Nurse veteran looks at changes

SEELEY LAKE – "Things were a lot different then," Ruth Stebleton said, thinking back on the years from 1968 to 1970 when she served as a nurse in the U.S. Army. White shoes, white socks, white Army cap in place of her traditional white cap – that was the required attire for women nurses in that era.

Basic training was also different for Stebleton, though some of that was fortuitous. When she reported to Camp Bullis in San Antonio, Texas, the barracks were already filled to capacity, so she and some of the other women were billeted at a nearby motel, complete with swimming pool. From the motel,...