A nurse heroine

WASHINGTON -- Vietnam Memorial Wall washing volunteer Lt. Col. Margaret Schmidt, 459th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron flight nurse, points to the etched name of 27-year-old Air Force Reservist Capt. Mary T. Kilnker, who became the last nurse and the only member of the Air Force Nurse Corps to be killed in Vietnam. The Operation Babylift volunteer's name is one of more than 58,000 fallen service members' etched into the nearly 247-foot granite wall. The wall washing is a way for service members to thank fallen service members and was conducted under the guidance of the National Park Service. The NPS coordinates volunteers to clean the wall each week, or 52 times per year. At dawn, more than 20 members of the 459th Air Refueling Wing, family and other volunteers stood face to face with their own reflections while washing the names of memorialized service members. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Amaani Lyle)