Woman recalls Army memories

PERKINS TWP. — A resident of Sandusky's Ohio Veterans Home is a member of a military family and said she was proud of serving her country. Diana Caton began her military career at the age of 25 on Nov. 25, 1965. Caton, of Coshocton, has been a resident of the veteran's home since this past April. Caton said that her interest in joining the military came at a young age, as two of her brothers served in World War II. For Caton, there were two things in particular that she wanted to do when she was older: • The first being to play the cornet in high school. • The second was to join the military. "I never lost track of that," Caton said. "When my brothers returned home from World War II, I found the stories they told fascinating." Caton was trained as a basic medic and went from basic training to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, to complete her medical training. After she finished medical training, Caton was transferred to El Paso, Texas, at William Beaumont General Hospital, where they serviced Fort Bliss's military base in the Women's Army Corps. Upon landing in El Paso, Caton and two other women were greeted by an officer who asked them if they would be interested in being pulled to the psychiatric unit and working as a psychiatric technician. Caton was hesitant to accept the offer, but, upon completing a two-week trial, she fell in love with the work. "At the end of the two weeks, you couldn't have pried me out of there. I loved the challenge," Caton said. "I was trained to lead group therapy, and as far as I was told, I was the only woman below the grade of E5 assigned to work the closed men's ward." During her service in the psychiatric unit, Caton primarily worked with men who came back from Vietnam. She enjoyed helping service members transition back into civilian life after returning from war. She recounted one case in particular: There was a young man returning from Vietnam who was in a catatonic state. He wouldn't move on his own, wouldn't talk and would barely eat. If Caton and her colleagues couldn't successfully treat him and bring him out of that state, then he would be honorably discharged and sent to a psychiatric facility. "It was heartbreaking to see this young man who has so much life in front of him like this," Caton said. "But I was determined to get him out of this state of catatonia." Caton was given only two to three weeks to show the doctors that he was no longer catatonic. After her regular shifts, she would come in for an additional eight hours to work with him. The day before he was supposed to be shipped out, Caton's hard work paid off when the man looked straight at her and replied, "No," this was enough for the doctors to deem him as treated. Caton described her career in the military as incredibly rewarding and said that the success of the military all comes down to teamwork. Caton intended to stay in the military for 20 years, but, due to schooling and health issues in her last year of college, Caton left the military in June 1972. "While finishing up college, in order to increase my ranking, I decided to go to school on the GI Bill to study what I loved," Caton said. "While stationed in Lakeland, Florida, I attended Southeastern University and was a double major in secondary education history and ministerial studies." After leaving the military, Caton worked as an evangelist for 18 years. She enjoys mystery books, the Hallmark Channel, euchre and game shows. "I will always have fond memories," Caton said.