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It was well recognized that Martha
Raye endured less comfort and more danger than any other Vietnam
entertainer.
Don't let the sun go down without reading this about
Martha Raye.
The most
unforgivable oversight of TV is that her shows were not taped.
I was unaware of her credentials or where she
is buried.
Somehow I just can't see Brittany Spears,
Paris Hilton, or Jessica Simpson doing what this woman and the other
USO women, including Ann Margaret & Joey Heatherton
did for our troops in past wars.
Most of the old time entertainers were made
of a lot sterner stuff than today's crop of activist bland whiners.
The following is from an Army Aviator who
takes a trip down memory lane:
"It was just before
Thanksgiving '67 and we were ferrying dead and wounded from a large GRF
west of Pleiku. We had run out of body bags by
noon, so the Hook (CH-47 CHINOOK) was pretty rough in the back.
All of a sudden, we heard a 'take-charge'
woman's voice in the rear.
There was the singer and actress, Martha
Raye, with a Special Forces beret
and jungle fatigues, with subdued markings, helping the wounded into
the Chinook, and carrying the dead aboard.
'Maggie' had been visiting her SF 'heroes'
out 'west'.
We took off, short of fuel, and headed to the
USAF hospital pad at Pleiku.
As we all started unloading our
sad pax's, a USAF Captain said to
Martha.... "Ms Raye, with all these dead and wounded to process,
there would not be time for your show!"
To all of our surprise, she pulled on her
right collar and said ......."Captain, see this eagle? I am
a full 'Bird' in the US Army Reserve, and on this is a 'Caduceus'
which means I am a Nurse, with a surgical
specialty.... now, take me to your wounded!"
He said, "Yes ma'am.... follow me."
Several times at the Army Field Hospital in
Pleiku, she would 'cover' a surgical shift, giving a
nurse a well-deserved break.
Martha is the only woman
buried in the SF
(Special Forces) cemetery at Ft Bragg.
Hand
Salute! A great lady.
I did not know this about Martha Raye....
thought you might like to read it
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