MAJ Judith A. Rosenkotter, USAR NC Ret. Oral History

title:

MAJ Judith A. Rosenkotter, USAR NC Ret. Oral History

creator:

Rosenkotter, Judith A. (Lewis) (1938 January 10 - )

subject:

Air Force | Army Reserve | Army Nurse Corps

description:

Judith A. Rosenkotter (formerly Lewis) was born on January 10, 1938 in Omaha, Nebraska. She grew up in several cities throughout Nebraska and graduated from high school while living in Lincoln. She wanted to pursue nursing and has a dysfunctional relationship with her father and stepmother, so her school counselors asked if she had considered the military. Her two older brothers were already in the Air Force, so when she turned 18 in 1956 she enlisted in the Air Force too. She went to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and was stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in Trenton, New Jersey as an air passenger specialist. At times she also worked in other positions, including fleet service and as an announcer in the air terminal. She hoped that when she left the Air Force in 1957 she’d have enough saved for nurse’s training, but did not. She did, however, have an aunt who was kind enough to offer to pay for it herself. She went into nurse’s training with the goal of going back to the Air Force and serving as a flight nurse, but met and married her husband before doing so. She continued nursing and they lived in Grand Island, Nebraska, when one day a new neighbor moved in. This neighbor, named Sheri, was an Army-educated nurse who was in the Reserves while raising two small children. Upon finding this out, Rosenkotter decided that if Sheri could raise two young kids while in the Army Reserves, she certainly could while raising teenagers. Although she was beyond the age limit, because of her professional experience and prior service she was still allowed to join. She joined as a 1st lieutenant, and served with the 82nd field hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, which had a satellite unit in Grand Island. She trained medics at the nearby Veterans Hospital for several years. After Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, her unit was sent to Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania for mobilization training, which they completed in November 1990. Since she was an operating room nurse, when she heard the 410th evacuation hospital had called for more operating room nurses she volunteered to go rather than waiting to be called in. She was then sent to the 403rd Military Police Prisoner of War Camp hospital and Fort Riley, Kansas. She ended up staying with the 403rd when they made it to Kansas rather than moving to the 410th. She shipped off to Saudi Arabia with the 403rd, although she didn’t think the medics were prepared for emergency care at the time. She mostly did in-processing for the prisoners and treatment of the 1,400 MP troops stationed with or near them. Because her medics were underprepared, she had her medical books sent over along with the 91-B manuals from the Army, training them after they reached their station to ensure they were able to function more effectively as medics. She also got about 150 MPs stationed there qualified as Combat Lifesavers so they could perform emergency care themselves while waiting for the medical team to arrive. She returned home after the closing of Operation Desert Storm, and for three years after her return she had nightmares about being back in Saudi Arabia, especially related to two tent fires that happened while she was there. She returned to the two part-time jobs she held before her deployment, but it didn’t work because she kept getting sick. The most extreme instance was in December 1994, when she nearly died from an episode of pericarditis. In 1998, she found out she was positive for H. pylori, which caused severe stomach ulcers that she eventually recovered from. All of these episodes, along with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, arthritis, and fibromyalgia she was also diagnosed with, are a result of “Gulf War Syndrome” and continued having trouble working and volunteering like she had before her deployment. She has volunteered with the Veteran’s History Project as an interviewer and as a trainer for new interviewers. When she left the service in 2003 Rosenkotter had reached the rank of major, and for her service she was awarded an army Service Ribbon, Army Lapel Button, National Defense Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal with an oak leaf cluster, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with an oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, and Bronze Star. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Molczyk, Lawrence

date:

2004-07-02

type:

Moving Image

format:

DVD-R

identifier:

807; 2004.807

source:

VHP | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

256500

coverage:

Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm—1990-1991 | 1956-57 | 1981-2003

rights:

Unrestricted