By David Harrigan
This week’s Veteran is Myra Womack who entered the US Army in 1969. Born in Section, Alabama to a farm family, she was born into a family of ladies and grew up a tomboy. Rather than spend her time assisting her mother and learning those skills, she opted to help her father out on the farm. Myra had an older sister who persisted in encouraging her to become a nurse. She got Myra a job as a candy striper at 16 at a local hospital. Her sister consistently encouraged her to better herself. She had an Uncle during her high school years who was in the army. During her non-school days and summers he took her with him to Ft Benning and was amazed at watching troops and their activities. He encouraged her to let the military provide her a free education. Her plan formed and it was to go into the AF nursing program, which she was able to complete. Her friend told her about an Army program that would pay full the last year of school with a 2 year payback of service. Her friend recruited her and she signed up for the Army nursing program. With her dream still to become a pediatric nurse, so off she went to Ft McClellan, AL. As it turned out her friend did not come on active duty with her, and after passing her state boards, she was off to Ft Sam Houston for basic training. It was challenging, consisting of a compass course, marksmanship, and crawling through the mud. Looking back, the life she experienced on the farm was a big contributor to her enduring these new military experiences. The experience of her friend who kept badgering her to join, resulted in her becoming an operating room nurse with 6 months training in San Francisco! She relented from her pediatric nurse dreams, and off she went to Letterman Hospital in San Francisco. Letterman was a huge facility. Lots of soldiers with their visiting dependents were there recovering from injuries incurred in Vietnam. There Myra rotated through ALL of the operating nurse roles. Scrubs, passing instruments to the doctors, she learned every job. The final completion of their training started with 8 nurses in the course, and 8 graduated. Of those 8, 6 got orders to Vietnam – oddly the friend who encouraged her to become an operating room nurse, did not go to Vietnam. Following three weeks of vacation back home – it was off to the airport, then to Vietnam. Arriving in Vietnam airspace was an eye opener for Myra. Below them the ground forces were under attack. When they landed, they were instructed to get down. After freezing on the plane, Myra found the suffocating heat of Vietnam tremendous. Artillery was going off, people were running, it was a frenzy. She then joined the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh. There were two very large operating rooms – each of those had 3 rooms each. “I had never seen a person die,” said Myra. “That’s how fast life comes and goes.” She found the strength and emotions of men visiting their friends and comradery rewarding, but challenging emotionally. She learned sharing and doing the best you can and living for today, not for tomorrow. When helicopters arrived, she never knew how many there were, and there was no time to process thought, she just went to work. On her last day in Vietnam, friends came and picked her up. They circled the compound in the air for me to see. She left with history, friendships, heart ache, and love there. Myra had no regrets. She returned to the US and matriculated out of the service at Ft Leonardwood Missouri. 8 years spent, and 14 years in the reserves. “I would do it all again,” she said. One of the opportunities that Myra remembers was her R&R to Australia. SheI stayed with an Australian family and we were treated like royalty. What was truly amazing was that the Australians did not know that there were women in Vietnam. That was really a surprise to me to learn. Finally, she has found that the world has changed so much. For her grandchildren, Myra would fully encourage them to find an interest and find out where you can make a difference. LTC (Ret ) Myra Womack retired in 1991 after serving at Ft Hood during Desert Storm. Myra thank you for your service and dedication to the soldiers you have served during your career. Congratulations on being the MCN’s Veteran of the Week.