Submitted Photo Patricia “Pat” Ley, third from left, sits with other military veterans at the Heart of America Haaland Estates in Rugby on Veterans Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11. From left to right are Gilmen Jorgenson, U.S. Air Force; Otto Geigle, U.S. Army; Ley, U.S. Army Reserve; and Ray Norsby, Warren Malcomb and Darcy Robinson, all U.S. Army.

Patricia “Pat” Ley, who served with the U.S. Army Reserve as a nurse, recalled a conversation with her dentist in 1956 when her dentist told her and some of her friends the Army was looking for nurses.

Ley and her friends took the conversation seriously. Ley enlisted as a nurse and served until 1962.

Ley was able to travel across the United States for training. The nurses wore green fatigues, also known as the Army green service uniform with “pumps” (shoes) that women wore with their uniform and pencil skirts.

Ley and other women who were training in the medical field were able to train with men, learning how to take apart and clean their service weapons while learning nursing skills including tending to high risk wounds and helping with breathing complications.

According to Ley, while she was stationed at Fort Snelling’s 133rd Hospital in Colorado setting up a 100-unit tent hospital, Boy Scouts came for a jamboree. The nurses were able to help the Boy Scout troops with their medical needs, and console the ones who were homesick. While they were there, the Boy Scout leader had a heart attack, and the nurses made the decision to send the leader to a different hospital. They felt it was the right decision.

Today, Ley’s Army nurse uniform is on display at the Barnes County Museum in Valley City.

Ley recalls her experience in the Army as a nurse, was wonderful and often talks with other veterans who reside at the Heart of America Haaland Estates Facility in Rugby. All enjoy talking about their service time.