Colonel Maggie, Special Forces Nurse

Most people know about Bob Hope's trips to Vietnam. But meeting registered nurse and entertainer Martha Raye – better known to the troops as Colonel Maggie – was the highlight event on my tour of duty.

I met Raye in Phu Loi, South Vietnam, in the early part of 1967. She came to the small airfield base camp of my unit, the 128th Assault Helicopter Company. She just arrived and began casually talking to us guys. We, of course, knew of Raye from all her old movies. We'd never had any big-named entertainers come through our camp, so her visit was something very special to all of us.

At that time, Raye's reputation was rapidly growing among veterans. We heard many stories about her from the Special Forces Units out in the boondocks. She had been traveling to Vietnam (I am told that she paid her own way) and spent weeks, sometimes up to six months, at a time in country. Raye kept up this pace for more than nine years during the Vietnam War. She was not there just to entertain the troops, but also engaged in nursing work wherever it was needed. She spent most of her time out in the field or in the hospitals; she went to some of the most dangerous and remote locations in 'Nam.

But Raye was not looking for any publicity or photo opportunities; she went where she knew the need was the greatest. She visited base camps that no other entertainers dared to go to. She walked through the mud and rain and took the heat and mosquitoes all in stride, and she spent time at places that did not have hot showers, let alone places for women to use a restroom. She had to endure the same hardships that the GIs did. Her job was to keep our spirits up and make us feel loved and appreciated. She didn't come to 'Nam for a visit; she came to work. That, for Raye, meant sometimes using her nursing skills to help with patients.

There were many stories going around about all the battles she had been in while in country. She did not try to shelter herself from harm's way, and she refused over and over again to allow anyone to risk his life to protect her or to evacuate her to a safer place if she happened to be subjected to any kind of enemy attack.

There is one story that made the rounds with the Special Forces units, but, somehow, never (that I can recall) made it into the newspapers or on the evening news.

The story relates how Colonel Maggie went to visit a very small Special Forces camp. (It could have been at Soc Trang around the early part of 1967.) I was told that she and a clarinet player had gone to entertain, but, while they were there, the North Vietnamese attacked the camp. Mortar rounds and small arms fire were incoming. It appeared that there was a full-scale assault on the base camp: it was uncertain if the camp would be able to hold off the assault. The camp medic was hit, and so, with her being a nurse, Colonel Maggie took over and began to assist with the treatment of the wounded, who kept pouring into the aid station.

For several hours, the camp was in great danger of being overrun. The higher-ups in the military were trying to dispatch helicopters to the camp, but a combination of very bad weather and heavy fighting made that task a very dangerous mission. All this time, Raye was in the midst of flying shrapnel and incoming automatic rifle rounds. She tended to the task she was trained for – treating the wounded. She was said to have remained calm and fully active in doing her work – even with all the action taking place just outside the aid station.

Colonel Maggie kept refusing any and all rescue missions. She spent hours putting her skills as a nurse to use treating patients and even assisting with surgery. She was in the operating room for 13 hours; she then went through the aid station talking with the wounded and making sure they were OK. It was said that she worked without sleep or rest until all the wounded were either treated or evacuated by helicopter.

This untold story is just one of the many about Raye – ask Vietnam veterans about her and you will hear more tales of Colonel Maggie. She finally received some long overdue honors before she died. They ranged from the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Academy Award in 1968 for entertaining troops in Vietnam to the 1993 Presidential Medal of Freedom for her lifetime of dedication to America.

Raye was an honorary member of the Special Forces. She received her prized Green Beret and the title of Lieutenant Colonel from President Lyndon B. Johnson, himself.

Bill McDonald served with the 128th Assault Helicopter Company at the Phu Loi Army Airfield, South Vietnam, November 1966 to November 1967. Read more about the 128th and the 173rd Assault Helicopter Companies at McDonald's website, The Vietnam Experience.

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