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stressful hours, days and weeks giving loving care to all who came in their paths.
My husband was one of many nurses who worked long, hard,
—Barbara Ann Bowman
”
Great Appreciation for Military Nurses My recently deceased husband suff ered, in addition to many of the eff ects of Agent Orange, from vascular dementia. I really appreciate [“More Than Just Alzheimer’s,” Health Notes, June 2016], though too short, briefl y explaining diff erent types of dementia. Not only are the causes diff erent, [but also] these types of dementia manifest diff erently, progress diff erently, and are treated diff erently. Unfortunately they get lumped to- gether under the label Alzheimer’s, so the diff erences are all too often swept out of sight. Caretakers like me need to know about these various dementias, so we can better care for our loved ones. By under- standing what’s happening to the brain, we can better respond to our loved one’s behaviors and frustrations — and mini- mize our own frustrations. Please keep this issue on your list of topics to present periodically in Military Offi cer. I also [appreciated] the lovely article
“Care in Combat” [June 2016], about nurses. And I’d like to add a little to the story of mil- itary nurses, for my husband, Lt. Col. Curtis W. Fore, USA, was a Certifi ed Registered Nurse Anesthetist who served, among other places, at the 24th Evac Hospital in Viet- nam. I was not married to him during those days, and he rarely talked about them, so I knew very little about that time in his life. After his death on Christmas Eve, 2015,
I went through his papers and found a few letters he had written to his parents. In one, dated May 26, 1967, he wrote, “Last night I lost my 1st American on the table. A G.I. that had a bullet enter the right forehead and exit through the back of the head … . He just simply did not have a chance of liv- ing but the attempt was made.” My husband was one of many nurses
who worked long, hard, stressful hours, days and weeks giving loving care to all
10 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2016
who came in their paths. My husband was awarded the Legion of Merit for his work. I know he made a diff erence in many lives. —Barbara Ann Bowman via email
Your June 2016 article, “Care in Combat,” an excellent article, by the way, has a photo of the Vietnam Women’s Memo- rial in Washington, D.C., with a caption that [says] it honors nurses. There is a misconception that this memorial only honors nurses who were, granted, 90 percent of the women who served in Vietnam. However, the memorial honors ALL women who served during Vietnam. There was a lot of controversy when the memorial was unveiled in Santa Fe, N.M. (I was there), and many would agree how people could think it only honors nurses. There is actually a 10-foot-high statue in one of the oldest sections (21) of Ar- lington National Cemetery that honors nurses. It was sculpted by Frances Rich, a naval offi cer herself. It was placed there in 1938, and today honors all military nurses, although originally it was dedi- cated to World War I nurses. As a side note, what I don’t see, given the many memorials and monuments, is one dedi- cated to World War II nurses. [There were] more than 59,000 in the Army alone, one of whom was my mother (sta- tioned in Germany and England). Or is there one of which I am not aware? — Lt. Col. Marsha Thole, USAFR (Ret) Life Member, Albuquerque Chapter Albuquerque, N.M.
[“Care in Combat” was] true across the board but woefully incomplete, as it lacked any mention of the [Naval Support Activ- ity] Station Hospital in Da Nang, RVN. To the best of my knowledge, that facility had by far the most beds, the most intensive care beds, and the most operating rooms
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