June 29, 2025: Sarah Blum / “Warrior Nurse”: Still Fighting for Veterans

We’re joined by author Sarah Blum

At the 12th Evacuation Hospital Cu Chi, Vietnam, Sarah Blum is an operating room nurse during the fighting in the iron triangle in 1967. Mass casualties with severely wounded soldiers show up for Sarah, her fellow nurses, and the surgeons to treat in the midst of mortar attacks, monsoons, and exploding artillery.

Her story is intertwined with Johnny, hit by American artillery, and Jim, a baseball pitcher with multiple wounds including to his pitching hand. It encompasses her terror on the tarmac at Bien Hoa air base on the day she leaves, culture shock, emerging PTSD symptoms, assaults by protestors, being head nurse of the orthopedic ward at Madigan General Hospital, and her growing awareness of the effects of the war on her and her fellow soldiers.

Through it all, she learns the essentials to healing PTSD and shares some tools and adjuncts to therapy that ensure anyone with PTSD has the best healing outcome.

People and veterans with PTSD need to know someone has been through it and come out whole on the other side. They need to believe they can heal and be better than they are when in the throes of their symptoms. They need hope and guidance. Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing gives them both.

Learn more about author Sarah Blum.

Our next guest is Vietnam Nurse Sandie Wilson

Sandie Wilson is serving as a Director at Large to VVA’s Board. Wilson spent seven years with the Army Nurse Corps, serving in Vietnam at three hospitals from 1968–1969. She subsequently spent 20 years in the reserves and retired as a Lt. Colonel.

She serves as chair of VVA’s National Agent Orange and Toxic Exposure Committee. At the state level, Wilson served five years as the MI State Council president, five years as state secretary, and on multiple committees. Wilson was appointed to the Michigan Agent Orange Commission, and she is past commander of the Michigan Commanders Group.

Wilson has advocated for her military and veteran brothers and sisters for more than 40 years, aided by her background in nursing, which helps identify opportunities for improvement in the lives of veterans. Military experience added a foundation in teamwork and leadership, she says, and union positions gave her the skills to negotiate and represent on behalf of constituents. Wilson is retired from the University of Michigan.