Veteran Days

Forty-four years ago we were deployed to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to care for refugees from the Marianna Boat Lift in 1980. Our unit was from Fort Sill, Oklahoma and we provided primary care and emergency medical services. I could tell many stories from my time there, some curious, some amusing but others, deadly serious.

Fortunately, I never had to be deployed overseas during my three years of army active duty. Many people I worked with, however, had endured the heat of battle, and I held them in deepest respect. However, I was grateful to have received a Humanitarian Services Medal instead of enduring exposure to conditions capable of generating a Purple Heart; or worse.

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