It was an emotional “first” for the monthly author/speaker series at the Edmonds Waterfront Center Thursday night: The audience of approximately 120 people gave Vietnam War veteran and operating room nurse Sarah L. Blum a standing ovation after she finished her presentation.

The author of Warrior Nurse: PTSD and Healing, who lives in the Seattle area, described her work at the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi, Vietnam, in 1967. Many of the soldiers she treated were severely wounded, and the work took its toll on her mental health.

Returning home after a year of service, Blum faced the culture shock of anti-war protests, along with growing realization of her PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Blum shared that after leaving Vietnam, she wondered many times if those veterans who had undergone multiple amputations due to war injuries were grateful for having their lives saved. In Washington, D.C. in 1983 to attend the unveiling of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, she gathered her courage to ask this question of a triple-amputee veteran she met. He told her he was thankful for being saved, and they had an emotional embrace.

She also described meeting actor Charlton Heston, who visited the injured soldiers while she was stationed at Cu Chi. A World War II veteran, Heston took the names and phone numbers of all the wounded men and personally called each of their families when he returned to the U.S., Blum said.

The Edmonds Author/Speaker Series is co-sponsored by the Edmonds Waterfront Center, the Edmonds Bookshop and the My Neighborhood News Network. Blum’s book — which includes resources for those with PTSD — is available at the Edmonds Bookshop.