Sysnopsis of oral history interview with Linda S. Schwartz

              Video Log
Linda Spoonster Schwartz
U.S. Air Force
Vietnam
b. July 16,1944
Interviewed on 4/15/2004 by
Eileen Hurst
0:00:07 introduction
0:01:08 enlisted in Air Force; living in Wadsworth,OH
0:01:21 why joined; when she joined, one less man from her county would have to go
0:02:37 why Linda picked Air Force; inspired by article in Readers Digest about a flight nurse
0:03:42 first days in service; March 1968; Shepherd Air Force Base; “contract nurse”; then on to Amarillo AFB in TX where there were 16 2nd Lts.
0:05:44 Shepherd AFB for basic training; marching, practice triage, training with tear gas; story about Lt. Forrester who made them sing Yankee Doodle during tear gas training
0:07:26 instructors; Lt. Forrester, Capt. Andrews, Major Colavito was great role model
0:08:31 Tachikawa AFB in Japan; casualties from Vietnam were air evacuated to Japan; spent two years at Tachikawa
0:09:07 typical day for a nurse in Japan; 12 hour days; assigned to traumatic brain injuries and facial injuries, blind or eye problems; couldn’t do enough for the soldiers
0:11:17 most memorable experience was Hamburger Hill in spring of 1969 worst for casualties; huge number of casualties; wounded soldiers still had field dressings on; over 500 casualties within an eight hour period; description of feelings about the casualties; how this incident changed Linda’s life forever; at this point, Linda decided to make the military her career
0:13:23 life outside the hospital; Japan was also an R & R center; went to Newotoni Hotel in Tokyo where they had Japanese gardens; took men on R & R there
0:14:25 taped messages to home; called once in a while
0:15:10 living conditions; Linda’s quarters were a barracks for kamikaze pilots; Cynthia Yamamoto was friend and fellow nurse who had Japanese background and encouraged Linda to explore new country; climbed Mt. Fuji
0:17:18 to relieve stress of duties, partied every day; story about Marine Corps ball; nurses didn’t talk about stress of job; just did their jobs
0:19:45 went to Plattsburg AFB in NY; Strategic Air Command (SAC); low key after Japan; decided to train as flight nurse; met future husband at Plattsburg AFB
0:21:38 orders to Germany
0:21:55 flight nurse training at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, TX; school of Aerospace Medicine for 6 weeks; physiology of flight
0:22:23 8 years in Germany with 2nd Aero medical Evacuation Group; left active duty when daughter was born
0:23:35 duties as flight nurse; flew in C-9s and 141s; territory was entire European theater, Russian and Middle East; description of typical missions; up to 60 patients on aircraft; challenging missions; story about bus accident in Spain with American students involved – brought 20 litter patients to Madrid for treatment