Joan A. Furey

Joan A. Furey (born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946) is a United States Army nurse veteran. She began her military service in 1968 when she joined the Army Nurse Corps. Her patriotism influenced her volunteered deployment to Vietnam in 1969 where she served as a second lieutenant and eventually earned the Bronze Star. Her dedicated service continued when she returned home as Furey focused on aiding other returning Vietnam veterans. Her post-war accomplishments include earning her master's degree in nursing from New York University in 1975, pioneering studies in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through her service in the Department of Veteran Affairs, and her service as the Director of Center for Women Veterans.

Early life Joan A. Furey was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946 and grew up on Long Island during her childhood. Growing up in a patriotic home, she was raised by a father who was a World War II veteran. In an interview later in her life, she spoke more candidly about her father's service. He served in Germany and France where he was wounded on the front lines. After returning home, he was diagnosed with “Soldiers Heart” and Furey attributes this to PTSD, even though it had not been specifically labeled and diagnosed yet.

Furey remembers two very opposite views of the Vietnam War. While her peers protested at Columbia University in early 1968, she felt no pressure to stand with them. The country was divided as the war in Vietnam raged on and prominent Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968. Meanwhile, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers planned attacks all across South Vietnam in January 1968, in what is known as the first Tet Offensive. Instead of protesting, Furey chose to go to war. After basic training, she served at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco, California. Her time there helped prepare her for life at war in Vietnam as she worked in the intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency room. While there she cared for wounded Vietnam War soldiers with injuries ranging from shrapnel wounds to amputations.

Furey deployed to Vietnam on January 27, 1969 and remembers bombing on her first sleepless night in the battle field at Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam. She was transferred to a very short-handed unit in the Central Highlands, the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku, Vietnam. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, then received her Master of Science in Nursing degree from New York University in Manhattan, New York.

Her post-war efforts directly correspond with her service in Vietnam, as she pioneered efforts in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and women veterans' affairs. Like her, many other veterans returned home, but their minds suffered from major damage. Tragedy, bloodshed, and death caused many veterans to suffer from what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder, a term coined in the 1970s after the effects of the Vietnam War. Furey devoted her life to this cause, helping and aiding women veterans who suffered from PTSD, and who were often forgotten by the general public.

Furey began working for Veteran Affairs in 1978 and was stationed as a nurse at the VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, Florida. Over the next several years, she found herself advancing in VA ranks and participating in state-of-the-art research that would define her career. She was named the Director of the Department of Veteran Affairs' Center for Women Veterans in 1995. Here, she established an in-house treatment program for women returning from war.

Furey was known for her proficiency and knowledge in PTSD study, and even testified before Congress in 2000, proving statistics on women veterans and their role in society. She tried to get more aid and help from the government to support these women.

She worked on numerous scholarly articles and research projects, bringing to light the effects of war on servicewomen.

Her most well-known accomplishment is her work on the Visions of War: Dreams of Peace anthology.

She has received many awards, including the 1998 National Public Service Award, and the 1998 the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award. In 1999, she was the recipient of the Women Executives in State Government "Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award". She received the Department of Veteran Affairs Exceptional Service Award in 2000, and the Veteran Affairs Distinguished Career Award in 2004. She was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame in 2015.

Furey appeared in the PBS documentary The Vietnam War.