Wartime Nurses to Share Personal Memories of Caring for Injured Battlefront Troops

On March 31, at 7 p.m. Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum will honor the invaluable role of wartime nurses with Angels of the Battlefield: The Unsung Heroes – a program featuring the first-hand accounts of military nurses who cared for troops injured on the frontlines.

A panel of nurses, including three who served in the Vietnam War, will share personal stories of how their care and support helped make a difference between life and death.  They’ll also discuss the emotional impact suffered by witnessing the personal and devastating costs of war.

A multi-media presentation will include Cathy Drake, a nurse who was assigned to two MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) units during the Korean War.  Drake and her husband Dale, an anesthesiologist while in Korea, are well-known for helping to inspire the book MASH: A Novel about Three Army Doctors, written by Richard Hooker.  The book was later adapted into a hit movie and television series.  In the presentation, Drake will explain to the audience what it was like working in a stressful, crowded MASH operating room.

“During times of war, our nurses are considered the angels of the battlefield – our unsung heroes,” said Mac Burdette, executive director of Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.  “We want to celebrate these men and women and give the community a chance to hear their personal stories.   We also want to discuss the improvements in triage made over the years and how they have saved lives, specifically the use of helicopters that could quickly provide transport between the frontlines and surgical units.”

The Angels of the Battlefield symposium will be held March 31 at 7 p.m. inside the climate-controlled Smokey Stover Theater aboard the USS YORKTOWN.  Admission and parking are both free.  The event is part of Patriots Point’s “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things” education series.