In July of 1972 we reluctantly moved from Fort Devens, Massachusetts. This had been a very comfortable assignment. The kids and I had made a lot of friends and once again is was difficult to say goodbye to them. We were destined for Kansas, a place we knew nothing about. The New England area was home to us and we felt very familiar and comfortable there. And so, we headed to the "Heartland of the U.S.A.", with a stop in between to see our families in New York. It was good to see the family again, although they thought Lee and I were nomads. They would say "when are you guys going to settle down?" My reply was, we have curtains on the windows, we make our home wherever we are. It was close to our son's birthday, so we celebrated his 12th birthday with the family. He was almost 7 when Lee went on active duty and quite attached to his grandpa, (my dad) Therefore, it was more difficult for him to make the adjustment of being away from family for long stretches at a time. Our girls were 3 & 5 years old and were a little easier to settle in to our new home. I must say, Kansas was a far cry from our beloved New England. We went from a place where there was so much to do for families and individuals, to a place where they would have a hard time getting enough players to make up a team. It always seemed easier for Lee. He had his agenda and started school almost immediately at a small Catholic college called Merrymount College. It seems that when you have a task to start right away like that, it is easier to make friends. School was his full time job and so the days go by and he was kept quite busy. I need to explain here also that the military housing we were so excited to have waiting for us, was less than adequate. Not just the house per se, but this particular previous Air Force Base had been converted into what was called housing for "waiting wives." Before we moved out to the base, I thought this was a very nice idea. I had been so lonely while Lee was in Viet Nam, and here all the women were in similar situations. My thinking was that gee, the women would be supportive and nurturing to one another.It really was not like that there, especially since my husband was at home. It did not matter one iota that he had recently returned from Viet Nam. Most of the rest of the women there did not have a man at home and were very sarcastic towards me because I did. Another huge aspect was that many of these women needed a lot of assistance and that was the reason they were moved there by their husbands. While Lee was in school he did some work with Social Services, and some of the stories were very sad. Stories of women left there with hardly any money to live on, especially women from foreign lands who were not familiar with life in the U.S.A. One Oriental lady whose husband sent her an allotment of $200.00 per month to live on. She and her 2 little children were almost starving, and she believed her husband when he told her he did not have more money to send. Needless to say, that man was returned to the US promptly. These situations were not looked on kindly by the Commanding Officers and hindered greatly a man's career. There were woman who had drinking problems and their children were pretty much on auto pilot. Child abuse was rampant as well as many other family problems. After awhile Lee decided to moonlight at a local hospital, St. John's which was run by the Sister's of Concordia. He took a job working in ICU, the pay was $3.23 per hour and he was a CRNA. Now of course we are talking about 1972, but that sure would not have been much to support a family on. Lee enjoyed working there, and of course he was very well liked by the nuns. Life in Kansas was sure different than any other place we have ever lived before or since. Actually, it was the first place we ever lived where we saved money. There really was not much to spend it on. About half way through the year I saw a notice in the newspaper for a CNA course, so I thought, why not give it a try. It was a 6 wk course and I received a certificate at the completion of the course. Now that I was equipped to work in the hospital I wanted to work part time too. So I hustled myself down to St. John's Hospital and was hired on Med. Surg. as a Cna. I worked 2 days a week and really learned a lot, and enjoyed it as well . Little did I know at that time that I would be starting Nursing School in Texas 8 years later. We did take some very nice trips while stationed in Kansas, and we went camping with our travel trailer several times as well. One of the most memorable trips we took was to Grand Teton's National Park and Yellowstone Nat'l Park. Everything you see and read about those places is absolutely true. When you are there, it felt spiritual with a tranquility that I had never experienced before. It brought many thoughts to me, such as the great difficulty the early pioneers must have endured as they traversed those majestic mountains. I felt so very grateful for every sacrifice and every scintilla of blood which they shed for us, as they blazed the trail for future generations. Actually, it is beyond my comprehension to even try to fathom the terrible hardships they experienced. They had tenacity that we can only imagine. We have lost that determination and toughness somewhere over the generations I fear
Lee graduated in May 1973 with his BSN and we prepared for yet another move. This move was happier, in part because we were heading back east, but more importantly because Lee had been assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This was a huge step forward for Lee's career. Walter Reed was one of "thee" places to get your ticket punched towards faster promotions. Actually, Lee was promoted from the secondary zone while he was stationed there. (that means that it was suggested that he be promoted ahead of his peers on his evaluations) At that time in the military many of the higher officers were woman. This was due to the fact that men had not gravitated towards the nursing profession in the military yet. Lee has always been very well liked as well as being very competent and it wasn't long before he was noticed by the "powers that be."
It is getting late, and as usual I have gotten long winded. Having said that I will bring this chapter of my life to a close. God Bless.
Carol
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