When thinking of Veteran’s Day, most of the thoughts typically go out to the soldiers in the field, who saw and participated in the combat naturally associated with war. However, many are quick to forget the doctors and nurses, tasked with the prospect of constant stress induced by loads of wounded soldiers, allies and enemies alike, trying to save their lives, from the simplest of wounds to the most grotesque.
Myra Gail Williams Womack, from Section, enlisted in the Army in May 1969. She would be assigned to the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh Post. The 24th Evacuation Hospital was the largest bed capacity hospital, a neuro-maxillofacial center, a VC prison and had the only obstetrician in the country. Due to these special facilities, Womack’s hospital had some of the worst head and face injured patients, from both the US and VC alike, as well as a lot of C-section pregnancies.
In the hospital, two large rooms were turned into six operating rooms by using large, wooden dividers on wheels for each room. The floor was cement with holes all over, requiring careful footing with instrument trays. Blood would be washed out of the back door with a hose.
“Not exactly today’s infection control method,” Womack said in a letter.
When patients were delivered, they normally arrived via helicopter. The staff would never know how many were in a given helicopter until the patients were being unloaded.
Shifts at the hospital were from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with one day off each week.
“No griping or complaining, we just did it,” Womack said. “But when we got that day off, we left the post without permission and went somewhere.”
Her first weekend in Vietnam, her and Teddi, a fellow nurse and a friend of Womack, left the post without permission with a goal: Womack wanted to find her uncle, John Jones. Somehow, some way, they succeeded.
“Our Chief Nurse would have probably locked us up if she had caught us. We often gave her heartburn,” Womack said. “(Jones) went into shock when he saw us. He couldn’t believe we had done it.”
Womack would spend eight years in active duty and serve another 14 in the reserves, before being discharged in June 1991 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
While in Vietnam, Womack said she grew up and developed a different understanding an appreciation for life. She looks back to her being raised with a belief in God, growing up in Bethany Baptist Church, how that faith helped her through so many hardships.
“My Granddad Jones used to say to me ‘Honey, the good Lord takes care of two kinds of people: babies and fools,’” Womack said. “He would then pat me somewhere and say ‘and we both know which category you’re in.’”
Though Womack now resides in Texas, she says that Bethany Baptist Church will always have a special place in her heart.
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