Ann Thompson of Lebanon served in Vietnam from 1965 To 1966. As an Army nurse, she cared for a lot of wounded soldiers.
“The military you know has rules for everything but we didn’t get the rules. But during World War II evac hospital was up the chain farther back from the fighting. In Vietnam we didn’t have a front so people went to the closest hospital that there was no matter who they were or what they were. They went to the closest hospital so they came right off the field to us.”
Today, Ann still wonders what happened to all those soldiers she treated.
“One thing about the medical system in Vietnam was people that needed further treatment moved on. So they didn’t stay with us for very long. And so you didn’t know what happened to them. For the most part you know you write letters to their mother for them or whatever. They didn’t stay with us long so you don’t know if they made it or not. So when I go to the Wall I look at names from you know 65 66 to see if there are any names that I recognize.”