WWII Vets

Every nurse has her favorites. My all time favorite patients without question are...WWII Veterans. I could quickly answer that it is because my father was in the Air Force during the war, but it's so much more than that.

When I walk into a room with an 80+ gentleman on the stretcher I slow down and my heart softens. While looking for a good vein, I ask "Where were you during WWII"? Regardless if dementia has taken parts of their life away from them today, it doesn't seem to touch those years. Without missing a beat they tell me how old they were when it started, which arm of the service they joined, how they told their families and where they were stationed.

I stop what I'm in the middle of, take his hand, look straight into his eyes and say "Thank you. Thank you for what you gave. It's because of men like you that I'm living the good life". They look back with such heart I can feel my own in my throat. They pat my hand with tears in their eyes then look off into a memory.

Once the heart of it has settled I look back up while taping the IV and say... "But you know...they just don't make men like you anymore. "It's true" I continue. "You put aside everything and gave yourself to a higher cause. You came home and somehow moved on past broken bodies, lost brothers and postponed dreams. Your family came first and you seemed driven by a sense of honor. It showed. That's how this daughter saw it anyway, I had one of the best".

By now even the little wife has tears rolling down her cheeks. But I'm Irish and on a roll, I'm not done. "Then we have to pick from a self-centered generation that believes a Porsche is the measure of a man and his inner-child comes first". Now he's laughing and starts telling stories.

I took care of a Norwegian WWII vet who was really joker. He told me "You know we helped the Allies out too. And when I came home I had to ride a train for two hours into the mountains. Then I had to put my ski's on and cross-country into my village"
I said to him "Wow, what was the first thing you did when you got home"? He answered "I made love to my wife of course" I was roaring. Imagine this little white haired man saying that. But then he got me...."Do you want to know what the second thing I did was"? Of course. He looked at me with his twinkling blue eyes and said "Took off my skiis"

The VET