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June
2013 LV Voice Military Nurses Women Warriors
Nursing and
the military go back to the dawn of civilization. As soon as society realized
that soldiers fight harder and better if they know they will receive medical
care, nurses have marched to war with soldiers. In the time of the crusades they
were almost entirely part of religious orders. The Catholic Church even had a
special order of monks (Knights Hospitalers of St. John of Jerusalem) who
provided medical assistance to travelers. These were probably the first
military nurses in recorded history. In the U.S. nurses have a long and
remarkable history of aiding the military from the Indian Wars to modern day
conflicts.
Today we’re
going to hear from a retired USAF nurse, Captain Judy Uebbing. She began her career, along with her husband
Don, at Clark Air Base in the Philippine Islands. Clark Air Base was also home
to a tribe of aboriginal peoples referred to as Negritos. These aboriginal
people had assisted General MacArthur during the Japanese occupation of the
Philippines. After the Bataan March in which so many Americans perished,
General MacArthur guaranteed the Negritos a settlement on Clark Air Base in
gratitude for their bravery and warfare skills.
The Negritos
had their own culture and government. Since all of them had tuberculosis, when
they needed hospitalization, they were placed in Isolation. It was during such
a hospitalation of a young Negrito named Manny that Captain Uebbing experienced
one of the most challenging and frightening events of her career. In her own words she describes what happened.
“Captain Uebbing-Captain Uebbing”
came the calls in the silence of the 3a.m. hospital corridors. “Help.” I ran to
the private room from where the calls originated. There was an empty bed, two frantic
corpsmen and a young male patient on the fourth floor ledge. Young Manny was a
Negrito, a Phillipine who lived on Clark Air Base grounds with the rest of his
tribe. Because he had abdominal pain, he had been admitted to Clark Hospital
where I served in the USAF. Oh swell, I thought, another crisis. When Manny
woke up in a foreign room in a hospital, he was frightened and homesick for his
people. His only way to return, he thought, was to escape by the window. Oh
Dear! As I said we were on the fourth floor. My only solution, as I saw it, was
to go out on the ledge with Manny and coax him back into his room. I had never
been all that crazy about heights but there were no volunteers stepping up to
the plate, so out I went. After a few minutes of concealing the abject terror
in my voice, and speaking softly and gently, I was able to convince Manny to
return to his room. Success!! He chose to sleep on the floor which was fine
with me.
I loved
serving in the USAF and am proud to be a veteran.”
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War, raising me, two bouts with cancer... My Mom is one tough broad.
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