On the day of the dedication, a few students from Northern Virginia Community College attended the service and spoke with a number of nurses and veterans.

One former soldier told a student, “When I came to after I had been wounded, I didn't know where I was—maybe heaven, maybe hell. But then I looked up and saw an angel and I knew I was ok.” One of the students made a very moving video of the event and brought it to her class on Women in American History.

No one who has ever served in combat, from the time of the Crimean War, where Florence Nightingale brought nursing to the battlefield, through the Civil War and the terrible wars of the 20th Century, can fail to appreciate the contribution of nurses and doctors who have ministered to the wounded.

The poem below was written by a young woman who is too young to remember Vietnam. But as the daily news makes clear, soldiers are still being killed and wounded, and nurses and doctors are still serving them and their country.

Gently Now—
by Clare Stankwitz

Dedicated to the nurses of all wars who have cared for countless soldiers, sailors,
and marines physically, mentally, and spiritually, who with their devotion,
patience and vigilance have guarded and kindled the flame of life.

I brought a candle
Back to life today.
It took patience
And energy
In the form of fire
And the splinter of a tree.
But mostly patience.

I had to pick it up—
cradle it in my hand.
I had to tip it
Towards my face and me.
 
I had to put the match inside it
And melt the fingerprinted wax
Until the wick was free,
And a baby flame faintly glowed
That only I could see.

I had to cradle it in my hand
Still as death
To keep the flame alive.

I had to guard it from the wind.

I had to keep it from my breath.

I had to hold it close
To keep it from the world
To watch it spark and crack
And threaten fade-away
Till the light at the end of the tunnel of the candle
Slowly flared up to a roaring life.

I had mostly to be patient.