February 11, 2009 8:44 PM
- Text
A Happy Reunion
(CBS)
For Vietnam veteran triage nurse Donna Rowe and combat medic Richard Hock, memories of the Vietnam war had one bright spot: They were able to save the life of a four-month-old Vietnamese infant,left for dead in her mother's arms after their village was destroyed by enemy ground troops.
Rowe and Hock and their team worked feverishly to save the infant's life 34 years ago. They gave her a name, "baby Kathleen" and cared for the injured infant for three weeks before she was moved to an orphanage. They never saw her again, until this week.
Kathleen Epps has spent almost 20 years searching for the people who had saved her life. She was finally reunited with Donna Rowe and Richard Hock on Monday, April 14, on The Early Show.
The reunion was made possible because of a documentary film "In the Shadow of the Blade," which chronicles a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter's 10,000-mile flight across America, capturing the stories of Vietnam veterans.
The producers interviewed Rowe, the Vietnam triage nurse. She told the story of 4 month-old baby Kathleen. Kathleen was rescued by medics and, at Rowe's command, was taken - still in her dead mother's arms - to a hospital for American soldiers after her village was destroyed by enemy ground troops in May 1969. It was a clear violation of military rules. Vietnamese civilians were to be taken to another hospital.
Five months after filming, word came that a Web site guestbook was seeking information about nurse Donna Rowe and the others. Katheleen was searching for her past and was looking for people to fill in the blanks.
Last Monday, "baby" Kathleen, now 34, married and a mother of three, was reunited with two people from her past, Donna Rowe and Richard Hock. When Kathleen was baptized at the hospital, Rowe was named godmother and Hock was named godfather.
Rowe and Hock and their team worked feverishly to save the infant's life 34 years ago. They gave her a name, "baby Kathleen" and cared for the injured infant for three weeks before she was moved to an orphanage. They never saw her again, until this week.
Kathleen Epps has spent almost 20 years searching for the people who had saved her life. She was finally reunited with Donna Rowe and Richard Hock on Monday, April 14, on The Early Show.
The reunion was made possible because of a documentary film "In the Shadow of the Blade," which chronicles a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter's 10,000-mile flight across America, capturing the stories of Vietnam veterans.
The producers interviewed Rowe, the Vietnam triage nurse. She told the story of 4 month-old baby Kathleen. Kathleen was rescued by medics and, at Rowe's command, was taken - still in her dead mother's arms - to a hospital for American soldiers after her village was destroyed by enemy ground troops in May 1969. It was a clear violation of military rules. Vietnamese civilians were to be taken to another hospital.
Five months after filming, word came that a Web site guestbook was seeking information about nurse Donna Rowe and the others. Katheleen was searching for her past and was looking for people to fill in the blanks.
Last Monday, "baby" Kathleen, now 34, married and a mother of three, was reunited with two people from her past, Donna Rowe and Richard Hock. When Kathleen was baptized at the hospital, Rowe was named godmother and Hock was named godfather.
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