Having served in the U.S.A.F. for four years as a medic, I had an up close and personal experiences with military nurses. And without exception, they were the most dedicated people that I have ever had the opportunity to be associated with.
As a young man of nineteen years, with absolutely no medical knowledge, these gifted women did their utmost to educate me in the care and treatment of our patients. Not only medically, but compassionately, lovingly and with feeling towards their needs.
Some of them became very good friends and companions over my tour of duty. I went from being just another lowly enlisted man to being a friend, favorite dance partner and consoler for their less than successful romantic endeavors.
Some of these talented women had experiences in W.W. II, Korea and other combat zones throughout the world. They did however, keep those stories mostly to themselves, but shared only in private and trusted conversations.
When dealing with life or death situations was when these women were at their peak of perfection. They handled the most heart wrenching situations with grace,love and a deep caring of all the individuals involved. You see, it was not only the patients who needed attention, but we young and uninformed corpsmen as well.
On one particular occasion, after a late night working shift, four of five of us sat around a Mess Hall table discussing the "facts of life" in full detail with napkin drawn diagrams. The nurses there didn't want us going around using foul-mouthed comments and terms that were not conducive to our roles as medically trained professions. They also wanted us to know what young women liked and did not like about certain males moves and assumptions In short they wanted their corpsmen to be gentlemen at all times; lesson, I've never forgotten.
Now some fifty years later, I look back and mentally thank those beautiful hero's for helping me become the man, husband, father and grandfather that I am today.
Thank you, Lt. Patricia J. Perdue, Capt. Barbara Lynch, Maj. Mary Clemente and all the others I was honored to served under.
Paul Schropfer, Medic, MacDill A.F.B., Tampa ,Florida. 1960-1964.