COL Valerie E. Biskey, USA NC Ret. Oral History Part 1

title:

COL Valerie E. Biskey, USA NC Ret. Oral History Part 1

creator:

Biskey, Valerie (Payne) (1947 - 2011 July 3)

subject:

Army Nurse Corps

description:

Part 1 of 3. Valerie Biskey (formerly Paine) was born in 1947 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Growing up, she and her brother David were raised mostly by their mother and aunt, because their father was a Chief Boatswain Mate in the Navy so he was often at sea duty. Her mother worked as a secretary, and her aunt was a Major in the Army Nurse Corps who served in Germany and at Walter Reed during World War II. When Biskey was young, her aunt cut down one of her old uniforms to make one that fit Biskey, and wearing this uniform made her realize she wanted to be a nurse. They moved around a lot while growing up, so she attended several different public schools from 7th to 12th grade. After graduating from Burrows High School, she attended Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, California and graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She then enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps as a Private First Class and went to basic training in San Antonio in August 1969 at Brooks Army Medical Center. She was then stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, where she met her future husband. They dated for six weeks before getting married. In January 1970, Biskey volunteered to go to Vietnam and was one of two women shipped out in March. Once she made it to Vietnam, she was stationed at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Bihn, where she stayed for 17 months. While there, she was very disconnected from other current events, she didn’t know about the Apollo 13 landing, and she didn’t know the reality of the larger Vietnam War, largely because her family left it out of her letters to shield her. Biskey left Vietnam and flew to Hawaii in late July 1971. From there, she went to Huntsville, Alabama as a Head Nurse at an outpatient emergency room. Valerie Biskey passed away on July 3, 2011. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Scott, Kate M.

date:

2006-03-31

type:

Moving Image

format:

Hi-8

identifier:

081.01; 2006.081

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

008969

coverage:

Vietnam War (1964-1975) | 1980s | 1990s | 1967-95

rights:

Unrestricted