Sharon A--July 09.

See You Sooner  By Trish Ostroski

(Narrator)

Sharon A. Lane was born July 7, 1943 in Zanesville, Ohio.  She later moved with her family to a rural area near Canton, Ohio.  After graduating from high school she attended Aultman Nursing School and then began a nursing career followed by a short stint(restrictie)  in the business world. Sharon heard her country calling and joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1968. Little did she know that this would be the start of something that would eventually put her down in history.

She began her basic training in Texas with the rank of Second Lieutenant, and was assigned to Denver, Colorado where she worked in the tuberculosis and cardiac wards. She received a promotion to First Lieutenant, and after a brief stop at Travis Air Force Base in California, she was soon on her way to Vietnam in April 1969.

She arrived at the 312th Evac Hospital at Chu Lai and went to work in the Intensive Care ward and was later assigned to the Vietnamese Ward. She worked 6 days a week, 12 hours per day, in this ward or intensive care.

During the early morning hours of June 8, 1969, a Soviet-built 122-mm rocket slammed into ward 4 of the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Vietnam. The 24 year old Lt. Sharon A. Lane died instantly. Though seven other American military nurses lost their lives serving in Vietnam, Lt. Lane was the only American servicewoman killed as a direct result of enemy fire throughout the war.

Sharon was often noted for using the phrase…”see you sooner” as opposed to the popularized…”see you later”. This piece is composed as a series of letters that Sharon writes to her family and to her friends conveying thoughts she may have been thinking in regards to her experiences.   The last letter is from Sharon’s mother to her deceased daughter.

(Staging—actor on stool reads letter to the audience—dressed in military fatigue top)

April 17, 1969

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am excited about serving in Vietnam. I look forward to putting my nursing skills to good use and serving humanity. When I briefly switched to business while putting my nursing career on hold—it was because I felt I was not being fulfilled as a nurse.

In the military, here stateside, and soon in Vietnam I know I will be both challenged and rewarded. I am certain I will be serving my fellow human beings.

I know you are concerned about my assignment in Vietnam. But please don’t be. Hey -- nurses don’t die in Vietnam unless it is from long hours of work with so much to do—ha- ha. And you know what dad always says—‘hard work never killed anyone”—so I should be plenty safe. And you know my philosophy---

I am thankful for this day. I am thankful for good health.
Today I will go through the day inwardly relaxed and outwardly alert.
I will pay more attention to the things outside of me and less attention
to the things inside me. I will enjoy my food, the weather, my work,
and the people around me. I believe I will be given the strength
to meet whatever problems come to me. I will do my tasks one at a time,
and not try to cross all my bridges at once.

All my love—See you sooner,

Sharon

(Actor takes on a youthful tone)

May 5, 1969

Dear Linda,

Thank you for your recent letter. It is hard to believe that you guys are already starting work on our 10 year high school class reunion. Gee- that it is only two years away. Time flies.  Well when you decide the date and all—please let me know—I will put it in my datebook—ha-ha. I will be out of Vietnam by then—but perhaps not out of the military. Who knows where I will be and what adventure I might be up to?

I work 12 hour days—six days a week. Life is no picnic –but I see the value of the work I do—every day—in the faces of the young guys I care for.

It is hard to believe that a few of the guys in our class have been killed in Vietnam. I still picture Bobby Jordan dancing at the record hops and cruising around in that old car of his. Hard to imagine—he was so full of life and had so many hopes.  I went to the sophomore homecoming dance with Ted Dexter. Even then he had plans to join the military right after graduation. He was so looking forward to a career in the military like his dad. Ted had such bravado about him. He seemed so invincible and now he is gone. One second you are there…and then you are not.

There are a lot of guys like Bobby and Ted here in Vietnam. So young, so sure.

You ask about guys?  Ha-ha. I do meet a lot of single guys. Well I guess you mean romance and love. In my few short weeks here—well nothing like that—But wait—yes there is a lot of love and that is what gets me through the days and the nights.

Just yesterday I was taking care of a critically injured soldier who had little chance from the get go—even though we encouraged his spirits. He looked at me---and

said—“Sharon I never even really had a girlfriend”. I held his hand tightly and he embraced mine.

In the wee hours he slipped through the bond from earth to heaven. He looked so young—yet in some ways so old. I found his prom photo in his wallet posing shyly with a young girl who looked as shy and innocent as he did. Hard to believe that photo was only a year old. He was just a year out of high school—and had not even reached his 19th birthday. He had not even had a real girlfriend. That was something he was looking forward to.  He was holding my hand when he passed away. You might say Linda—I have experienced love—on a level as never before. And that is what gets me through the days and through the nights.

We have a motto—

On my watch you will never be alone.

I will hold your hand and wipe the tears in this land

so far away from home. 

When you see guys with body parts missing and suffering badly you hurt. You see guys feeling alone and you feel alone as well. I see guys in a different manner than I ever have before. It is not about who has a cool car, a cute hair cut, or is even a great dancer. Stuff like that seems so unimportant now.  After a few days here—life looks a lot different.  I have seen guys as human beings as never before. Being in Vietnam is like being in another world.  You couldn't believe that it was real, that you weren't just on another planet."

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