Vietnam War Army Nurse Corps 1st Lt. Judy Dennis reflects on her war years beside her combat boots a friend had bronzed as a gift. While training nurses in Los Angeles, she continued to work with wounded soldiers at the VA Hospital in Long Beach, Calif., after her tour in Vietnam before going on to have a long career as a nurse practitioner in family practice. She has lived in Forest Lakes for 20 years.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

×

Vietnam War Army Nurse Corps 1st Lt. Judy Dennis reflects on her war years beside her combat boots a friend had bronzed as a gift. While training nurses in Los Angeles, she continued to work with wounded soldiers at the VA Hospital in Long Beach, Calif., after her tour in Vietnam before going on to have a long career as a nurse practitioner in family practice. She has lived in Forest Lakes for 20 years.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

Vietnam War Army Nurse Corps veteran Judy Dennis holds a snapshot of her with a Vietnamese girl taken during her service in Vietnam. While it was against regulations, she and a few other personnel from her hospital would treat some of the 6,000 refugees in their area when they were off-duty. “Our commander was sweet enough to look the other way,” she said.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

×

Vietnam War Army Nurse Corps veteran Judy Dennis holds a snapshot of her with a Vietnamese girl taken during her service in Vietnam. While it was against regulations, she and a few other personnel from her hospital would treat some of the 6,000 refugees in their area when they were off-duty. “Our commander was sweet enough to look the other way,” she said.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

An aerial view of the 85th Evacuation Hospital where Army Nurse Corps 1st. Lt. Judy Dennis served in Vietnam. The hospital was originally in tents with no running water, but was eventually based in Quonset huts. The hospital, which eventually had about 1,000 beds, had about a 1 percent mortality rate, Dennis said.

Courtesy of Judy Dennis

×

An aerial view of the 85th Evacuation Hospital where Army Nurse Corps 1st. Lt. Judy Dennis served in Vietnam. The hospital was originally in tents with no running water, but was eventually based in Quonset huts. The hospital, which eventually had about 1,000 beds, had about a 1 percent mortality rate, Dennis said.

Courtesy of Judy Dennis

“I always say memories of Vietnam are some of the happiest times of my life and some of the saddest.

We arrived in Quin Nhon ... and I really had no idea how it was going to be ... we disembarked fine – it wasn’t like the Marines hitting the beach. We first started our hospital in a valley about 20 miles from Quin Nhon, and it was quite difficult. We didn’t have running water, and we were just in tents. We also found out later we were surrounded by Viet Cong, and they were taking potshots at our evac helicopters as they landed.

We had casualties almost immediately, and it was very difficult to see our young men so shot up and in such agony.

One case I remember in particular was a warrant officer, who had been up in a helicopter. They landed in Quin Nhon, and he got out of the helicopter, and a missile on the chopper misfired and almost decapitated him. It just so happened that there were some medics there on the site, and they started IVs and did all the appropriate things and got him to the hospital. We spent hours re-attaching his head, his nerves, his muscles and all. Didn’t know how much he would have left. But one morning, I was making rounds, and I knelt down to read a letter to him from home that had finally caught up with him. As I read, the tears were coming down his face, and we knew then he was understanding what was going on. He later was air-evacked to Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) and made a recovery. That stands out.

When I look back at the fall of Saigon, about 10 years after I got home, it was very hard to see because America had never lost a war and left in defeat, so to speak. And that was a whole new experience, and it made one wonder ‘Why?’ ‘Was this all in vain?’

I was very idealistic in those years, and pretty stupid, I think, looking back. But I truly believed in our country and our mission, and I know, as an individual, I’m proud of my service and that of the men and women I served with.”

abutler@durangoherald.com