Retired Army nurse speaks in Vietnam lecture series

This sixth lecture in the series entitled “Stories of a New Army Nurse” was presented on April 19 in the Riverfront Community Center in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas, by Susan Backs, a retired Army nurse who spent her first tour of duty as a young nurse in Vietnam.

Susan Backs served 23 years on active duty, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Her first Army assignment was at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, Vietnam from 1970 to 1971, as a staff nurse in a 25-bed POW unit and 25-bed orthopedic/gentourinary unit. She provided direct patient care and supervised paraprofessionals. During her presentation she talked about caring for Soldiers, as well as the POWs, in Vietnam. She also revealed how inexperienced she was, but yet how quickly she learned in such a demanding environment. Backs also reviewed a bit of history of Army nursing and Army medical care in general, comparing some statistics from the Civil War, the two World Wars, Vietnam and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The next lecture in the series is scheduled for May 4 at 6 p.m. in the Riverfront Community Center (123 S Esplanade St.) in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas. A reception hosted by the CGSC Foundation will begin at 5:30 p.m. – In this seventh lecture of the series, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rich Kiper, Ph.D., will present “Special Forces in Vietnam.”

Visit the CGSC Foundation Flickr site for more photos from the lecture