Dear Lana,

In Spring of 1975 I was a 21 year old registered nurse attending Sonoma State University's RN to BSN Program.

It was April and in the middle of my public health class, a classmate stormed into the room and stated nurses were urgently needed to help at the Presidio to triage and care for a
plane load of babies who would be arriving that evening.

Without hesitation, my hand went up. Kathryn Elliot, myself, and our classmate met with volunteers from Flower of the Dragon, a support group/organization for Vietnam veterans.

Yes, I was one of the nurses who was there in the Presidio, when the first plane crashed, helping to support the intended future parents of these children who perished, and then to go on to help plan and coordinate the triage efforts that took place the next day.

I wrote quite a bit about that extraordinary experience, and only a couple of weeks ago pulled out my notes along with the San Francisco Chronicle front page story about the ordeal.

Those two and a half days are forever etched in my memory and I often have shared some of those details with my nursing students (I teach at Portland Community College in Oregon).

This weekend I will be speaking at the OR Student Nurses Association convention about our campaign to establish an Office of the National Nurse, and our keynote speaker is Colonel Regina Aune.

***EDITOR'S NOTE: Colonel Regina Aune is a survivor of the C5A Babylift plane crash, April 4, 1975. Although suffering from several injuries herself, she heroically cared for the injured babies until help arrived after the plane went down.***

How exciting it will be to meet her.

Best wishes,
Teri Mills RN, MS, ANP, CNE
President National Nursing Network Organization
www.nationalnurse.org
Email: teri@nationalnurse.info