Julie (Lane) Elliott

Age 62

Born in 1953 and grew-up in Granada, Minnesota

Currently living in Fairmont, MN

U.S. Army Vietnam-Era Veteran, Army National Guard Veteran

Growing up in the small farming community of Granada, MN, Julie (Lane) Elliott says she always wanted to become a nurse, even as a little girl. After graduating in 1971 from Granada-Huntley High School with the first class from the newly combined school, she received a military scholarship and attended Winona State for two years, as a member of the military. “It was the height of the Vietnam War, so I felt it was cool to become an Army nurse,” she recalled. “Plus, the scholarship didn't hurt.”

From Minnesota, Julie was sent to Washington, D.C. to Walter Reed Army  Institute of Nursing (WRAIN) for more education and medical training. The Army's program was operated in cooperation with the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She recalls being one of three women in the program from Martin County that year.

Upon completion of the program in 1975, she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and commissioned as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. She continued to serve for three years at Walter Reed. “That time during the war, Washington, D.C. was a scary place,” Julie recalled. “There were armed guards at the gate of Walter Reed and there were a lot of (anti-war) protests in D.C. And, she added, you didn't wear your Army uniform around town.”

It was also a busy time for Army nurses stationed at Walter Reed. “We still had wounded soldiers from Vietnam that we were treating, plus medivac patients from Germany and around the world coming into the medical center. On top of her demanding nursing duties, she had met fellow soldier Art Elliott, who she eventually married in 1974. “It was a different time and era,” she said. “You couldn't get pregnant and still be in the Army. Art and I wanted to have a family, so we got out.” Julie was at Walter Reed until 1978 and was discharged from the Army as a Captain.

After Julie finished her military service in Washington, D.C., the Elliott's settled down to raise a family in Martin County, but they didn't stay away from the military for long. Art and Julie both enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1978 after talking to a recruiter at the Martin County Fair that summer.

Julie continued in the Army medical field becoming State Chief Nurse and Deputy Commander of Medical Detachment for Minnesota. She first worked with the National Guard unit from Fairmont/Mankato, then moved onto Camp Ripley and drilled with the 112^th HSLD, a special detachment of National Guard nurses.

During her National Guard career, she was also employed as a Public Health Nurse with FMW Human Services and then with Mayo Clinic Health System-Fairmont where she was the Director of Clinic Nursing for 18 years before becoming the Clinical Quality Coordinator. She and her husband Art have two grown children.