A Salute to Captain Barbara K. Dick

Honoring a Legacy Through Scholarships for Coug Nurses

When Colonel William “Bill” Dick, a newly graduated Coug and soon-to-be officer in Vietnam, filled out his “dream sheet” upon entry into the Air Force in the mid-1960s, he had no idea it would change the trajectory of his life. “I was surprised they honored it,” said Bill, having graduated with a degree in general studies from WSU in 1965. Despite his choice of field of study, Bill had always been passionate about the medical field. “I knew that health care was the best way to help people, and as a fluke, I was picked to serve on the medical field team.”

Before he entered the Air Force and his service in Vietnam, Bill, who grew up in an Air Force family (his father had flown with the Chinese against the Japanese during WWII), sought out WSU to pursue his undergraduate degree while the Vietnam War was already underway. He credits WSU for cultivating his lifelong identity as a proud Coug and as his gateway into military life, having obtained his commission in 1965 through WSU’s AFROTC program. This catalyst led to a fulfilling career in military health care abroad and in the States. Bill had always been a helper, with experience working with older adults, so his entry into the Air Force Medical Service Corps was a good fit and, as he claims, already a way of life.

As part of the US Medical Service Corps, Bill held many roles, including Hospital Commander, Hospital Administrator, and senior MSC for Strategic Air Command, the largest Major Air Command in the Air Force at that time. Of all the professions he worked with during that time, Bill had a particular “soft spot” for nurses because, in his opinion, they knew their patients better than anyone else on the ward. It was no surprise when Bill married Captain Barbara “Barb” McKenna, an Air Force nurse who also served in Vietnam.

During their time in Vietnam, Barb served as a ward nurse at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, while Bill volunteered as an Advisor to the Vietnamese in an open-air former French hospital in An Loc, just eight miles from the Cambodian border, where one of the Ho Chi Minh trails entered the country.

Along with his daily life in the hospital setting, Bill’s experiences were marked by the intense realities of war, including a near-miss when the roof of his “hooch” (a living space for soldiers) collapsed after a missile strike. Although Barb did not experience such incidents, both she and Bill interacted with patients with leprosy, the bubonic plague, malaria, dengue fever, and many other severe medical conditions common in combat situations, those that would be considered “textbook cases only” in the US. After both returned to the States, Bill and Barb met by chance in Omaha, Nebraska, at a social gathering following a field inspection/recruiting event, and they were married a year later. Tragically, after only a few years of marriage, Barb passed away in an accident at just 28 years old.

Barb’s patient mind and deeply caring nature, along with her years of service to others in the States and abroad, live on through her legacy and her namesake scholarship, the Capt. Barbara K. Dick Memorial Scholarship in Nursing (housed in the WSU College of Nursing), which Bill established in tribute to the lasting impact she had on so many lives. In his words, Barb “epitomized caring and service to others” and was a role model in patient sensitivity, a quality Bill feels is essential in nurses.

Bill’s support for nursing scholarships at WSU is a testament to Barb’s enduring influence and commitment to advancing health care and educational opportunities for future generations. His vision for his legacy is that of a lasting impact on the lives of Coug nurses and all those they will eventually serve. The scholarship focuses explicitly on underrepresented students such as those with high levels of unmet financial need, students from underrepresented populations (specifically students who are enrolled members of any federally recognized American Indian Tribe), and those wanting to serve underrepresented populations in their nursing careers. His decision to focus the awarding of Barb’s scholarship on Native American students stems not just from his heritage as an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation but also from recognition of the economic disparities experienced by those who have been historically disenfranchised, which he feels honors the responsibility of WSU as a land-grant institution.

As a “forever Coug”, a long supporter of WSU, and a retired Colonel, Bill is proud of the work WSU does to fulfill its mission and hopes that Barb will be forever memorialized through the lasting impact of her scholarship.