcome back to Veterans Radio. 00:06:33.610 --> 00:06:37.490 Thank you. Thank you, Sandy. She's a very talkative 00:06:37.490 --> 00:06:44.589 lady. All right, Sarah, so tell me what motivated 00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:50.230 you to write this new book? So, it actually starts 00:06:50.230 --> 00:06:52.930 with the first book, Women Under Fire Abuse in 00:06:52.930 --> 00:06:57.910 the Military. I set out in 2006 to write a book 00:06:57.910 --> 00:07:01.180 about women who served in the military. That 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:04.240 was where I started. It was going to be women 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.980 under fire, their stories, their words. I've 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:10.800 been writing and interviewing women veterans 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:15.740 for three years. In 2009, I shared what I had 00:07:15.740 --> 00:07:18.939 with an editor and I got a tremendous amount 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:24.040 of feedback. He gave me pages and pages of feedback. 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:28.189 But the most important thing, he said, was that 00:07:28.189 --> 00:07:31.790 what I was doing wasn't gonna go anywhere. And 00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:34.949 he said, look at these two stories you have about 00:07:34.949 --> 00:07:37.649 sexual assault in the military. He said, you 00:07:37.649 --> 00:07:41.350 need to focus on those and explore further and 00:07:41.350 --> 00:07:44.069 determine is there a culture of abuse toward 00:07:44.069 --> 00:07:48.069 women in the military? Well, I was shocked and 00:07:48.069 --> 00:07:53.730 in no way ready to pursue that. So it took me 00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:56.170 about three months. I went through all of his 00:07:56.170 --> 00:07:58.509 feedback I went over and over and over again, 00:07:58.509 --> 00:08:05.629 and then I realized that I had known years before 00:08:05.629 --> 00:08:09.050 I'd known that I was supposed to do some writing 00:08:09.050 --> 00:08:13.670 about justice But I never knew what or how and 00:08:13.670 --> 00:08:17.129 so I just kind of pushed it aside And so I felt 00:08:17.129 --> 00:08:22.139 like the divine was leading me to this this other 00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:26.040 book so that I could hopefully bring justice 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.860 to women in the military and it was so it was 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:34.820 a realization and so What I did was I Had to 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:37.220 call the women back that I'd already interviewed 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:40.159 who'd agreed to be in that book because the nature 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.899 was changing to sexual assault in the military 00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:51.149 and so a lot of them said no and So then I kind 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:57.169 of got What do I say I got congruent inside myself 00:08:57.169 --> 00:09:00.889 with this new focus and I decided maybe this 00:09:00.889 --> 00:09:03.649 is the way that I can write about justice and 00:09:03.649 --> 00:09:07.129 bring justice to women in the military and so 00:09:07.129 --> 00:09:10.750 and I continued on to finish and write that book 00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:14.710 and I Ended up entering 58 women veterans from 00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:17.730 World War two all the way up to Iraq and Afghanistan 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:23.659 and so my story was I was going to put it in 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:26.220 there with the other stories but because I didn't 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:29.980 go that route I put all of my story in a file 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:33.879 on my computer and promptly just forgot about 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.700 it because I was busy writing the first book 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:41.059 and so then when I was all done with the first 00:09:41.059 --> 00:09:45.220 book and for years I did a lot of connecting 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:52.549 with legislators and trying to get the Military 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:55.750 Justice Improvement Act passed through Congress 00:09:55.750 --> 00:09:59.809 to help women veterans that were dealing with 00:09:59.809 --> 00:10:04.149 military sexual trauma. And so after all those 00:10:04.149 --> 00:10:09.950 years, I think it was 2016, I thought, well, 00:10:10.009 --> 00:10:13.429 maybe I need to resurrect what's in that file 00:10:13.429 --> 00:10:18.470 that I put aside. And I wanted to write about 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:22.830 Healing PTSD because that I've been doing that 00:10:22.830 --> 00:10:25.690 work for 34 years as a nurse like the therapist 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:28.129 and I wanted to write about it and I wanted to 00:10:28.129 --> 00:10:31.169 tell my story and I thought I could use my story 00:10:31.169 --> 00:10:33.830 to illustrate and explain what some of the symptoms 00:10:33.830 --> 00:10:36.929 and problems are with PTSD So that's kind of 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:39.409 how I did it I went back to the file resurrected 00:10:39.409 --> 00:10:42.850 it and then had to come up with a With a name 00:10:42.850 --> 00:10:46.169 for it and that's how I got warrior nurse PTSD 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:49.690 and healing Okay, so let's go to that story a 00:10:49.690 --> 00:10:52.409 little bit, and tell us, how did you end up in 00:10:52.409 --> 00:11:00.389 Vietnam? Oh, well, that part's easy. So I was 00:11:00.389 --> 00:11:06.149 a nurse for six years in different hospitals. 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:11.090 I started out in Atlantic City, New Jersey, because 00:11:11.090 --> 00:11:13.269 that's where I grew up. That's my home or record. 00:11:13.870 --> 00:11:16.860 And I was at the Atlantic City Hospital. and 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:20.899 then I went to California and I was doing different 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:24.259 kinds of medical nursing and intensive care nursing 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:27.399 and I was on one of the very first open heart 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:34.399 surgery teams there in LA. And so while I was 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:39.059 in LA and doing various kinds of nursing there, 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:43.679 I started hearing on the radio about a place 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.039 called Vietnam that I'd never in my life heard 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:50.240 of. So to back up, when I was nine years old, 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:54.419 Dale, I wrote, I had a career booklet. Nine year 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:57.299 old, career booklet, and it was like blue, I 00:11:57.299 --> 00:12:01.179 remember it. And in that career booklet, I was 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:04.740 a military nurse. So at nine, I kind of knew, 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:08.980 I guess. So, but I was Army, Navy, Air Force, 00:12:09.019 --> 00:12:13.259 I was all of them. And then, Then let's see then 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:16.879 I went to nursing school and when I was 19 in 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.740 nursing school I was sitting around with my classmates 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:24.600 and I made this bold statement I said if there's 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:30.779 ever another war and I'm single I'll go and so 00:12:30.779 --> 00:12:35.899 Fast forward to 1966 and I'm in LA working as 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:39.159 a nurse and I'm hearing on the radio about Vietnam 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:41.500 and that our soldiers are there and and they're 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:45.899 getting wounded and killed. And so my words came 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:49.000 back to me that I said, if there's ever another 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:50.919 war and I'm single, I'll go. And so I thought, 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:56.840 oh, I think I have to go. And so I first went 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.080 to the Air Force because I wanted to be an Air 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.080 Force flight nurse. And they said, you're too 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.980 short. You have to be five foot two. And I was 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:07.240 only five feet tall because you have to be able 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:12.220 to reach the top tier. and so I said okay so 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:14.759 I left and I went to the Navy and I said I wanted 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:16.480 to be on a hospital ship because I remembered 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:18.679 in my career booklet there was a ship and the 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:21.700 nurses were on there and so I said I wanted to 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:23.899 be on a hospital ship and they said well you 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:26.019 have to spend two years in the United States 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:28.500 first and then we'll put you on a hospital ship 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:31.559 and I thought well that war thing will be all 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:36.000 over by then so I left the Navy went to the Army 00:13:36.269 --> 00:13:39.450 and they said we really need operating room nurses 00:13:39.450 --> 00:13:43.370 and we'll train you and then when you're done 00:13:43.370 --> 00:13:45.350 you can go back to school and get your degree 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:48.169 because at the time I only had a diploma and 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:50.230 so I thought that sounded good and so I signed 00:13:50.230 --> 00:13:54.950 up to be in the Army Nurse Corps and they sent 00:13:54.950 --> 00:13:58.230 me to Fort Sam Houston, Texas for basic training 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:04.850 and then I got orders to go to Letterman General 00:14:04.850 --> 00:14:07.720 Hospital for five months for the operating room 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:13.580 nurse course. And that was quite an experience 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:16.759 in and of itself. And so Dale, let me tell you 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:20.200 the thing that hit me first. So first was I have 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:24.120 to walk down this long corridor to get to the 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.960 operating room. And this corridor is lined with 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:32.620 soldiers who had been to Vietnam. and they were 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:35.539 wearing their dark blue, royal blue pajamas. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:40.080 And a lot of them were amputees. This was 66, 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:44.120 this is May of 66. And here's all these guys, 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:50.639 amputees and other major wounds. And I walked 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:53.200 down the corridor to find my way to the operating 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:57.500 room. And I realized after that first walk down 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:00.480 that corridor, that there was no way I could 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:03.779 walk down that corridor and not talk to them, 00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:08.460 meet them, hear their stories. And so I had to 00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:11.539 leave early. I started out by leaving an hour 00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:14.100 early, then realized that wasn't enough time, 00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:16.919 so I left an hour and a half early to walk down 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.419 that corridor and I got to know all the guys, 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:21.679 I got to know their names, got to know where 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:23.899 they were stationed and what they did, what they 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:27.330 experienced in Vietnam. And I even got to go, 00:15:27.470 --> 00:15:29.710 not in the morning when I went down, but later 00:15:29.710 --> 00:15:32.509 I would go to physical therapy and support some 00:15:32.509 --> 00:15:35.610 of them, because it is really, really hard work 00:15:35.610 --> 00:15:39.590 to take a part of your body that you don't normally 00:15:39.590 --> 00:15:43.830 walk on, like your thigh, part of your thigh 00:15:43.830 --> 00:15:46.230 or part of your lower leg, because they were 00:15:46.230 --> 00:15:49.909 amputees. And so in order for them to wear prosthesis, 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:53.539 they had to toughen up the skin. on their thigh 00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:56.679 or their lower leg, depending on where the where 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:59.679 the amputation was. And it was very, very hard, 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:02.259 painful work in physical therapy. So I would 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:06.279 go down there and cheer them on. And so, yes, 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:08.399 I went through the five -month OR course and 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:11.240 I learned everything you need to know about surgery. 00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:15.500 So now here we are. We're talking with Sarah 00:16:15.500 --> 00:16:18.179 Bloom here who is an Army nurse and she's on 00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:22.019 her way to Vietnam in 1967. And you ended up 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:25.539 in a places of all of all places in the coochie 00:16:25.539 --> 00:16:29.559 Yep, that's right. The worst place he could ever 00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:34.059 be. Yes, but we used to sing So, yeah, so what 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:38.059 happened was Everybody had orders when we went 00:16:38.059 --> 00:16:41.240 over and so my orders were for the 70th the back 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:46.440 at play, too and It turns out it wasn't built 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:52.220 yet. And so they uh gave me a new assignment 00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:56.399 and it was to the 67th of Akik Winyon and I'm 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:58.820 in this big room with all the nurses that had 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:03.340 come to Vietnam at that time uh January 7th or 00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:08.640 8th of uh 20 of 1967 and uh so we're with the 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:12.160 chief nurse and there's a young nurse and I say 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.279 young because I was 26 I was one of the older 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:19.410 ones and uh this young nurse She is crying her 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:22.930 eyes out, sobbing. She can hardly breathe or 00:17:22.930 --> 00:17:26.049 talk. And I don't know who she is. I never met 00:17:26.049 --> 00:17:27.970 her, but she was by herself. There was nobody 00:17:27.970 --> 00:17:30.529 with her supporting her. And all I know is she 00:17:30.529 --> 00:17:34.990 was sobbing and crying and totally distraught. 00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:37.069 And so I went over to see if I could comfort 00:17:37.069 --> 00:17:39.950 her and find out what she needed, what was going 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:44.210 on. It turns out she was assigned to the 12th 00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:47.490 of Akakuchi and she must have known about it. 00:17:47.529 --> 00:17:50.490 because she was terrified, literally terrified. 00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:53.549 And so when I got her to calm down enough to 00:17:53.549 --> 00:17:57.289 tell me what her MOS was, turned out we had the 00:17:57.289 --> 00:18:00.470 same MOS, Military Occupational Specialty. She 00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:03.309 was an OR nurse. So I said, come with me. And 00:18:03.309 --> 00:18:06.109 I went over to the chief nurse and she could 00:18:06.109 --> 00:18:09.190 see that this girl was really, really distraught. 00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:12.329 And so I made this proposal to the chief nurse. 00:18:12.529 --> 00:18:15.509 I said, look, She and I have the same MOS. She 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:18.650 is really scared to death to go where she's been 00:18:18.650 --> 00:18:20.970 assigned. I don't care where I go. I just want 00:18:20.970 --> 00:18:24.390 to be there to serve. That's why I'm going. So 00:18:24.390 --> 00:18:26.950 can you swap our assignments? She'll go to Quinian. 00:18:26.950 --> 00:18:29.789 It'll be easier for her. And she can relax a 00:18:29.789 --> 00:18:33.329 little bit more and do her job. And so the chief 00:18:33.329 --> 00:18:36.829 nurse agreed. And so she swapped our assignments. 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:39.609 That's how I got to go to the 12th Evac Hospital 00:18:39.609 --> 00:18:42.690 at Coochie. And again, I didn't know. I didn't 00:18:42.690 --> 00:18:45.750 know anything about any of them, really. But 00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:49.250 that night, I was at the officers club. We're 00:18:49.250 --> 00:18:52.190 at the 90th Replacement Battalion in Longbin. 00:18:52.630 --> 00:18:55.809 And I'm at the officers club. And who do I see 00:18:55.809 --> 00:18:59.849 but my drill sergeants from basic training? Now, 00:19:00.309 --> 00:19:02.890 what's the possibility that you're going to do 00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:05.849 that, see your drill sergeants from basic training 00:19:05.849 --> 00:19:08.430 in Vietnam? So there they were. And they were 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:11.819 both dust off pilots. And I never knew that either 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:15.579 when I was with them at Fort Sam. So anyway, 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:20.079 so we sat down, had a beer together, and one 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:23.819 of them said to me, so where are you going? I 00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:25.440 said, well, and I was proud of it. And I said, 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:27.839 I'm going to Coogee, the 12th Evac Hospital. 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:32.079 And the color drained out of his face. And he 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.349 said, Oh, you don't want to go there. That's 00:19:35.349 --> 00:19:37.329 the worst place you could go. Get your assignment 00:19:37.329 --> 00:19:40.430 changed. And so then I described what happened. 00:19:40.890 --> 00:19:43.710 And he said, well, keep your head down all the 00:19:43.710 --> 00:19:46.769 time while you're there. And so then I had a 00:19:46.769 --> 00:19:50.829 little bit of information about QG. And then 00:19:50.829 --> 00:19:57.930 when they came to get me, so I was at 93rd Place 00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:00.619 in Battalion. And I'd been there like, three 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:02.940 days i think i got all the information i needed 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:05.880 and then they're sending me to coochie and they 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.700 sent me on a helicopter and i had never been 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:13.279 on a helicopter in my life and so i i look at 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:16.960 this thing it doesn't have any doors no we didn't 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:19.740 have any seat belts and i said what's going to 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:22.779 keep me from falling out i was scared i was going 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:26.500 to fall out of the thing anyway they they uh 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:28.660 so they took me to the 12th of ac and they get 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:32.220 there They wouldn't land it and I don't know 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:34.640 if that's normal, but they wouldn't land it They 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.640 hovered over the helipad and they made me jump 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.559 You know, it wasn't that far. It was probably 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:47.160 maybe five six feet and and so then I so I jumped 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:52.099 and I had I had with me so I I know me and I 00:20:52.099 --> 00:20:54.519 know I have to have music of some kind to keep 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:58.099 my sanity and So I took with me my baritone ukulele. 00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:01.230 It was in a case And so when I jumped out, I 00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:04.069 had that with me. And then I don't know where 00:21:04.069 --> 00:21:06.650 to go. I'm looking around and it's totally barren. 00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:10.890 It looks awful. Like there's nothing growing 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:15.029 there. And so I yelled up at the helicopter and 00:21:15.029 --> 00:21:17.410 the guys, where do I go? Where do I go? And so 00:21:17.410 --> 00:21:19.710 they pointed to the headquarters building and 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.450 I found myself over there. I got over there. 00:21:22.710 --> 00:21:26.210 And then we had this strack. The most strapped 00:21:26.210 --> 00:21:28.829 guy I've ever seen in my entire year in Vietnam. 00:21:28.829 --> 00:21:34.869 This guy he's our executive officer I told him 00:21:34.869 --> 00:21:37.829 I saluted as a lieutenant Blum reporting for 00:21:37.829 --> 00:21:42.410 duty and he looked at my case and he said what's 00:21:42.410 --> 00:21:48.710 in there and I said the tension was so so thick 00:21:48.710 --> 00:21:52.250 I wanted to say something funny and so I said 00:21:52.250 --> 00:21:54.539 well It's a machine gun. I thought I might need 00:21:54.539 --> 00:21:57.299 it over here, but that was the wrong guy to say 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:01.880 that to So he was very angry with me Told me 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:05.359 I was very insubordinate That sounds like it 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:09.799 was only the beginning um, yeah so that the the 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:14.279 12th of akakuchi is um, I'm A little familiar 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:15.940 with that I mean I used to fly over there and 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:17.819 drop people off every once in a while and fly 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:20.059 past it Quite often because it was right next 00:22:20.059 --> 00:22:22.559 to the michelin river plantation. That's right 00:22:22.619 --> 00:22:25.359 Yeah, and they would shoot at us all the time. 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:30.220 And so if you can just briefly tell us about, 00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:32.599 you know, some of the experiences that you had 00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:35.480 there and how do you think that that affected 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:40.940 you later on? Well, so we were getting fresh 00:22:40.940 --> 00:22:44.240 casualties all the time. Matt, we had mass casualties 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:47.789 a lot. We were right in the thick of things because 00:22:47.789 --> 00:22:50.430 we were right beside the Iron Triangle and the 00:22:50.430 --> 00:22:52.569 Hobo Woods where all the fighting was right then. 00:22:53.890 --> 00:22:56.910 I was spaced with the 25th Infantry Division 00:22:56.910 --> 00:23:00.390 and then we also had the 1st Infantry Division 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:05.410 soldiers and we also had 101st Airborne because 00:23:05.410 --> 00:23:07.910 all the fighting was happening right then. So 00:23:07.910 --> 00:23:10.690 we were constantly getting mass casualties. And 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:13.089 so it was those mass casualties and the type 00:23:13.089 --> 00:23:16.799 of casualties That was the worst of the experience. 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:19.579 It was almost non -stop. I mean, there were some 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:23.619 breaks here and there, but for the most part, 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:25.920 it was pretty non -stop. And so we worked around 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:35.319 the clock. We didn't have enough surgeons to 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:40.440 do everything all the time. So my very first 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:44.160 case, I found out right away The very first case, 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.359 I was all ready and I had everything ready for 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:50.640 the surgeon and he came in and I put the gown 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.059 on him and the gloves on him. And the next thing 00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:55.799 he said was, do you want the right side or the 00:23:55.799 --> 00:24:00.900 left side? And I said, sir? Like what? He said, 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:02.579 do you want the right side or the left side? 00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:05.559 He said, we're doing the same thing. You pick 00:24:05.559 --> 00:24:08.559 a side. And so I chose the side where my instruments 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:11.740 were. And that's the first day, first case I 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:14.079 found out that I was doing the same thing he 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:20.319 was. So many of the guys were hit with bouncing 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.740 beddies, like they would trip over them and then 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:25.900 they would explode out and they have all these 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:30.380 little metal pellets and they go into their body 00:24:30.380 --> 00:24:33.940 everywhere, all over their body. And so that's 00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:36.309 why he said right side or left side. So we would 00:24:36.309 --> 00:24:39.170 literally divide his body in half, and I would 00:24:39.170 --> 00:24:41.630 do one side, he would do the other side. And 00:24:41.630 --> 00:24:44.509 what we did was we went to each wound, each pellet 00:24:44.509 --> 00:24:49.329 wound, open it up with a scalpel, take the metal 00:24:49.329 --> 00:24:51.990 out, and all over the O are you hear clink clink 00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:54.410 clink as all the metal is going, all the shrapnel 00:24:54.410 --> 00:24:57.750 is going into these bowls, metal bowls. And so 00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:01.869 then we would check the muscles to see if it's 00:25:01.869 --> 00:25:05.529 alive or dead. And if it was dead, it would be 00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:08.210 dark red, and we would cut it out, and it wouldn't 00:25:08.210 --> 00:25:10.069 move. We would check to see if it would move. 00:25:10.309 --> 00:25:13.029 If it moved, it was healthy muscle. And so we 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:15.569 took all the dead tissue out, all the dead muscle 00:25:15.569 --> 00:25:19.009 out, all over, all these wounds, every single 00:25:19.009 --> 00:25:22.049 one of them. We take the dead muscle out, and 00:25:22.049 --> 00:25:24.609 then we irrigate with normal saline solution, 00:25:25.069 --> 00:25:27.450 over and over and over again. And then we wrap 00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:30.910 them, we wrap all the wounds up with bandages. 00:25:32.120 --> 00:25:35.039 And so they're basically all over their body, 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:38.460 and they have these bandages. And then the nurses 00:25:38.460 --> 00:25:43.299 on the wards, every four hours, they would irrigate, 00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:46.799 they would wet down all of these wounds, all 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.000 the bandages, and then they pull the bandages 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:52.640 off, which helps the debriding process. And it 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:54.460 hurt, it really hurt them when they did that, 00:25:54.500 --> 00:25:58.579 hurt the soldiers. So every four hours, they 00:25:58.579 --> 00:26:02.210 give them antibiotics, and they... Debrie the 00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:05.029 wounds and put more saline and then after three 00:26:05.029 --> 00:26:07.450 days and three nights of that Then they come 00:26:07.450 --> 00:26:10.230 back to us in the operating room and we do what's 00:26:10.230 --> 00:26:14.170 called the delayed primary closure So we then 00:26:14.170 --> 00:26:16.529 close the wounds. They're all open We leave them 00:26:16.529 --> 00:26:18.490 open on purpose because they're all considered 00:26:18.490 --> 00:26:21.049 dirty and we don't want them to get gangrene 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:24.470 And so three days later, that's when we close 00:26:24.470 --> 00:26:26.609 them up We check make sure they're all clean 00:26:26.609 --> 00:26:29.230 and everything is good. And then we then we sew 00:26:29.230 --> 00:26:33.859 them up. So we sew up the muscle and the fascia 00:26:33.859 --> 00:26:38.259 and then eventually the skin and then they get 00:26:38.259 --> 00:26:40.619 bandages again but not in the same way because 00:26:40.619 --> 00:26:44.900 now their wounds are cleaned out. Then we had 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:48.640 all abdominal surgery wounds, chest surgery, 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:56.279 big wounds on their legs, their backs and in 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:58.339 the book I describe one of the worst cases for 00:26:58.339 --> 00:27:02.240 me was Johnny. Go over that now, but Yeah, he 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.859 was he it was hit by american artillery and it 00:27:04.859 --> 00:27:08.079 was his wounds are just horrific Yeah, we were 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:10.400 talking with with sarah bloom here the the book 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:13.599 that i'm i'm highly recommending to you If you 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.859 get an opportunity to read it is called warrior 00:27:15.859 --> 00:27:19.759 nurse post ptsd and healing And um, I want to 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:22.420 bring sandy on for just a minute because you 00:27:22.420 --> 00:27:24.460 had a different experience sandy. You were up 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:32.769 north weren't you? I was in um which was halfway. 00:27:34.950 --> 00:27:37.410 And even though I was at three different hospitals, 00:27:37.990 --> 00:27:41.930 they were all in the second core. And where were 00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:46.410 you in two core? I was in a train at the field 00:27:46.410 --> 00:27:50.910 hospital. And a field hospital has all the specialties. 00:27:51.730 --> 00:27:55.269 And then they transferred me to the seventh surge. 00:27:55.940 --> 00:27:59.180 which was a base camp of the 11th Armored Camp. 00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:04.220 And when they ordered that one closed, they sent 00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:08.960 me to Vung Tau to an evac hospital. Yeah, 43rd 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:14.140 was there, wasn't it? 43rd evac? Pardon? I think 00:28:14.140 --> 00:28:18.880 the 43rd evac, or was it 36th? It was the 36th. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:24.119 Yeah, right. Okay, so... And I can tell you I 00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:30.099 was a year after Sarah, but my story as an operating 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:35.579 room nurse is probably identical to hers, except 00:28:35.579 --> 00:28:39.960 that I asked to go to another hospital and they 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:42.299 sent me to a train and they said it had never 00:28:42.299 --> 00:28:45.200 come under attack and the nurses were in white 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:48.299 uniforms and I would be happy there. And the 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:53.320 night I got there, it came under attack. But 00:28:53.320 --> 00:28:56.839 you know other than that she was doing the same 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:01.440 thing that I was doing The only difference I 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:07.420 can tell you is Since I was a captain They made 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:10.180 me straighten out my job was to straighten out 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:12.660 the doctors that had come off their training 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:16.500 And let them know what we could do and what we 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:20.220 couldn't do And the best thing I can tell you 00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:22.619 is years later I went to see the hand surgeon 00:29:22.619 --> 00:29:26.980 that I'd broken in. And he had me go out with 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:29.079 him and his wife to dinner and he introduced 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:36.519 me as the nurse the doctors were afraid of. I 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.759 can certainly understand that Sandy, as many 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:44.980 people around here are afraid of you. I'm quiet. 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:51.220 I know, you're a very nice person. So, all right, 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:54.920 so you there in 68 and got, you were up north, 00:29:55.019 --> 00:29:58.079 you were in the train, Swanlock and Vung Tau, 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:01.500 correct? Yep. All right, I remember going through 00:30:01.500 --> 00:30:04.819 Swanlock once and - Oh really, you could find 00:30:04.819 --> 00:30:07.299 it? Yeah, you just went up the highway and hung 00:30:07.299 --> 00:30:10.920 a right. Okay. I think it's when we got there, 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:14.920 you know, all this fancy GPS stuff today. You 00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:18.220 know, a lot of our our dead reckoning when we 00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:20.740 were flying around Vietnam was, go to this and 00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:22.779 turn right kind of thing. There's a mountain 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:26.480 out there. If you find Nui Ba Dinh in III Corps, 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:29.160 you could find your way anywhere. Yeah, I went 00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:31.519 to Swanlock too because I had a friend that was 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:33.539 at the Seventh Surge when it was down there in 00:30:33.539 --> 00:30:36.819 Swanlock and I would go down there to barter 00:30:36.819 --> 00:30:41.210 for supplies that we needed. Oh, really? I left 00:30:41.210 --> 00:30:44.750 and went up to Long Bend to barter for supplies 00:30:44.750 --> 00:30:48.549 that I needed. And they told me I couldn't have 00:30:48.549 --> 00:30:50.589 them, so when they turned their back, I stole 00:30:50.589 --> 00:30:54.730 them. Sounds like everybody's experience there, 00:30:54.730 --> 00:30:56.430 because we kept running out of everything. I 00:30:56.430 --> 00:30:58.509 mean, you guys are running out of important stuff, 00:30:58.950 --> 00:31:01.269 you know, medicine and instruments and all that. 00:31:01.730 --> 00:31:04.390 Our stuff, we just ran out of gloves and helmets 00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:07.990 and, you know, I won't go into other things that 00:31:07.990 --> 00:31:12.089 we lost. But Yeah, and everybody seemed to have 00:31:12.089 --> 00:31:15.690 a scoundrel somewhere in their unit that knew 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:18.890 where to find everything. I think that's great. 00:31:19.549 --> 00:31:21.630 Well, I got into trouble when they closed the 00:31:21.630 --> 00:31:24.190 7th Surge because I had more stuff than I was 00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:31.329 signed for. All right. Actually, we're going 00:31:31.329 --> 00:31:35.170 to take a little quick break here. Sarah and 00:31:35.170 --> 00:31:38.109 Sandy, as some of you may know, we play a Medal 00:31:38.109 --> 00:31:41.569 of Honor segment each each week here on Veterans 00:31:41.569 --> 00:31:44.930 Radio. And this week happened to be Sammy Davis, 00:31:45.450 --> 00:31:48.049 not the Sammy Davis singer, but the Sammy Davis 00:31:48.049 --> 00:31:51.869 Medal of Honor recipient. So, and probably some 00:31:51.869 --> 00:31:55.650 one or both of you may have met him. So, here 00:31:55.650 --> 00:31:57.390 we go. Here's the Medal of Honor. We will be 00:31:57.390 --> 00:32:00.009 right back with our guests, Sarah Bloom and Sandy 00:32:00.009 --> 00:32:03.650 Wilson. The Medal of Honor is the highest award 00:32:03.650 --> 00:32:05.789 for valor in combat given a member of the Armed 00:32:05.789 --> 00:32:07.730 Forces of the United States. There have been 00:32:07.730 --> 00:32:10.690 over 3 ,400 recipients of the nation's highest 00:32:10.690 --> 00:32:14.750 award. This is one of them. PFC Sammy Davis is 00:32:14.750 --> 00:32:18.170 often called the real Forrest Gump. Details after 00:32:18.170 --> 00:32:21.890 this. If you have a VA claim denied by the Board 00:32:21.890 --> 00:32:23.930 of Veterans' Appeals, contact Legal Help for 00:32:23.930 --> 00:32:28.519 Veterans at 1 -800 -693 -4800. They're experts 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.759 in handling cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals 00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:33.420 for Veterans Claims. Their number again, 1 -800 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:37.819 -693 -4800. Davis enlisted in the Army. He volunteered 00:32:37.819 --> 00:32:39.559 for the artillery because his father had been 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:42.259 an artillery man in World War II and then asked 00:32:42.259 --> 00:32:46.619 to be sent to Vietnam. In November 1967, his 00:32:46.619 --> 00:32:49.559 unit was helicoptered into Firebase Cudgel. Shortly 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:51.700 after midnight, Battery C came under a heavy 00:32:51.700 --> 00:32:55.349 mortar attack. At the same time, 1500 Viet Cong 00:32:55.349 --> 00:32:58.789 launched an intensive ground assault. Davis's 00:32:58.789 --> 00:33:01.289 squad was operating a 105 millimeter howitzer 00:33:01.289 --> 00:33:05.069 that fired 18 ,000 beehive darts in each shell. 00:33:05.809 --> 00:33:08.769 When he saw how close the VC were, he took over 00:33:08.769 --> 00:33:11.049 a machine gun and provided cover for his crew. 00:33:12.250 --> 00:33:14.529 Convinced they couldn't survive the attack, he 00:33:14.529 --> 00:33:17.309 rammed a shell into the gun and fired point blank 00:33:17.309 --> 00:33:20.319 into the enemy. A mortar round exploded nearby, 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:22.480 knocking Davis to the ground, but he got up and 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:25.259 kept firing the howitzer. When he ran out of 00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:27.680 beehives, he fired a white phosphorus shell, 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.720 and then the last round he had, a propaganda 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:34.400 shell filled with leaflets. He heard yelling 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:36.220 from the other side of the river, and despite 00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:38.759 the fact that he couldn't swim, paddled across 00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:42.619 on an air mattress. Other GIs followed him. He 00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:44.880 found three wounded soldiers, gave them morphine 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:47.240 and provided covering fire as another GI helped 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:49.920 one of the wounded across the river. Davis pulled 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:52.019 the other two through the water on the air mattress 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:56.039 and resumed the fight. Just before dawn, Davis 00:33:56.039 --> 00:33:58.559 was wounded in the back and buttocks by friendly 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:01.559 fire. President Johnson presented him the Medal 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:06.319 of Honor on November 19, 1968. Footage of LBJ 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:08.780 putting the medal around Davis' neck appeared 00:34:08.780 --> 00:34:11.699 in the movie Forrest Gump. of Tom Hanks' head 00:34:11.699 --> 00:34:15.099 substituted for Davison. Gump's fictional citation 00:34:15.099 --> 00:34:17.840 was loosely based on Davison's real one. The 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:19.760 Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:23.099 Radio. Military veterans touch everyone's life. 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:25.500 I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, 00:34:25.860 --> 00:34:29.119 a close friend, relative. Maybe it's you. Even 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:31.559 the toughest of us sometimes need help but don't 00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:33.590 know where to turn for support. You don't need 00:34:33.590 --> 00:34:35.469 special training to help a veteran in your life. 00:34:35.730 --> 00:34:38.309 Even small actions can make a world of difference. 00:34:38.670 --> 00:34:40.889 If you know a veteran in crisis, please call 00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:45.989 the Veterans Crisis Line 800 -273 -8255. 800 00:34:45.989 --> 00:34:50.010 -273 -8255. A message from the U .S. Department 00:34:50.010 --> 00:34:55.449 of Veterans Affairs. We're back here on Veterans 00:34:55.449 --> 00:34:58.289 Radio and we are talking with Sarah Bloom about 00:34:58.289 --> 00:35:01.130 her book, Warrior Nurse Post Traumatic Stress 00:35:01.130 --> 00:35:06.690 Disorder and Healing. She was an operating nurse 00:35:06.690 --> 00:35:11.070 in Vietnam in 1967 and we've also got Sandy Wilson 00:35:11.070 --> 00:35:13.849 on to talk about some of her experiences. She 00:35:13.849 --> 00:35:16.289 was also an operating nurse but at a different 00:35:16.289 --> 00:35:21.099 hospital in 1968. Both were talking about Going 00:35:21.099 --> 00:35:23.320 around Vietnam trying to scrounge instruments 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:27.239 probably and medications and so forth while they 00:35:27.239 --> 00:35:31.639 were there Sarah I wanted to get back to your 00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:36.539 book just a little bit and When you were came 00:35:36.539 --> 00:35:38.840 home, let's put this way and I again I encourage 00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:41.079 everybody to go out and read this this is a an 00:35:41.079 --> 00:35:42.840 interesting read and I've read a lot of books 00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:46.880 written by Army nurses and you know so forth 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:49.909 in Vietnam and many of their stories are similar, 00:35:50.070 --> 00:35:52.550 but this one has a, I don't know, it kind of 00:35:52.550 --> 00:35:54.349 grabbed me a little bit more when you started 00:35:54.349 --> 00:35:58.309 talking about when you came back and your own 00:35:58.309 --> 00:36:01.329 dealing with post -traumatic stress. Could you 00:36:01.329 --> 00:36:04.730 talk about that for a little bit? Yeah, sure. 00:36:05.769 --> 00:36:12.690 So, for me, I was working pretty much right up 00:36:12.690 --> 00:36:17.449 until about two hours before I took the helicopter 00:36:18.099 --> 00:36:24.960 to get to Benoit Air Base to fly home. So there 00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:30.659 was no debriefing, there was no support, no nothing 00:36:30.659 --> 00:36:33.300 really. I mean, I just went and I was standing 00:36:33.300 --> 00:36:35.900 in line, felt like a sitting duck out on the 00:36:35.900 --> 00:36:38.719 tarmac at Benoit because they had hit it the 00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:42.380 day before and I was terrified that I was gonna 00:36:42.380 --> 00:36:46.210 get taken out right then on my way home. And 00:36:46.210 --> 00:36:48.849 I can tell you that when this airplane, and it 00:36:48.849 --> 00:36:52.429 was a Southwest airplane, when this airplane 00:36:52.429 --> 00:36:57.150 took off, I think I was the only female on it. 00:36:57.929 --> 00:37:01.789 And I think all of us had been holding our breath 00:37:01.789 --> 00:37:05.210 for a long time because when the plane finally 00:37:05.210 --> 00:37:08.150 took off, you could just hear everybody on the 00:37:08.150 --> 00:37:12.210 plane go, taking a really deep breath. there 00:37:12.210 --> 00:37:17.110 and everybody started yelling and shouting. So 00:37:17.110 --> 00:37:20.409 when I got back I landed at Travis Air Force 00:37:20.409 --> 00:37:24.869 Base and it was in it was late night when we 00:37:24.869 --> 00:37:27.730 got there and they wouldn't let us off the plane 00:37:27.730 --> 00:37:30.550 for two hours. They kept us on the plane and 00:37:30.550 --> 00:37:34.989 they didn't tell us why and they also told me 00:37:34.989 --> 00:37:37.489 to take my uniform off that it wasn't safe for 00:37:37.489 --> 00:37:40.550 me to wear my uniform and I was thoroughly confused. 00:37:40.730 --> 00:37:44.889 I didn't understand what any of that was about. 00:37:48.929 --> 00:37:54.130 Anyway, so I remember getting on, so we landed 00:37:54.130 --> 00:37:56.090 at Travis Air Force Base, they finally let us 00:37:56.090 --> 00:38:02.750 off after two hours, and I had to find my way 00:38:02.750 --> 00:38:05.690 to, I had to go to the other airport, to San 00:38:05.690 --> 00:38:10.000 Francisco International Airport, and I had to 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:11.820 find somebody to help me figure out how to get 00:38:11.820 --> 00:38:15.280 there and So someone said there's a bus I could 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:17.260 get a trailway bus and that would take me over 00:38:17.260 --> 00:38:21.400 there so I found my way to the bus station and 00:38:21.400 --> 00:38:26.099 And I got on this bus and it was a red and silver 00:38:26.099 --> 00:38:30.340 bus I'll never forget that bus and it was raining 00:38:30.340 --> 00:38:34.599 out and So I told the driver that I wanted to 00:38:34.599 --> 00:38:37.420 go to San Francisco International Airport and 00:38:37.420 --> 00:38:42.599 I sat down And the thing I remember is looking 00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:45.739 at the window and all these raindrops on the 00:38:45.739 --> 00:38:49.920 window and feeling like they were the friendliest 00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:52.159 thing that I had experienced so far since I got 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:56.920 home. And I lost myself in the raindrops. And 00:38:56.920 --> 00:38:59.300 then when we got to San Francisco International 00:38:59.300 --> 00:39:05.699 Airport, the bus driver had to yell at me to 00:39:05.699 --> 00:39:09.239 get me to Basically get back to normal consciousness 00:39:09.239 --> 00:39:12.320 and realize I needed to be moving. I needed to 00:39:12.320 --> 00:39:17.480 get out off the bus And so that it should have 00:39:17.480 --> 00:39:20.280 been a clue but it wasn't I just didn't at that 00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:22.940 point I wasn't Understanding what was happening 00:39:22.940 --> 00:39:26.880 to me? so I went to I got down to LA and I had 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:30.460 a friend that met me down in LA and I guess the 00:39:30.460 --> 00:39:32.400 second thing that happened that I should have 00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:35.780 realized was what's telling me something was 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:38.659 we were going to go to the hospital where we 00:39:38.659 --> 00:39:43.139 both worked before I went to Vietnam. It was 00:39:43.139 --> 00:39:47.960 the Sunset Boulevard Kaiser Foundation Hospital 00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:53.980 and so on the way to the hospital there was an 00:39:53.980 --> 00:39:58.440 emergency vehicle with a siren and for some reason 00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:03.000 my body just reacted and I dove to the well of 00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:07.119 the car and then I couldn't figure out why I 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:10.719 did that. I got back up in my seat. So that was 00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:12.860 like clue number two. I should have gotten something 00:40:12.860 --> 00:40:15.880 from that. And then the next was when I went 00:40:15.880 --> 00:40:21.920 to one of the big super supermarkets and the 00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:24.800 door flew open. Like I stepped forward and the 00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:27.380 door flew open and I was freaked out. So there 00:40:27.380 --> 00:40:29.300 was all this stuff that was happening to me in 00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:33.760 my body and I wasn't getting it. And I found 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:38.280 out Later, so I I actually went to Madigan Army 00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:40.440 Hospital. That was my next assignment Madigan 00:40:40.440 --> 00:40:44.000 Army Hospital. I was fine when I was at Madigan 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:48.019 because I knew what I was doing and and I actually 00:40:48.019 --> 00:40:51.059 Became the head nurse the orthopedic ward. I 00:40:51.059 --> 00:40:54.239 got out of the operating room fortunately because 00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:57.059 Dr. Tom Travis who was the orthopedic surgeon 00:40:57.059 --> 00:41:01.409 with me at the 12th of AC And he got back to 00:41:01.409 --> 00:41:04.110 the States before I did. He was there at Madigan. 00:41:04.809 --> 00:41:09.630 And so he said, I'm going to ask that they make 00:41:09.630 --> 00:41:12.329 you head nurse of the orthopedic ward, because 00:41:12.329 --> 00:41:14.949 he knew that we could work together really well. 00:41:17.630 --> 00:41:19.530 And so yeah, so I was head nurse of the orthopedic 00:41:19.530 --> 00:41:21.789 ward, which is really wonderful duty. It was 00:41:21.789 --> 00:41:25.789 the best duty I could have had right then. But 00:41:25.789 --> 00:41:29.780 it was then when after I left, After I left Madigan 00:41:29.780 --> 00:41:32.000 and then I went back to school I went to Seattle 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:35.019 University and that's when the Black Panthers 00:41:35.019 --> 00:41:37.800 were marching and when all the protesters were 00:41:37.800 --> 00:41:42.760 out and That's when I I didn't tell anybody that 00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:44.940 had been to Vietnam because I would have been 00:41:44.940 --> 00:41:52.519 the focus I've been the enemy then and so Yeah, 00:41:52.539 --> 00:41:55.420 I just discovered that I started having all these 00:41:55.500 --> 00:41:57.599 different things happening to me in my mind, 00:41:57.679 --> 00:42:02.360 my body, my emotions. And I went to a workshop 00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:06.139 that was given somewhere, and they talked about 00:42:06.139 --> 00:42:09.539 PTSD. And I started ticking off the things they 00:42:09.539 --> 00:42:12.039 were saying. And I thought, I think that's me. 00:42:13.940 --> 00:42:18.440 And so yeah, so I went through a lot of turmoil 00:42:18.440 --> 00:42:23.059 about that. And there wasn't really any, this 00:42:23.059 --> 00:42:25.659 is early. this really early in the war and so 00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:28.260 they didn't they really didn't have any recognition 00:42:28.260 --> 00:42:33.739 then of PTSD so much or any any mechanisms for 00:42:33.739 --> 00:42:36.059 support like for women veterans there there was 00:42:36.059 --> 00:42:39.079 nothing as far as I could tell. It was much later 00:42:39.079 --> 00:42:43.380 that this that those kinds of support and resources 00:42:43.380 --> 00:42:47.880 came in came in so I always felt like I was on 00:42:47.880 --> 00:42:53.989 my own a lot dealing with it and And in the book, 00:42:54.570 --> 00:42:57.590 I describe a lot of this in the book and what 00:42:57.590 --> 00:43:00.809 I went through and how it was that I started 00:43:00.809 --> 00:43:03.630 healing. I mean, it was a long, I used so many 00:43:03.630 --> 00:43:07.070 resources. I used every possible resource that 00:43:07.070 --> 00:43:11.130 I could to get to healing so I could be myself 00:43:11.130 --> 00:43:15.369 again. The thing that happened for me early on 00:43:15.369 --> 00:43:18.269 in Vietnam, really in the first two weeks of 00:43:18.269 --> 00:43:21.420 being there, I discovered that my emotions show 00:43:21.420 --> 00:43:24.719 all over my face and my body. And if I was to 00:43:24.719 --> 00:43:28.079 show what I felt, like the horror, the shock, 00:43:29.300 --> 00:43:34.219 the grief, the pain, the tears, all of that, 00:43:34.719 --> 00:43:39.000 then the soldiers, they look at my face and they 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:42.340 interpret it what they think it means. And so 00:43:42.340 --> 00:43:44.599 a lot of them thought that it meant they were 00:43:44.599 --> 00:43:48.110 going to die. That's why I look like I did. And 00:43:48.110 --> 00:43:50.550 so I had to shut my feelings down. And so within 00:43:50.550 --> 00:43:52.429 the first two weeks, that's what I had to do, 00:43:52.789 --> 00:43:55.869 was shut them down. And then I spent about 15 00:43:55.869 --> 00:43:58.510 years in therapy to unlock them, to get them 00:43:58.510 --> 00:44:01.070 back so that I could feel my feelings and be 00:44:01.070 --> 00:44:04.949 fully myself and authentic again. And so I describe 00:44:04.949 --> 00:44:08.449 all that in the book. You do. And as I said, 00:44:08.550 --> 00:44:13.320 it's very thorough and very disturbing. To read 00:44:13.320 --> 00:44:15.739 about that and you know in your journey back, 00:44:15.739 --> 00:44:19.380 but then you took all of that and you you Became 00:44:19.380 --> 00:44:23.719 a really a therapist yourself I did I did well 00:44:23.719 --> 00:44:27.300 so part of my drive to become a psychotherapist 00:44:27.300 --> 00:44:30.340 Was to understand myself and understand PTSD 00:44:30.340 --> 00:44:32.280 and understand what's happening to me knowing 00:44:32.280 --> 00:44:34.019 it was probably happening to a lot of others 00:44:34.019 --> 00:44:38.900 as well So yeah, so then I became an expert at 00:44:38.900 --> 00:44:44.960 healing trauma in people And so in writing this 00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:47.500 book, I wanted to share all the possibilities, 00:44:48.679 --> 00:44:51.360 all the options, even how to choose a therapist. 00:44:51.619 --> 00:44:54.599 I put it all in there so that whoever picks up 00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:58.719 the book will have access to all that I learned, 00:44:59.139 --> 00:45:01.860 all that I understood, how the brain works, how 00:45:01.860 --> 00:45:05.119 the brain and the body work together, and all 00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:07.480 the things that they could do to help themselves 00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:11.840 heal. I found it to be really very interesting 00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:14.699 and I felt like I was going through therapy in 00:45:14.699 --> 00:45:17.079 reading the book and trying to figure out which 00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:19.500 one do I want? Do I want emotional freedom technique? 00:45:19.679 --> 00:45:22.380 Do I want the eye movement one? Do I want cognitive 00:45:22.380 --> 00:45:25.260 behavior? So on and so forth, all of these different 00:45:25.260 --> 00:45:27.019 things that are in there. And again, it's another 00:45:27.019 --> 00:45:29.000 reason why I encourage people to get this book 00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:34.280 because it explains so many things that I've 00:45:34.280 --> 00:45:38.139 heard about but never really understood. And 00:45:38.139 --> 00:45:42.159 I appreciate the effort that you put into this 00:45:42.159 --> 00:45:46.400 whole story of you and what you learned afterward. 00:45:46.860 --> 00:45:51.159 And you had this cause to come back and help 00:45:51.159 --> 00:45:55.719 your fellow veterans throughout your entire career. 00:45:56.480 --> 00:46:00.659 Yeah. And speaking of EFT, so EFT, in the book, 00:46:00.940 --> 00:46:03.750 if everybody that... it gets the book if they 00:46:03.750 --> 00:46:08.750 turn to page 241 EFT described there and this 00:46:08.750 --> 00:46:11.889 is this is the most important tool I think every 00:46:11.889 --> 00:46:14.269 veteran and anybody that's ever been traumatized 00:46:14.269 --> 00:46:18.030 needs to have is that is emotional freedom technique 00:46:18.030 --> 00:46:21.829 it's very easy to learn and anybody can do it 00:46:21.829 --> 00:46:24.650 and if you learn it it's going to help you in 00:46:24.650 --> 00:46:29.760 moments of high anxiety or panic or if you're 00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:32.599 having flashbacks and you're disturbed by it. 00:46:33.019 --> 00:46:35.699 So it's the most important tool in there from 00:46:35.699 --> 00:46:38.639 my perspective. And I try to teach everybody 00:46:38.639 --> 00:46:42.840 I know, especially veterans, how to use EFT themselves. 00:46:43.900 --> 00:46:47.000 Well, Sarah, I'm not going to let you go yet, 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:49.579 but I'd like to have you back on to talk about 00:46:49.579 --> 00:46:52.820 all those different types of therapies. Sure. 00:46:53.360 --> 00:46:56.300 OK. Sarah, I wanted to come to you real quickly 00:46:56.300 --> 00:46:59.219 because it was... Sometimes this hour just goes 00:46:59.219 --> 00:47:04.139 by so quickly. Your cause has been Agent Orange, 00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:06.860 and the effects that Agent Orange not only has 00:47:06.860 --> 00:47:09.500 on the veteran, but also on the families. Could 00:47:09.500 --> 00:47:14.599 you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, I can 00:47:14.599 --> 00:47:19.679 talk about a little bit. It's known that we were 00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:25.400 exposed to toxins. But our government has said, 00:47:26.800 --> 00:47:31.460 we do not pass it on to the children. And I have 00:47:31.460 --> 00:47:34.960 told everybody that I am, as a woman, I am not 00:47:34.960 --> 00:47:37.599 going to take the responsibility for every birth 00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:42.780 defect to every child born in the world. Finally, 00:47:43.059 --> 00:47:47.199 we have Wayne State University in study and PFAS 00:47:47.199 --> 00:47:51.340 has made the determination that male generated 00:47:51.340 --> 00:47:56.840 birth defects do exist and they're common. My 00:47:56.840 --> 00:48:02.400 problem has always been, I was brought up that 00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:05.380 when you make a mistake, you have to own that 00:48:05.380 --> 00:48:09.380 mistake. And our country has not done that. By 00:48:09.380 --> 00:48:13.780 denying the fact of genetic effects of the chemicals 00:48:13.780 --> 00:48:18.480 that they exposed us to, it meant that our veterans 00:48:18.480 --> 00:48:22.940 married other married people and they contributed 00:48:22.940 --> 00:48:28.690 their bad genes and we still have nobody who 00:48:28.690 --> 00:48:32.449 is willing to admit it. In fact, it was nine 00:48:32.449 --> 00:48:35.969 years ago that we got legislation, a law passed 00:48:35.969 --> 00:48:42.130 to study the toxic effects of veterans of children, 00:48:42.489 --> 00:48:46.389 children of veterans. But the VA finally said 00:48:46.389 --> 00:48:49.690 last year, it's not going to be done because 00:48:49.690 --> 00:48:53.860 they refuse to do it. So instead of having a 00:48:53.860 --> 00:48:57.179 small group of children with all these health 00:48:57.179 --> 00:49:00.539 problems we have spread that throughout the general 00:49:00.539 --> 00:49:04.800 population and I think it's time that we need 00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:07.940 to be very serious about this and make people 00:49:07.940 --> 00:49:12.460 responsible. Now they said the wars in the Middle 00:49:12.460 --> 00:49:14.920 East were not going to be another Vietnam and 00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:17.860 they were because they did not use the same six 00:49:18.869 --> 00:49:22.849 toxins on us. Instead, they used 32 toxins on 00:49:22.849 --> 00:49:25.789 the troops that went to the more recent wars 00:49:25.789 --> 00:49:31.190 in the Middle East. There's one thing I wanted 00:49:31.190 --> 00:49:34.170 to get out from you, and that is that you have 00:49:34.170 --> 00:49:37.690 encouraged all of our members in our local VVA 00:49:37.690 --> 00:49:42.869 to get their children or to register their children 00:49:42.869 --> 00:49:46.630 on a registry. Could you just talk to our audience 00:49:46.630 --> 00:49:52.380 about that briefly? We have a registry, it's 00:49:52.380 --> 00:49:57.400 Birth Defects Research Center, and it's BDRC 00:49:57.400 --> 00:50:01.380 .org. And the registry is right there and it 00:50:01.380 --> 00:50:05.000 can be filled in online. It takes a while, but 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:07.300 it's very important because that's the first 00:50:07.300 --> 00:50:10.699 step in research to be able to determine who 00:50:10.699 --> 00:50:17.269 is affected. And also for the veterans, The VA 00:50:17.269 --> 00:50:22.610 now will take Compensation benefit claims for 00:50:22.610 --> 00:50:25.889 the children which the parent believes is affected 00:50:25.889 --> 00:50:29.710 Now they're not going to give you any money at 00:50:29.710 --> 00:50:33.690 this point, but if we have enough of them reported 00:50:33.690 --> 00:50:38.789 Then it helps us when we go to Congress to make 00:50:38.789 --> 00:50:41.869 them do something You know, we just can't ignore 00:50:41.869 --> 00:50:45.090 the factor that we have children in need and 00:50:45.090 --> 00:50:48.510 children who will never be able to have a full 00:50:48.510 --> 00:50:52.489 natural life because of their parents' exposures 00:50:52.489 --> 00:50:56.989 during military service. Yeah, Sandy, most of 00:50:56.989 --> 00:51:00.429 my kids have birth defects. Well, register them 00:51:00.429 --> 00:51:06.110 in and file for benefits. Yeah, I did register 00:51:06.110 --> 00:51:12.210 and they denied me and my kids. I went to the 00:51:12.210 --> 00:51:14.309 first hearing, the very first hearing in Washington 00:51:14.309 --> 00:51:19.750 DC in 1983, I think it was, on Agent Orange and 00:51:19.750 --> 00:51:25.510 PTSD. I still have, I even have tape. Well, last 00:51:25.510 --> 00:51:29.949 year they decided that they would accept claims 00:51:29.949 --> 00:51:34.489 for something in addition to not just spina bifida, 00:51:34.889 --> 00:51:38.369 but there are so many diseases that are unknown. 00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:44.059 until later in life. So they will take, in fact, 00:51:44.159 --> 00:51:48.039 the guy in charge of it has a sister that's disabled 00:51:48.039 --> 00:51:51.480 and his father was in Vietnam. So I think you 00:51:51.480 --> 00:51:53.760 finally we've got somebody who looks at it from 00:51:53.760 --> 00:51:57.619 a different aspect. That's good. Yeah. This is 00:51:57.619 --> 00:51:59.699 one of the reasons why I wanted to put both of 00:51:59.699 --> 00:52:02.880 you on this program is to let people know that 00:52:02.880 --> 00:52:07.019 these nurses that we thought were angels 50, 00:52:07.059 --> 00:52:10.340 60 years ago are still out there fighting for 00:52:10.340 --> 00:52:13.179 the cause of watching out for their fellow veterans. 00:52:13.679 --> 00:52:16.880 And I just can't tell you how much I appreciate 00:52:16.880 --> 00:52:20.619 the work that both of you are doing, not only 00:52:20.619 --> 00:52:23.159 from the Agent Orange aspect, obviously from 00:52:23.159 --> 00:52:25.260 post -traumatic stress. I don't even like to 00:52:25.260 --> 00:52:27.300 say post -traumatic stress disorder. To me, it's 00:52:27.300 --> 00:52:30.099 just post -traumatic stress. You know, everybody 00:52:30.099 --> 00:52:34.219 gets it, but You've got a list of ways that can 00:52:34.219 --> 00:52:36.960 help people figure out a way to work their way 00:52:36.960 --> 00:52:39.599 through it. It's not something that we all know 00:52:39.599 --> 00:52:41.320 that it's not something people just say, well, 00:52:41.320 --> 00:52:44.400 get over it. We don't just get over it. And it's 00:52:44.400 --> 00:52:46.480 like any traumatic experience that you have in 00:52:46.480 --> 00:52:49.019 your life. You never just get over it. You've 00:52:49.019 --> 00:52:53.280 got to figure out a way to work your way around 00:52:53.280 --> 00:52:56.860 it, whatever it takes so that it doesn't affect 00:52:56.860 --> 00:53:00.219 your life every moment of every day. so I want 00:53:00.219 --> 00:53:02.840 to make sure that you know I thank you Sarah 00:53:02.840 --> 00:53:05.920 and I thank you Sandy for being on the program 00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:09.739 today and for all of the nurses that were out 00:53:09.739 --> 00:53:12.380 there in Vietnam and probably still all of the 00:53:12.380 --> 00:53:14.840 nurses that are in the military today because 00:53:14.840 --> 00:53:17.440 you did a great job and I wanted to thank both 00:53:17.440 --> 00:53:21.440 of you for being on our program. Thanks Dale. 00:53:22.500 --> 00:53:26.739 Welcome. Okay so the book again one more time 00:53:26.739 --> 00:53:31.639 is Sarah Bloom Warrior nurse PTSD and healing 00:53:31.639 --> 00:53:33.739 and I think it's something that you should go 00:53:33.739 --> 00:53:36.980 out there and get Not sure how much time I have 00:53:36.980 --> 00:53:40.880 left about a minute. I got a minute. Okay One 00:53:40.880 --> 00:53:43.320 more minute. So I would encourage you to read 00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:46.300 this book also, you know I'm sure that I know 00:53:46.300 --> 00:53:48.880 both of these women probably have read the woman 00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:53.219 by Kirsten Hannah that talks about nurses in 00:53:53.219 --> 00:53:55.500 Vietnam. And again, it's something that we all 00:53:55.500 --> 00:53:58.099 need to be aware of, because we didn't know these 00:53:58.099 --> 00:54:00.059 things were going on when we were in country. 00:54:00.599 --> 00:54:02.539 It's just, you know, we all had our own jobs 00:54:02.539 --> 00:54:06.019 and we did them as best that we could. So thank 00:54:06.019 --> 00:54:08.440 you again to them. And we're going to have Sarah 00:54:08.440 --> 00:54:10.639 back on to talk about these post -traumatic stuff 00:54:10.639 --> 00:54:14.119 things. So we're going to go out again on God 00:54:14.119 --> 00:54:16.480 Bless America, which is the most important song 00:54:16.480 --> 00:54:20.219 to me in the history of this country. And it's 00:54:20.219 --> 00:54:22.119 a beautiful song. And today we're going to be 00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:25.219 listening to the version by Jimmy Fortune. And 00:54:25.219 --> 00:54:28.619 he is joined by Sonia Isaac -Yeary. And it's 00:54:28.619 --> 00:54:30.940 just beautiful. And I hope you enjoy it. So until 00:54:30.940 --> 00:54:33.420 next week, this is Dale Thromberry. For all of 00:54:33.420 --> 00:54:38.809 us here at Veterans Radio, you are this. missed. 00:55:07.839 --> 00:55:17.099 From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans 00:55:17.099 --> 00:55:29.679 white with foam God bless America my home sweet 00:55:29.679 --> 00:55:40.880 home God bless America Erica, my home sweet.