Local veteran looks back to Vietnam War on 50th anniversary
The Brief
A local veteran looked back on her time serving in the Vietnam War on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.
Now Linda Pugsley volunteers as a chaplain to treat mental, emotional and spiritual wounds.
Saturday was the annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans & War Dogs Remembrance event at Veterans Memorial Park.
TAMPA - On the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, a local veteran flight nurse shared her experience serving in the Airforce.
Hillsborough County resident Linda Pugsley tended to physical wounds in combat. She said, "Total life-altering damage to their bodies, and it was like, woah."
Now Pugsley volunteers as a chaplain to treat mental, emotional and spiritual wounds. In her early 20s, she worked as a trauma nurse at a Boston-area hospital when she joined the military.
She said, "I was just 21-years-old, and then I joined the reserves as a flight nurse." Pugsley served two tours in Vietnam. "'68 through '69. We got over there about May or June. And then I went back in January '72," she said, "We just did the keep them alive, stop their bleeding, keep them breathing, and put them either to Yokota Airbase in Japan or Clark Airbase in the Philippines."
Saturday marked 50 years since the last American troops left South Vietnam.
Big picture view
Pugsley said her feelings about her time serving are complicated. "What was that all about? I think the disturbing part for those of us in Vietnam. Well, over 58,000 died," she explained, We didn't conquer the enemy. Why did we go?"
She said the Vietnam War was a difficult one for many reasons. She said, "We were stuck in the middle of politics."
And when she returned home, there was a lot to unpack. She explained, "It's kind of like a double whammy. You go through the trauma of war and all of what you had to give up and go through over there.
Many of them lost their friends or saw them get injured, and then they had a guilt complex because they got to go home."
Pugsley said it's a heavy weight that thousands of veterans still carry 50 years later.
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Saturday was a little bit of respite for those brave men and women with the annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans & War Dogs Remembrance event at Veterans Memorial Park.
Pugsley shared the invocation followed by an honor guard, tributes to local Vietnam Veteran inductees to the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame and Southeast Asian performances and cuisine. She said, "I've seen a great change in appreciation for our military and that warms my heart."
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The Source
Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis.
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