Marita Silverman used the compassion and strength she learned working as a nurse in a field hospital in Vietnam to fuel her work in civilian life as a pediatric nurse. Silverman earned her nursing degree from the University of Maryland in 1966. After joining the Army Nurse Corps, she was sent to An Khe, Vietnam in 1970, where she served as emergency night room supervisor at the Eighth Field Hospital, an overcrowded facility in an isolated area that served as a clearing house for sending casualties to larger hospitals. After three months, she was reassigned to the intensive care unit of the 95th Evacuation Hospital at Da Nang, where she cared for the massive casualties of the Laos Invasion and earned a promotion to captain. After leaving the military in 1971, Silverman earned a master’s degree in pediatric nursing from the University of Arizona and settled in Tucson with her husband. She visits the Vietnam Memorial whenever she visits Washington. Silverman said of her time in Vietnam, “I learned to do a lot with a little. I learned compassion when there wasn’t anything else to be done. I developed an inner strength that has continued to serve me well.”