Nurse recognised for service in Vietnam (+video)

TWO WAR MEDALS: Vivienne Chapman has seen things she hopes most Kiwis never see. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Suburban Rotorua is a long way from the hospitals of Vietnam.

But 44 years after her service during the Vietnam War, former nurse Vivienne Chapman has been recognised for her efforts.

The Rotorua woman was recently awarded two war medals for her work as a theatre nurse at the hospital in Qui Nhon, in the Bien province in the 1970s.

Ms Chapman, 75, returned to the area in 1980 to work as a public health nurse in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodia border.

For this, she was awarded the New Zealand Operational Service Medal and the New Zealand General Service Medal. She found out only eight years ago she was eligible for war medals.

"I was over with Red Cross in 1980 on the Thai border and the head of the Red Cross rang me and said she wanted me to write an article for her book ... she faxed me all these bits of paper, which I took to the RSA last year and found out I was entitled to two medals."

It was the grind of being on-call at Tokoroa Hospital which compelled Ms Chapman to look for a job overseas in the 1970s.

"I saw the Vietnam job advertised but was bonded, in those days you had to stay [for a certain amount of time] and then I just happened to write to Foreign Affairs and said I was fed up with Tokoroa Hospital and they said this job is going - if you want to apply, apply.

"I went in 1971 to Vietnam, I was 31. Then I went over with Red Cross in 1980 so I was 40. I have seen some things that I hope New Zealanders don't have to see and that's why I get a bit annoyed with people who growl about this country and what they've got - our power might cost a bit of money but at least we have power and water. Some people have to walk miles to get water and then it's not really safe to drink."