By Kathie Rowell

An itch for adventure and travel combined with a desire to serve compelled Col. Peggy Jane Newman, USA (Ret), to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps in 1968 during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. She was 27.

“In ’65, ’66, ’67, you were inundated with pictures of Vietnam and the body counts,” said Newman, a MOAA Life member who retired after 26 years of service. “There was a need, and I certainly had the technical skills and knowledge to help our country, so I said, ‘This is good. I need to be there. I need to help.’”

At the recruiters’ office, she asked for a Vietnam assignment but was told nurses were desperately needed in Japan. After basic training, she was assigned to the 106th General Hospital Burn Center, Kishine Barracks, Yokohama, Japan, which was later transferred to Camp Zama.

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There she found a fast-paced, fluid work environment with a patient population of “young men, brave, worried, happy to be ‘out of country’ (Vietnam), although some wanted to be back with their companies.”  

She remembers caring for the injured, worrying about their futures, and sitting at bedsides to write letters to families.

Still, she took advantage of the unique opportunity to broaden her world view.

“I lived in a Japanese house,” she said. “I didn't want to live in a barracks. I wanted to really jump into the culture, which was fascinating to me.”

She enjoyed the satisfaction of helping, the opportunities for continued development, the camaraderie among the medical staff, and the cultural experience so much that when her two-year tour was up, she eagerly accepted an offer to serve in Vincenza, Italy.

There, she served as head nurse in a 45-bed hospital. It’s also where she met her husband, Col. George E. Newman, USA (Ret), an artillery officer who was assigned to Vincenza. Because nurse assignments were plentiful, they were able to serve together at various locations with their two children until his last posting in Japan. She was a full colonel by then and serving as head nurse at the 130th Station Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany. With no similar assignment available to her in Japan, she retired. He followed three years later.

In retirement, Newman embraced volunteer work. She served as a docent at the National Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C., and is an Army Arlington Lady, one of a group of volunteers who attend every funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery and present cards to next of kin on behalf of the service family. Both she and her husband were active volunteers with CAUSE, Comfort for America's Uniformed Services. Her love for ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arranging, led her to serve as president of Ikebana International Chapter I, Washington D.C.

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Her career, she said, allowed her to see the world, develop her skills, form lasting friendships, and serve the American soldier.

“I wouldn't have changed a minute of it.”

Kathie Rowell is a writer in Louisiana.