PRINTS OF THE PAINTING ARE AVAILABLE FOR $15 PLUS $3 SHIPPING.BY EMAILING JIM DAVIS NELSON |
IN MEMORY OF ANN CUNNINGHAM 12TH EVAC HOSPITAL VIETNAM 1967 |
THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
The patch we wore before the Army developed the official crest |
Official 12th Evac Pin |
IN MEMORY OF ANN CUNNINGHAM WORDS FROM SOME OF ANNIE'S FRIENDS I have been in formed that Ann Cunningham has passed away. Ann was at the 25th Infantry/27th Wolfhound Pack Reunion in Lexington, Ky. It was originally reported that she had a massive stroke and later learned it was a severe aneurysm sometime late last night. I was standing with her good friend also with the 12th Evac, Donna Johnson when she got the call that Ann was taken off life support. Ann was more than a good and special friend. I first met her at the 2000 Wolfhound Reunion in St. Louis. If I remember correctly it was her first Reunion and ( mine too) her flight was late getting in. When she came through the door, we The Wolfhounds had her put down her bags and swissed her off as we headed for a place called the Ashau Valley Bar. It was a grand time and she was forever embrassed by us. She was a member of the Wolfhound Family! I was fortunate to have many personal moments with her and we were in the process of making plans to visit each other the next time I made and annual trip to Roanoke, Va. Ann was a loving, caring and compassionate human being. She once told me that it was not about her. Once again she was amongst those of us she loved so much and I always smiled and told her that she may have been the one to put bandages on me when I was wounded. I will do a couple of things that I know she would want me to to. First, I will do my best and maintain a smile on my face. I feel I got a trade off as Ann left me with Donna. Forty years later it was the best Reunion for me in that I connected with 4 men from my platoon for the first time 40 years later( 2 of whom I remember ; 1 remember vaugely and another who was in the platoon for about a month ). And I know Ann was there enjoying the company of not just Wolfhounds but to all those of the 25th Infantry Division Veterans and Active Duty. You were truly a cherished gift. I will personally miss you as I know so many of you will. You will not be forgotten. You can Rest In Peace! Thank you for being a part of my life and sharing yourself unselfishly with so many of us! Take care Easy!!!!! _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Yo Phillip! I had compiled a message to all of you on the plane ride home. I had so much going on when I first got the news of Ann at the Reunion. There is one story I tell : It's a story of a young man who some of us got together to help find those who knew his dad. They came out of the woodwork and along with this young man made a trip to the wall on Veterans' Day 2006. I recall Ann walking over to this young man and giving him a couple of pictures of his dad in Vietnam. That young man was you. I took this one hard. But I knew I had much of her of still ever inspiring me that she would want me to keep working the crowd --- help keep the spirits lifted ---- and contribute to the chitter chatter of good thoughts at the Reunion. As I have said she was not just one of my best friends, she was best friend to many! And I will truly miss her! Take care Easy!!!!! ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Easy, Thanks buddy...My journey to find my Dad through all of you that humped in the same mud and bled in the same fields as him has been an incredible adventure and one heck of a ride. The domino's have continued to fall leading me from one man to the next that knew my Dad. On Veteran's Day last year Steve Ehart led me to Annie. I will cherish the first time she and I met there at the Women's Memorial and the sincere embrace she gave me. She held my face within the palms of both of her hands and with big tears in her eyes and told me how she loved my Dad, his smile and joking ways. She said everyone that met him loved him. We shared a few tears together and then she gave me the two photos she brought me of my Dad at the Punji Pit in Cu Chi sitting next to LTC Walt Adams. As the journey continued over the past year, Annie and I wrote each other emails on a weekly basis, sharing not just our memories of the past but of our lives now in the present. I have had a couple guys tell me that they don't understand the whole Vietnam reunion thing, and would rather leave the doors closed on those memories. Of this I truly understand on one hand, however on the other hand, for a seven year old little boy who looked upon his Dad as his hero, it was pretty tough growing up without him. I have simply wanted, or better yet, truly needed to find out not just how my Dad had died, but how he had lived. I have never been so humbled as I am to know how he had touched the lives of those around him. He truly loved his country and his men and wrote about them in all his letters home. Now, as a 47 year old man, it touches my very soul befriending those that were his friends and brothers in arms. As my journey has continued to grow, it has taken new turns and has has begun to evolve. I am now not just looking for my Dad through all of you any longer, but feel so incredibly blessed that I have been able to help others find each other. I will always remember how excited Annie was when I told her that I had found Ron Tredway and the numerous follow-up phone calls and emails from her after I hooked the two of them up. Ron and Gary Jones were buddies in their past lives and I know they will be again in their next, right along side Annie and my Dad. Annie is truly an Angel of God...and I feel she will continue to be in all our lives through her incredible Spirit. I look so forward to being with my Dad again some day. I want to tell him about the Wolfhounds that have taken me into their lives with open arms, as I know he would have with their sons or daughters. I also want to tell him about a very special friend of his and mine named Annie Cunningham... Thank you Annie for sharing your life with all of us... Phil Springer Proud Son of Bravo-Six _____________________________________________________________________________________________ My Fellow Wolfhounds, I was just advised by Steve Ehart and Chaplain Carter Tucker that Annie Cunningham passed away at the Wolfhound Reunion in Kentucky yesterday. According to Steve she apparently had a severe aneurysm last night. She was just there at the reunion with so many of the people she cared so much about. What an incredible Gift she was to the Wolfhounds some forty years ago and to the rest of the world that had the sincere pleasure in knowing her ever since. Annie, you can now rest in peace and be with your beloved Lt. Gary Jones within Heaven's gates...May God bless your soul Annie....thank you for touching all our lives... Wolfhounds Forever, Phillip Springer Proud Son of Bravo-Six _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Hey Easy . . . Thanks so much to you, Steve, Chap Tucker and young Springer for keeping me in the loop. There is nothing I can say about Annie that hasn't already been said by so many others. I can only punctuate the comments with my own love and admiration for her. I was so lucky to have had my son meet her at the Wall last November when she came running across the mall to give me a big hug. That's certainly one hug that will be with me forever. And of course her reading at the women's memorial was right on, as always. I feel so privileged to have been a small part of her life. Hang in there bud! With Wolfhound Love, Tom Brewer Alpha 6 9-04-07 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ I spent about 45 days off and on in the 12th Evac. Although my memory is half gone, I do remember the care from all the doctors and nurses, the mortar and rocket attacks they braved while taking care of patients, the giving from their hearts. I didn't get to see Annie at any of the reunions but I know we will meet again someday. Thanks to Annie and all the others that sacrificed so much for the soldiers of the 25th, for freedom, and the love of this country. Craig ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Easy, Phillip Springer forwarded the email and photo you sent him. I remember well when that photo was made with you and Ann Cunningham as subjects. All this recent exchange of messages after losing Ann makes me want to see some Wolfhounds. Maybe at Vet's Day again. Hopefully I'll be free to be at her memorial service as well, an event that is presently in the planning stage but will probably be "at least three weeks in the future." Blessings to you friend, Chaplain Carter Tucker Wolfhounds, 1967 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Yo! I like what you're doing in Ann's honor with your response to Steve. Have a good flight. I've decided to name my new pup "Easy" in honor of the person you are. I know you don't know me, but I was a member of the 12th Evac( 68-70) also and worked with alot of guys in the 25th and my names Hal................peace and welcome home. Hal Lymus September 11, 2007 |
DEDICATED TO AND WITH THANKS ALL NURSES AND MEDICS WHO SERVEDAND TOUCHED THE LIVES OF SO MANY |
Oil painting of 12th Evacuation Hospital Operating Room, entitled "12th Evac Hospital, Cu Chi, RVN, 1966-70 Annie's seated in the foreground. Artist: James Davis Nelson (2/22 Mech, 25th Infantry Division, 1967-68) The 12th Evacuation Hospital at Cu Chi, Vietnam, supported the 25th Infantry Division from 1966-70. The hospital performed surgery on its first wounded soldier in December 1966 and admitted over 37,000 patients before closing fewer than four years later. In addition to the American military, the 12th Evac also served Republic of Vietnam soldiers, civilians and enemy prisoners. The operating room complex of the 12th Evac consisted of two Quonset huts housing a total of seven surgical cubicles. Each patient was carried into a cubicle on a canvas litter that was placed on two sawhorses before the patient was transferred to the operating table. A surgical team generally consisted of two surgeons, a scrub nurse or tech, an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, and a circulating nurse. During mass casualties or when only one surgeon was available, the scrub nurse or tech also served as the assistant. Surgical teams often worked extremely long hours and operated even when the hospital was the target of mortar and rocket attacks. The painting was unveiled November 2004 in San Antonio, Texas, and was on loan to the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 2005-2006. The painting will return to the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Museum in San Antonio in 2007, where it will remain on permanent display. The hand-routed frame by Mike Cheney of Lincoln, Kansas, features the motto and crest of the 12th Evacuation Hospital. Dimensions: 4'5" x 3'2". Models (composite from period photos): Back Row, L-R: 1LT Beth Parks, ANC, OR nurse, 1966-67; SP5 Bob Hall, OR tech, 1969-70; CPT Charlie Campbell, ANC, nurse anesthetist, 1967 Center Arc, L-R: 2LT Ann Cunningham, ANC, OR nurse, 1967-68; CPT Fred Kurrus, MC, surgeon, 1967-68; MAJ Jeriel Beard, MC, surgeon, 1970; SP5 Scott Worley, OR tech, 1968-69 |
Copyright by .James Davis Nelson All Rights Reserved |
PRINTS OF THE PAINTING ARE AVAILABLE FOR $15 PLUS $3 SHIPPING.BY EMAILING JIM DAVIS NELSON |
June 23, 1944 - September 2, 2007 |
EASY WITH JASPER & IRIS JONES - PARENTS OF LT.GARY JONES D 2/27 KIA 2/9/68 |
