Alicia Harper Fitzgerald will be the first to tell you that she is not a hero.
“I am not at all a hero like the men who were over there fighting in Vietnam,” she said. “I simply helped out where I was needed.”
Armed with a smile, Fitzgerald served on staff with the Red Cross during the Vietnam War. She was among the hundreds of women who extended a helping hand and offered a reminder of home as the servicemen faced the grim, dark reality of death and war.
She says she is not a hero. But her dedication and fortitude to travel to Vietnam amidst uncertainty and conflict is a testament of her own courage.
A Family Tradition
Fitzgerald is a native of Fayette, a small town in Jefferson County.
She was born into a medical family with a rich history of service and patriotism.
From as early as the Spanish-American War, the men in Fitzgerald’s family served their country.
“From the earliest part of my childhood, there was always family talk about my uncle Howard Baker,” Fitzgerald said. “He was on the Battleship New Jersey in World War II. He was a hero to us kids.”
Fitzgerald also had uncle who served in the Medical Corps in World War I.
“I heard him tell stories as well,” Fitzgerald said. “I found his uniform when he died, and my brother donated it to Camp Shelby.”
Fitzgerald’s own father was “too young” to serve in World War I and “too old” to serve in World War II.
But her family embraced their history of service, particularly in the medical field. Fitzgerald always knew she wanted to do something with hospital work and service to her country.
A Call to Serve
Fitzgerald was a general news and feature reporter at The Natchez Democrat when she strongly considered joining the Red Cross.
“My boss at the newspaper simply loved the Red Cross,” she said. “He really believed in what the Red Cross did. While there, there was a huge recruitment to go into the national Red Cross.”
Reflecting back on her family’s medical service, Fitzgerald decided to join the organization in 1967.
Fitzgerald became part of the Red Cross staff, not just a volunteer.
Little did she know that a year later, she would be in Vietnam.
“I volunteered to go to Vietnam,” Fitzgerald said. “I was young, idealistic.”
Fitzgerald got a taste of war only a few short hours after her arrival in Vietnam.
“There was rocket attacks the first night I got there,” she said. “I was in the dayroom, right before dinner. And it was the tail end of the dry season. The ground cracked open because it was so dry.”
As the clouds formed over the area, Fitzgerald knew that the rainy season was about to hit Vietnam.
“All of a sudden, there was a hard rumbling,” Fitzgerald said. “I asked everybody, ‘is that incoming?’ They laughed at me and told me that it was just thunder.”
Everyone thought Fitzgerald, “the newcomer,” was simply nervous.
But she was right.
“Fifteen minutes later, we got a call,” she said. “A few miles away, an air base had been hit. They were requesting back-up surgical teams. I hadn’t even spent a night there yet, and there was already a rocket attack. There were three more that day.”
Armed with a Smile
A gentle face. A warm smile. A helping hand.
Those are the things Fitzgerald carried with her as she did her best to make the servicemen comfortable during their stay at the military hospital.
From recreation to communication, Fitzgerald was ready to serve.
“We visited the patients on the ward,” she said. “We took them Kool-Aid and other things. If their armed was banged up or if they couldn’t sit up, they would dictate letters to us. We would write them and send them in the mail.”
“The men from the South would get so excited when they heard my Southern accent coming down the hall,” she added, with a smile. “It was a reminder of home for them, and they liked hearing it.”
Half way across the world, Fitzgerald would often run into people from her hometown.
“There was a young lieutenant from Fayette, and we shared such wonderful memories of home,” she said. “He begged to get back out to combat. He ended up getting killed. I remember I wrote a letter to his aunt back home.”
Beauty Amidst Bloodshed
Fitzgerald was not located in a combat zone. The area the military hospital was located in was considered “plush” by many.
Outside of servicemen, the hospital also accepted orphans from areas that were hit hard by conflict.
At times, Fitzgerald was even able to take the servicemen to a nearby beach and pool for rest and relaxation as they recovered.
“If you could separate the idea of war from Vietnam, it really was a beautiful place,” Fitzgerald said. “Saigon was really a charming city that reminded me of an oriental New Orleans.”
Fitzgerald would take in the sights and smells of the area. She admired some of the architecture. She sampled fresh seafood and unique spring rolls.
But then she would be reminded of war, bloodshed, violence and the war.
“We were walking through the city when a Vietnamese man’s horse collapsed right in front of us,” she said, looking down. “He began beating the horse. The poor horse was dead. But he kept on...”
Even on the peaceful beach with the servicemen, war was around them.
“I was waiting on the bus on that beach when I looked across the river and saw two jets dive bombing something,” Fitzgerald said. “I was sitting on this beautiful beach, and there were planes bombing something a few miles away.”
Fitzgerald also found beauty in her fellow man. The nurse and doctors at the military hospital were an inspiration to her as well.
“It was so wonderful what these young people were doing to save lives,” she said. “They were so young, in their 20s. I wasn’t a lifesaver like them. I was merely a comfort person.”
Returning Home
Fitzgerald remained in Vietnam for one year.
But the memories stayed with her.
“I really do think I had Post Traumatic Stree Disorder at first,” she said. “Over there, you are so busy. You don’t have time to stop and think about what you saw. I would have nightmares when I got home. But it didn’t last long, not like the people in combat.”
Like many Red Cross staff members and volunteers, Fitzgerald may have had an impossible mission in Vietnam.
They had to help the troops forget about the way.
From a cup of fruit punch to a entertaining conversation to a pat on the back to an open ear...they were there to bring a touch of home to a war zone.
“It was one of the very best experiences of my life,” Fitzgerald said. “It doesn’t have any relation to life now or what life was before that. It was a wonderful experience.”
