Linda Sue Lloyd

At the end of my Junior year in nursing school, I signed up to enter the Army Student Nurse Program. In exchange for their paying for my last year of school and passing my state board of nursing exams, I was licensed as an RN.
I was sworn in as a 2LT in the Army Nurse Corps and reported to basic training in San Antonio, TX for Medical Service School. Then I was sent to El Paso, TX, to attend the Basic Operating Room course for nurses, and earned the MOS 3443 operating room nurse. I was stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. I served under COL. Alice Metzger, the chief nurse in the OR.
It was there that I scrubbed on many cases in many surgical specialties, including vascular, open-heart, kidney transplant, neurosurgery (including brain tumors, aneurysms, and spinal discs), General, ENT, Eye, Plastic, Gynecology, and spinal disc surgery. My mom joined the Cadet Nurse Corps while she was in nursing school during WWII. My dad was in the Marine Corps during WWII, and they both were patriots who served as an example for me. My husband was in college and was not drafted, but he has always been proud of me for volunteering to serve my country in the Army Nurse Corps.
I am grateful for my service training and the experiences I had. I used my GI education benefits to earn my BSN. In 2001, I began an internship and earned the credentials of CRNFA. For the last 15 years of my career, I served as a Certified Registered Nurse First Assistant to surgeons in open-heart, General, Gynecological, Plastic, and Vascular surgeries. I had a long and rewarding career as an OR nurse. My parents, my husband, and my children have all been very proud of my service.