User:Drmmatty/Joan Craigwell
Joan T. Arrington Craigwell, RN, MSN, MA is a retired flight nurse Captain in the U.S. Airforce who holds a Bronze Star Medal for her service during the Vietnam War. She is best known for her service as a nurse during the Tet Offensive in January 1968 in the Vietnam War[1][2]. She helped to organize the first Stand Down to support veterans experiencing homelessness, ran San Diego Veterans Outreach Center, worked as a psychiatric nurse and a professor at MiraCosta College, and served as a head nurse supervisor at a Vascular Open Heart surgery unit[1][2]. She is in the San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame[3]. She currently lives in Carlsbad, CA[4].
Education and Personal Life[edit]
Joan T. Craigwell was born in 1937 in Demopolis, Alabama, where she and her family experienced blatant racism throughout her childhood[4][5]. Craigwell earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1960, despite discrimination against African Americans in the educational system. She joined the U.S. Airforce in 1961. She first served as a flight nurse on a C141 after training at the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. She was stationed at both the Clark Air Base in the Philippines and Republic of South Vietnam[6]. She was the Head Nurse Supervisor for triaging during the Tet Offensive, where she was in charge of setting up nursing units[4]. She worked in the Quonset hut hospital at Cam Ranh Bay Base. She was honorably discharged as Captain, after she was unable to extend her tour[2].
She later went to graduate school in Southern California, where she earned a Master of Science in Nursing and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. Through her work, she seeks to advance care for veterans, especially for those who experience PTSD[7][3].
Awards[edit]
National Disabled American Veterans Commanders' Award[3]
Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Brain Trust Award[3]
Congressional Distinguished Service Award[3]
San Diego's phenomenal women in medicine and health[1]
Media[edit]
She has written poetry, including the poem "Dark Angel," which focuses on her time as a U.S. Air Force triage nurse during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War. This poem is featured in Radical Visions: Poetry by Vietnam Veterans[8].
Craigwell has been featured in North Coast Calvary's Interview Special[4].
Craigwell was interviewed for PBS SoCal View from Cam Ranh Bay Airbase: One Nurse's Story[2].
- ^ a b c Facebook; Twitter; options, Show more sharing; Facebook; Twitter; LinkedIn; Email; URLCopied!, Copy Link; Print (2020-04-19). "Phenomenal San Diego women in medicine and health". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d "View from Cam Ranh Bay Airbase: One Nurse's Story". PBS SoCal. 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ a b c d e "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ a b c d Calvary, North Coast (2019-01-16), An interview With Joan Craigwell: MLK special, retrieved 2020-07-12
- ^ "Vets shunned during homecoming to be honored". KGTV. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ Ogletree, Kim (2018-05-02). "African Black American Film Society Celebrates African American Women in Times of War and Conflict". New York Film Academy Blog. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ System, VA San Diego Healthcare. "What Veterans Day Means to Me - VA San Diego Healthcare System". www.sandiego.va.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ "Radical visions: poetry by Vietnam veterans". Choice Reviews Online. 32 (04): 32–1976-32-1976. 1994-12-01. doi:10.5860/choice.32-1976. ISSN 0009-4978.