Remember Dusty, the nurse in Vietnam?

[TreasonousBastard]

Hello David--my name is Dusty
I'm your night nurse.
I will stay with you.
I will check your vitals
every 15 minutes.
I will document
inevitability.
I will hang more blood
and give you something
for your pain.
I will stay with you
and I will touch your face.

Yes, of course,
I will write your mother
and tell her you were brave.
I will write your mother
and tell her how much you loved her.
I will write your mother
and tell her to give your bratty kid sister
a big kiss and hug.
What I will not tell her
is that you were wasted.

I will stay with you
and I will hold your hand.
I will stay with you
and watch your life
flow through my fingers
into my soul.
I will stay with you
until you stay with me.

Goodbye, David---my name is Dusty.
I'm the last person
you will see.
I'm the last person
you will touch.
I'm the last person
who will love you.

So long, David--my name is Dusty.
David--who will give me something
for my pain?

http://www.illyria.com/dustyhp.html

©1987 by Dusty
"Hello, David" originally appeared in "Shrapnel in the Heart," Random House, 1987.
"Hello, David" is on the Greater Rochester, NY Vietnam Memorial (Select Service of Women)

[1monster]

1. That one brought tears..

:cry:

[GoldenOldie]

2. God Bless the Military Nurses

I was blessed with given the opportunity of working in an Army military hospital during and after Vietnam. Although I was a civilian I worked closely with the military nurses and through them and their association with retired military nurses from WWII, I learned of their battle field experiences and the attachments they made with those they cared for. It left them with unseen mental wounds that they will live with forever. The hospital that I worked with became the advisors for the MASH series. Klinger's first cousin was a MAJ and officer-in-charge of personnel.

[thebaghwan]

3. Goddamn that hurts

n/t

[dusty64]

4. That makes this dusty

sad and mad. SO much suffering for no reason. Damn the warmongers!

[Eloriel]

5. OMG - as if that's not heartwrenching enough

Go to her website and click on "David responds..." near the bottom. Got to a point I couldn't read through the tears, all the comments.

[Vitruvius]

6. Kick.

n/t

[rasputin1952]

7. Kick...one last time...

For David...:hug:

[Valerie5555]

8. Wonder what poems an Oklahoma City or New York firefighter

will come up with, related to their 4-19 or 9-11 experiences.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. I remember a China Beach episode ....

where they had real nurses who had served in Vietnam telling their stories and then they tied their experiences into the story. There was one "Dusty" that said that when she had a soldier that she knew was going to die soon, she always put a little dab of perfume on so that they could not only feel her touch and hear her voice, but that they could smell her too. Just having one caring human being there with them made their passing a little easier.