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Laurie Druyor

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Laurie Druyor grew up in Methuen, Massachusetts. Her dad was a mechanic and her brother was in the Navy before her, so joining herself didn't seem like a bad idea. After joining, she began her orientation for the Navy Medical Corps and went to Great Lakes Naval Hospital. When it came time to choose where she wanted to go, she chose Vietnam. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.) (4:43)

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After her medical training for the Navy, Druyor went aboard the USS Sanctuary Hospital Ship to Da Nang, Vietnam. While in Da Nang and on the ship, she cared for a cluster of badly damaged patients, some were even burned from nasty landmine explosions. The worst part for her was that many of the patients were also children. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.) (7:11)

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Druyor talks about what it was like working aboard a sizable hospital ship rather than a hospital on land, and expands on seeing the awful effects of war on the children. At a few instances she would go into Da Nang to operate remotely on patients, but those times were few and far in between. Fortunately, she and the other medical personnel experienced no close calls while they were doing their jobs. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.) (3:27)

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One night, while Laurie was eating dinner, the USS Sanctuary got a call about a plane crash. She vividly remembers the patients coming aboard, and the aftermath of this incident, including one boy who was MIA. As difficult as this experience was, it was nothing compared to the Tet Offensive. New wounded were coming in constantly, and trying to care for all of them at once was emotionally exhausting. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.) (5:58)

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After her year in Vietnam was up, Laurie Druyor went back over to the United States to Key West, Florida. She was lucky enough to meet her husband, who was also helping serve in the Vietnam war as a helicopter pilot. She gives her closing remarks and reflections about her experiences in war and what she hopes everyone watching will take away from this. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the Military Heritage Museum- https://freedomisntfree.org/.) (3:40)

Lawrence Abel

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He chose the Air Corps before the draft could get him. After basic training, Lawrence Abel was a member of the ground crew on a fighter squadron. Taking their P-38's to the Aleutian Islands, they settled into an isolated makeshift base and began the effort to oust the Japanese from their small foothold. (3:58)

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The Japanese had a presence on two Aleutian Islands and American units were pushing down the chain, ever closer to them. Ground crew member Lawrence Abel kept P-38's flying in the miserable weather. He describes the dangers faced by pilots in this unusual battleground of the war. (3:30)

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His job was to keep the planes flying, no matter what. Lawrence Abel describes the conditions at the isolated outpost in the Aleutian Islands. The weather was treacherous for aviation and crash landings were a constant worry. How primitive were the conditions way up there? He was still eating out of a mess kit two years after arriving in 1942. (5:57)

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A landing force was assembled, but when it got to the Aleutian island of Kiska, the Japanese had fled. They were on Attu, their last holdout in the isolated island chain. Lawrence Abel recalls a hectic convoy of ships ferrying American units closer to the action. Called home when his father took ill, he did not return and served the rest of the war at stateside air bases. (3:49)

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Lawrence Abel was called back into service for the Korean War. The Air Force maintenance technician kept the planes flying over the 38th Parallel, then he was selected for a secret unit based in Japan. He made a career of it and even took his family with him to his favorite post in England. (4:34)