Part 15… Life at Fitzsimmons

From February, 1968 to April, 1969, Boyd was a patient at Fitzsimmons Military Hospital in Denver, CO. Being a patient for that long sounds pretty awful. It was not. The happiness of being alive and safely back in the United States overshadowed the difficulties. Never in all the years has Boyd ever thought sorrowful about his wounding. He is a realist and thankful for his life.

The first months of Boyd’s hospitalization he stayed in the hospital the majority of time but often received weekend passes to leave the hospital and come home to the apartment. We were able to enjoy some normalcy. The pattern throughout the year was in the hospital and out depending on treatments.

Boyd’s mother came out to visit him. As we headed to the hospital she told me that she didn’t want to actually see his leg. I assured her that it was in a cast so she wouldn’t have to look at it. We walked in, the cast had been removed and the bloody leg was suspended up in the air in a clear plastic aircast. His leg was being prepared for skin graft surgery. We have no idea of how many surgeries, casts or treatments that he had. Medical treatment under the army banner was different from anything we experience in the private sector. Surgery and treatment happened without any consultation. Boyd met it all with an attitude of “get it done and move on.” Boyd accepted what was necessary, moving forward and staying in the joy of the day.

The hospital was filled with young men. The sense of comradery among patients was strong. Friendships grew. The population varied from the severely wounded to those who would heal and go back to serve their country. Boyd bonded with a group of guys whose lives would be forever changed.

The hospital was part of a complex of buildings and services. Patients were free to move around it. Directly behind the main hospital building was a movie theater. There was an open area for stretchers and wheelchairs. The guys were always looking for someone to push them over to watch a movie. They offered three different movies a week. How the soldiers loved their movies.

Life went on.