Linda and I spent Saturday at the BG William Menninger Army Reserve Center in Topeka with a bunch of old Army folks. The scary thing is that I was one of them. We had gathered to celebrate our return from Desert Storm 20 years earlier.
Our unit was a 400-bed evacuation hospital (think M*A*S*H, but bigger). There was more than 400 different staff – everything from doctors, nurses, medics, pharmacy staff, lab staff, communications, laundry, mechanical, drivers, administration, and many others. I was a medic in the emergency ward of our series of tents; I worked the night shift just about 7 days a week. I had just turned 20 years old and on a journey to growing up. I had been pulled out of my studies in Music Education at Kansas State University and found myself learning a lot about myself and what was important in my life.
As most know, I changed my major to nursing upon returning and I asked Linda to marry me. My experience in the emergency ward in Desert Storm had a very strong impact on my decision to enter the medical field.
At the reunion, I met up with several individuals that I had not seen in over 18 or more years. Unfortunately, my best friends from the war were not there. In fact, I’ve lost touch with the one person that meant the most to me. I still hold out hope that I’ll find him some day.
The unit commander was the first to see me upon arriving. He made a bee-line to me and Linda and quickly relayed to Linda how much I meant to him when under his command. He recalled a pretty nasty incident that occurred between me and a senior enlisted and how I had conducted myself with class; he commented on how much that had impressed him at the time. His eyes began to tear up while telling Linda how much this meant to him. I can’t tell you how much this meant to me. Thank you, COL Crisler!
