I had just graduated from college in 1968. I was a nurse working in the Medical Center area of Chicago. Cook County, the VA, the U of I hospital and Rush Hospital was all in the same vicinity. A Black nurse pulled me aside and told me not to leave the hospital that night because trouble was coming. The city along Roosevelt Road, near the hospitals, was set on fire. I will never forget looking out the windows and seeing army tanks parked along the streets protecting the hospitals. I was also there when they were looking for nurses to go to Grant Park during the Democratic Convention. A lot of the nurses came back with horrible bruises after they got hit by the police batons in Grant Park when they tried to help people. My mother was a juror on that infamous trial against the police who were responsible for the death of Freddie Hampton. The verdict got thrown out. I was also one of those young people who went to downtown Chicago during parades and was snorting at the police. Those were wild times. Anyway, feel free to contact me.
"I was also there when they were looking for nurses to go to Grant Park during the Democratic Convention. A lot of the nurses came back with horrible bruises after they got hit by the police batons in Grant Park when they tried to help people."
At that time I was stuck at O'hare airport, trying to catch a flight out on military standby. Sat in the waiting lounge a couple of days until I found a flight with an extra seat available. Didn't understand what had happened until I returned to my base.