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A Real Hero
2/24/08 | 60Gunner

Posted on 02/25/2008 3:52:04 AM PST by 60Gunner

He was sick, sick, sick.

I inherited him at the change of shift. He was completely with it, but his body was failing him fast.

The offgoing nurse offhandedly reported that the patient was a bomber pilot because his wife of nearly sixty years had mentioned it. (Sixty years! Can you imagine being married that long?)

This man was the only person I had at the beginning of my shift. I signed off on the report and, after reviewing the chart, went into the room to introduce myself as the oncoming nurse.

The patient was asleep, so I spoke with his wife. She informed me that the man was a B-24 "Liberator" pilot. I informed her that I was an amateur World War 2 aviation historian, and she brightened visibly.

"Are you familiar with the B-24 forces that flew out of North Africa in 1943?"

I answered excitedly, "Are you telling me that your husband served in that theater?"

"Yes, I am. He was there."

Something in our conversation awakened the patient, who asked his wife who was there.

"It's your nurse. Do you know that he knows what you did?"

The man raised himself up from the stretcher. "What makes you say that?"

I approached him and said one word: "Ploesti."

My patient looked me straight in the eye for a moment, and then he began to cry.

"Oh, sir!" I said. "I am sorry that I have said something to hurt you!"

"It's not you," he said. "I lost so many friends that day..." he said, his voice trailing away.

"Sir, you are one of my heroes. I have read so much about your friends, and of you. I can't tell you how honored I am to serve you."

The patient looked at me as if I was joking.

"I mean it. I've read abut the Ploesti run."

"What do you know?" He asked.

So I shared all that I had read about the B-24 raid on the German oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, over the years. He filled in the gaps. He was my only patient for more than an hour. And what an hour! The stories he told- I must have seemed like a child at his feet, listening wide-eyed to his accounts of the hardships and terror he and his friends encountered during one of the most horrific parts of the war.

I was finally told by the charge nurse that I had another patient coming in- a young man who got drunk and hit his head, and who was belligerent and combative. I stood up from the bedside and excused myself. The patient took my hand and thanked me.

"How can you thank me after all you have done for me?"

He took my hand in his big paw, and answered simply, "You remember."


TOPICS: Unclassified
KEYWORDS: ernursingstories; rememberus; ww2heroes
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1 posted on 02/25/2008 3:52:07 AM PST by 60Gunner
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To: MaryFromMichigan; SunnyUsa; bad company; RobFromGa; doodlelady; Slings and Arrows; NonValueAdded; ..

Meeting a REAL hero ping!


2 posted on 02/25/2008 3:52:59 AM PST by 60Gunner (Please tell me the roads are clear so I can go home...)
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To: 60Gunner

Thanks for posting, 60Gunner. What happened to this gentleman?


3 posted on 02/25/2008 4:09:43 AM PST by Huntress (“When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”--Tuco)
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To: 60Gunner

Blurry very blurry.Thanks for posting gunner.


4 posted on 02/25/2008 4:24:26 AM PST by HANG THE EXPENSE (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: 60Gunner

I just finished reading a book called, “Bomber Pilot” by Philip Ardery, where he gives a first-hand description of that raid and others from North Africa and also raids over Germany from England. Very good book.


5 posted on 02/25/2008 4:30:51 AM PST by libertylover (How does enabling Mrs. Clinton or Obama help The United States of America?)
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To: 60Gunner

My dad was a side gunner flying first out of Tunisia then Italy. Not on the Ploesti raid though.


6 posted on 02/25/2008 4:49:03 AM PST by wtc911 ("How you gonna get back down that hill?")
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To: 60Gunner

Can you add me to your ping list? Sniffle, Thanks, Sniffle

My 19 yo daughter is starting school soon to be an ER nurse. It makes me proud.


7 posted on 02/25/2008 4:49:56 AM PST by CaliGirl-R (I miss my Hunter "pings")
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To: 60Gunner
"How can you thank me after all you have done for me?"
He took my hand in his big paw, and answered simply, "You remember."

That's all we ever want.

8 posted on 02/25/2008 5:08:59 AM PST by Old Sarge (CTHULHU '08 - I won't settle for a lesser evil any longer!)
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To: MS.BEHAVIN; StarCMC

Pingeroo, ladies.


9 posted on 02/25/2008 5:09:54 AM PST by Old Sarge (CTHULHU '08 - I won't settle for a lesser evil any longer!)
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To: 60Gunner

Thanks for posting. From the sounds of your history, you probably have lots of stories from your own experiences and those told to you by hero patients. God Bless You in all you do and please write more.


10 posted on 02/25/2008 5:36:08 AM PST by kevinm13 (The Main Stream Media is dead! Fox News Channel, FreeRepublic and pookie18 Rocks!)
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To: Old Sarge

Thanks for the ping Sarge. *Sniff*


11 posted on 02/25/2008 5:52:13 AM PST by StarCMC (http://cannoneerno4.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/peoples-information-support-team/ -JOIN US!-We're PIST!)
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To: 60Gunner

A few years ago, I was asked to drive a busload of about 30 VFW members to the start of a parade. As they got off the bus dressed in old uniforms and VFW hats holding shiny M1’s, they all thanked me for driving them 3 miles in a stupid bus. I told them that I couldn’t accept their thanks cause I owe them far more.


12 posted on 02/25/2008 5:59:11 AM PST by cyclotic (Support Scouting-Raising boys to be men, and politically incorrect at the same time.)
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To: 60Gunner

Would you add me to your ping list please?


13 posted on 02/25/2008 6:20:46 AM PST by Auntie Mame (Fear not tomorrow. God is already there.)
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To: 60Gunner
I used to work in an old folks home... lots of stories of WWII; most of the men in there were Marines and Navy who'd served over in the Pacific. Some of them had moved inland because they couldn't stand the sight of a beach.

One of the couples, right before they both died within about a month of each other, celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary...
14 posted on 02/25/2008 6:22:26 AM PST by verum ago (The Iranian Space Agency: set phasers to jihad!)
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To: 60Gunner
Meeting a REAL hero ping!

Yes, the REAL heros are those that have served in combat and those that still do.
And almost invariably, they will not talk about it in a boasting or bragging manner. If you ask they will tell you what it was like for them but they don't volunteer the information because many times it does bring back memories they would rather not remember all the time.

15 posted on 02/25/2008 6:22:47 AM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: SoCalPol; silent_jonny; Wolfstar

Ping to a great patriotic post by a master story teller.

If you haven’t had the privilege yet of reading 60gunner’s ER stories, you’re in for a treat.


16 posted on 02/25/2008 6:44:36 AM PST by b9
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To: imahawk

Blurry indeed. Oh what a loss we are experiencing as these gentlemen depart us to return to our Savior, family and friends.
God Bless them.


17 posted on 02/25/2008 6:45:38 AM PST by mcshot (Missing my grade school desk which protected from nuclear blasts.)
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To: 60Gunner
Thanks for making me cry at work.

God bless you for serving a hero. We need them now more than ever.

18 posted on 02/25/2008 7:24:29 AM PST by Volunteer (Just so you know, I am ashamed the Dixie Chicks make records in Nashville.)
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To: 60Gunner

Another great story! Thanks! My kids tease me because I have so many old friends, but I love to listen to them and their stories.

Have you thought any more about doing your book? You really should. You’re in a position to capture these stories and memories, and you obviously have a great rapport with your patients.

I get teased alot about my overwhelming curiosity—if I was a cat I’d have long been dead! How else can you find out anything?! I hear the neatest stories because I am curious, and I enjoy listening to people.

Will you add me to your ping list, please? Thanks!


19 posted on 02/25/2008 7:30:23 AM PST by gardengirl
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To: 60Gunner

A great article for a great American, one of many. Thanks!


20 posted on 02/25/2008 7:45:05 AM PST by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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