I never knew Gloria Anne Redlin, but I wish I would have. In 1969 or ‘70 she was sent to Vietnam by Lutheran World Relief to serve as a nurse with Vietnam Christian Service, the same organization we had worked with. We did not meet Gloria because we left before she arrived. She worked in a VNCS health project that served tribal people who were severely affected by the war. They say she had a beautiful singing voice, and was a joy filled person to be around. We recently ran across a VNCS newsletter from 1971, which reported on the tragic circumstances surrounding her death. In that story, like other deaths that happened in Vietnam in the fog of war, the details and circumstances remain hazy. There are also bits of information about her death and a memorial to her in her hometown on the internet, as well as a controversial theory about the death of the soldier who was shot at the same time as Gloria. Here is some of the story of Gloria’s death.
In the central highlands town of Kontum, on the night
of October 13, 1970, she was giving a ride on her moped to an American soldier,
returning him to his base. It was late at
night and dark, and as they crossed what was probably a check point, guards
from the local Peoples Self Defense Force called out to her to halt, or so they said later. Apparently, for whatever reason, Gloria did
not stop and was fired upon. The soldier
was killed instantly, and Gloria was mortally wounded. The soldier’s name was Sergeant Louis
Janca. For nearly a week Gloria
struggled for her life at the US military hospital in Qui Nhon. The surgeon who performed surgery said the
bullet hit the spine just below the shoulder, meaning that had she survived,
she would likely have been paralyzed. For
some days she was conscious and able to talk, and was visited by VNCS friends
and colleagues, including close friend Zelma Lewis who was a nurse in the VNCS hospital
in Pleiku, as well as Dr. Pat Smith, Pat Niska and Dean Hancock. On October 20 her condition worsened, and she
passed away on October 21, 1970.
There was a large gathering for a memorial service at St
Christophers Anglican church in Saigon, and a funeral at Peace Lutheran church in
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. At the funeral a
passage was read from Gloria’s diary, which had been previously sent home to a
friend for safe keeping. It was a poignant message and testimony to the person
she was. She had written:
“The true beauty of a person is seen in what they say
and what they do for others. The beauty
of a word – a smile – a thought – the radiance of a loving touch, a sincere
look of devotion; this is beauty, this is loveliness; this is God shining in
and through us.
I must put you away little book. I have filled your many pages with my hopes,
dreams, fears, memories and observations.
Keep them safely and accurately for me, please. If I send you away, please take along with
you the love I have for my family and friends.
I shall be united with you in less than two years. But if I don’t keep that appointment, please
make very sure everyone realizes that what I came here to do is worthwhile, and
after my labors, God’s finger touched me.
And I slept, and nothing is more beautiful or worthwhile than that.”
