SU PP ORT OUR T ROOPS
Sister Melanie Kambic, CDP Sister of Divine Providence to receive military honor By Paula Green
A
ccording to the National World War II Museum, nearly 350,000 American women served in uniform, both at home and abroad, during World War II. For these women, it was a significant opportunity to help the war effort and make a difference. A local woman took part in this chapter of U.S. history. Sister Melanie Kambic, CDP, 98, served in the Army Nurse Corps during WWII. In recognition of her military service, she will be honored during a special ceremony held on Veterans Day. On Nov. 11, State Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, will present Sister Melanie with a citation from the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. The “Patriotic Social” will be held from 2-3:30 p.m. at Providence Heights on Babcock Blvd., in Allison Park. Sister Melanie was raised in a small Croatian community in Rankin. When she was 16 years old, she and one of her friends were set to enter a religious order. The friend changed her mind, and so did Sister Melanie. Instead, she enrolled in the Braddock Hospital School of Nursing. Upon her graduation in 1944, Sister Melanie joined the Army Nurse Corps. She knew the Army was in desperate need of nurses, so she answered the call. She spent three years in the Armed Forces. In addition to her military service, Sister Melanie devoted much
of her time in the classroom. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Duquesne University, a master’s degree in nursing administration from the University of Maryland and her certification as a nurse practitioner from the University of Pittsburgh. Sister Melanie spent numerous years teaching and supervising at various hospitals. Although she was working diligently in her nursing career, she still had the calling to serve the Lord. As she noted, “The hound of heaven pursued me!” In 1954, Sister Melanie entered religious life at the age of 33. It was the late Rev. William Cheetham at Saint Anslem Church in Swissvale who influenced her to follow her vocation. She is a member of the Sisters of Divine Providence (CDP). Even though she officially retired in 1994, it didn’t stop her from being involved. Sister Melanie took several classes at La Roche University and became a member of the Providence Heights “peanut butter and jelly brigade.” This group of sisters makes sandwiches for the homeless through Operation Safety Net. Sister Melanie also helps with the collection of clothing and appliances for St. Thomas Catholic Church in Burnsville, West Virginia. Her favorite motto is “leave wherever you are better than you found it.” This year, Sister Melanie celebrates her 65th Jubilee. Northern Connection magazine congratulates her on this remarkable milestone. We honor Sister Melanie for her years of military service. 4 4 4
WH E R E WAS I?
Veterans - Their Service Never Ends By Janice Lane Palko
W
hen it comes to veterans, we often hear about their alarming suicide rates, high incidences of homelessness, and how prevalent post-traumatic stress disorder is among them, and rightly so because too many veterans suffer from those maladies. But there is another side to veterans that no one that I know of keeps track of and that is the number of veterans who freely stand in the breech for us, protecting and serving long after their tour of duty or military career ends. It’s a phenomenon that I’d like to call Post Military Service Disposition or PMSD. I just finished reading the remarkable book, The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff. The book is an oral history and an in-depth chronology of what happened during the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in the words of the people who experienced that day. I can’t recommend it enough. Though many of us lived through that infamous day, I guarantee you that you did not know all of the things the author brings to the page in this book that should serve as a reminder of what this country suffered and lost on that day. For instance, after the World Trade Centers collapsed, there was a rush of people who ran to the river in lower Manhattan to escape the carnage and destruction. Overwhelmed, the Coast Guard sounded the alarm
34
NOVEMBER 2019 | www.northernconnectionmag.com
asking for assistance and scores of water taxis, barges, ferries and other private vessels answered the call –making it the largest civilian water evacuation ever—even greater than the Dunkirk rescue in World War II. Throughout the book there are numerous tales of heroism, but what struck me was how many of these everyday heroes had prior military experience. Though they don’t get much attention, civilians with prior military experience time-after-time have responded in a crisis admirably, many times putting their own life in danger. For instance, in 2015 a terrorist attack on a Paris train was thwarted by three Americans, two of whom were veterans. In 2015, Army veteran Chris Mintz took seven bullets while trying to protect students when a gunman opened fire at an Oregon community college. In October 2018, Patrick Shields, an Army veteran who still serves in the National Guard, apprehended a shooter after he opened fire at a high school football game in Tennessee. In December 2018, an Altoona Marine veteran and bartender took down a would-be robber. The search on the internet goes on and on, but you get the picture. Why do so many heroes have prior military experience? I believe it comes down to training. In the military, you are trained to see a problem, step up, and fix it. You are also trained to protect each other and to offer yourself for a higher cause. While I’m not in favor of compulsory military service, I don’t think we’d be harmed as a society if we included some of the training tactics or ethos employed by the military in our schools. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if more people had PMSD? Bless all our veterans! 4 4 4