Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:40 | It wasn't all work and no play. For Red Cross representative Joy Ehly and the nurses at the hospital there were birthday parties and going home parties. They could catch a lift to the beach on a helicopter. They weren't supposed to be flying without clearance but they did it anyway.
Keywords : Joy Ehly Red Cross Vietnam party Long Binh Vung Tau Phu Loi Bearcat Base
Joy Ehly spoke French before she spoke English while growing up in Louisiana. The first in her family to graduate college, she went straight to work at the state Public Welfare department but she was restless and wanted to travel. The American Red Cross seemed like the perfect thing.
At her stateside Red Cross post, Joy Ehly connected patients and families and did a lot of paperwork. Probably will be pretty much the same in Vietnam, right? She was the only woman on the plane on the flight over and she began to get apprehensive but a GI in the next seat proved to be good company.
As the plane neared it's destination in Vietnam, Joy Ehly could see air strikes in the distance. Immediately soaked in perspiration, she bunked at a rundown officers quarters where, amazingly, two famous American actors were also billeted. The young Red Cross worker was assigned to the 3rd Field Hospital which was not in the field but in downtown Saigon.
Despite it's name, the 3rd Field Hospital was the premier hospital in South Vietnam. Red Cross worker Joy Ehly had to keep emotionally distant from the patients and it was hard, especially with the pitiful burn patients. Beside her duties there, she accompanied the doctors and nurses on MEDCAPS, civilian action programs to support the needs of civilians.
Some of her duties were similar to what she was doing back in the States but, now, she was in a war zone. Red Cross worker Joy Ehly was at the biggest and best hospital in South Vietnam. She and the rest of the staff there also took care of two Vietnamese orphan girls.
Joy Ehly was awakened by rocket fire. She was a Red Cross worker at the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon and this was unheard of. This area was completely safe until now. It was the start of the Tet Offensive. There were no troops to protect them so rifles were issued to ambulatory patients.
Joy Ehly loved Saigon. The beautiful old colonial architecture and the great restaurants were very satisfying. A sudden monsoon rain could leave you soaked but you developed a sense of humor. It was essential.
She had mixed feelings when it was time to go home. There was still work to do. But, for Red Cross worker Joy Ehly, her dream assignment was waiting for her in Germany. It was there that she met and married another Vietnam vet. They never discussed the war until one fateful day.
Texas dedicated a Vietnam Veterans monument in Austin and it was at that ceremony that Joy Ehly had the time of her life. Former Red Cross workers who'd served in Vietnam like herself and veterans were meeting and mixing and remembering their experiences.
