Green Bay, Wis. (WFRV) – “I wanted to travel and I’m very patriotic,” said Loraine Prue. 

Those two reasons were good enough for Prue to join the Army when a recruiter visited her Coleman high school in 1958.

“I felt very restricted, I had never been out of Coleman until I went into the service,” Prue said.

Now at 18 years old, Prue was headed to Okinawa to do her part serving our country in the Vietnam War.

But her part was different; While so many saw a loss of life, Prue welcomed in new life.

“I worked on the maternity floor as a medic, and it was really.. I don’t want to say fun, but it was nice because every one (there) was having a new addition to their family,” said Prue.

Prue returned home to Wisconsin in 1962,  but never shared much of her story. 

“I didn’t talk about it then because not everybody knew where Okinawa was. I didn’t see anybody being killed and that’s why many men don’t talk about it, your soldiers or your women that are on the battlefield. But most of us say we would do it all over again at that age,” she said.

Now though, Prue has found a place to talk about it, one of just two women’s American Legion Posts in the state, Post 539.

Most of all though, Prue likes the connection she feels to the other veterans- and her patriotic spirit is as strong as ever.

“I’m glad that I did it. People think that you’re brave, I guess.. I don’t feel that I was so brave. I wanted to do something new and different, because you want to do something for your country, I’m going to cry… You want to give back,” Prue said.