Col. Luz Addresses Crowd About Her Time Served As An Army Nurse

United States Army Col. Susan Luz stood in front of a crowd of 30 people on Wednesday night at the Tiverton VFW and told them, as her car bumper sticker clearly states, "She Served Too." The event, a book-signing, was sponsored by The Friends of the .

That’s a fact the colonel is very proud of, not for herself, but for the dedicated men and women she was able to serve with in her 26-plus years as an Army nurse.

“I’m not a hero but I served in a company of heroes,” Luz proudly said of her comrades.

She retired last May and went on to write a book about her experiences titled The Nightingale of Mosul, a Nurse's Journey of Service, Struggle and War.

“I’ve tried to live my life with no regrets,” she said.

Luz grew up in Rhode Island, graduated from the University of Rhode Island, served in the Peace Corps. In the Peace Corps, she worked in villages in Brazil.

At one point Luz was brutally attacked and almost died. She spent months in hospital recovering.

“I knew God wanted me to help people and that’s why I survived,” she said.

Luz had wanted to serve in Vietnam but her father, a decorated combat veteran, would not let her to go.

“My dad told me the enlisted did all the work like he had to do when he was in the Army," she said. "So he told me to become an officer but to be the best officer I could be. I found out later why he didn’t want me to join. I found out he had a silver star and a purple heart. He knew that nurses died, too."

In 1983, at the age of 33, Luz joined the army.

Two years later she would meet the love of her life, George, seven years her junior.

George also had a father who was a decorated war hero. George, Sr. was a member of the now celebrated World War 2 “Band of Brothers.”

During the first Gulf War, Luz spent her time in Germany as a mid-wife.

In 2006, at the age of 56, she was deployed to active duty as an army nurse in Mosul, Iraq.

“I was the public health nurse and also the psyche nurse," said Luz. "I also served as a mass casualty nurse. With mass casualty we would, of course, work on our people, but we would also have to take care of the Iraqi solders and civilians, even the terrorists. I was in the back with the expectants. I would try to stay positive."

On Wednesday night a friend in attendance, Retired Maj. Pat Cottrell, served with Luz in the 455th Medical and then the 399th.

"She is so down to earth. She always cared to make it better and she always cared about the enlisted," said Cottrell.

In the end, Luz said her book is about being a daughter, an aunt, a nurse, a friend and a soldier.