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
112th 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.
