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Down
The following is from an Army Aviator friend who takes
another trip down memory lane:
It was just before Thanksgiving '67 and we were
ferrying dead and wounded from a large GRF west of Pleiku.
We had run out of body bags by
All of a sudden, we heard a 'take-charge' woman's voice
in the rear.
There was the singer and actress, Martha Raye, with a
SF ( Special Forces) beret and jungle fatigues, with subdued markings,
helping the wounded into the Chinook, and carrying the dead aboard.
'Maggie' had been visiting her SF 'heroes' out 'west'.
We took off, short of fuel, and headed to the USAF
hospital pad at Pleiku. As we all started unloading our sad pax's, a
'Smart-Ass' USAF Captain said to Martha. Ms Ray, with all these dead
and wounded to process, there would not be time for your show!
To all of our surprise, she pulled on her right collar
and said.... Captain, see this eagle? I am a full 'Bird' in the US
Army Reserve, and on this is a 'Caduse' which means I am a Nurse, with
a surgical specialty....now, take me to your
wounded. He said, yes mam'... follow me.
Several times at the Army Field Hospital in Pleiku, she
would 'cover' a surgical shift, giving a nurse a well-deserved break.
Martha is the only woman buried in the SF (Special
Forces) cemetery at Ft Bragg.
Hand Salute!
'
Martha Raye
Civilian Warrior
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