Decker faculty member visits nation’s capital on historic, all-female Honor Flight

When Twin Tiers Honor Flight Mission 14 (Operation Valkyrie) took off from Binghamton Nov. 5, Army veteran Laura Terriquez-Kasey was among the dozens of veterans heading to the nation’s capital.

A full-time faculty member in the Division of Nursing at Binghamton University’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences from 2001 to 2018, Terriquez-Kasey now serves as an adjunct clinical associate professor in the divisions of nursing and public health.

While all Honor Flights are special since they recognize and thank veterans for their service, Mission 14 was historic: It was the first all-female trip the local organization had ever undertaken. Each veteran on an Honor Flight is accompanied by a guardian — a companion who looks out for the veteran’s well-being. There are also medical, mental health and other support staff on every trip. On this overnight journey, everyone was female and the itinerary was specifically tailored to honor female veterans.

Terriquez-Kasey had never been on an Honor Flight, but learned of the opportunity from former Decker College staff member Suzanne Williams. A Navy veteran, Williams has participated in past Honor Flights as a veteran and a guardian (read about her 2021 trip). She served as Terriquez-Kasey’s guardian on this trip.

“I have always wanted to go on an Honor Flight, and I was honored that my application was accepted — particularly with this group,” Terriquez-Kasey said. “It’s important for us not to forget veterans, especially women, who have been doing different jobs in all the services since the [American] Revolution.”

Terriquez-Kasey’s military service began in 1974 in the Army reserves, where she was a training officer for the 320th Evacuation Hospital out of Manhattan, N.Y., and then the 815th Station Hospital when it moved from Newburgh, N.Y., to Manhattan. While a reservist, she completed the Army’s Expert Field Medical Badge, a rigorous training program that Terriquez-Kasey described as “a mixture of EMT training and field rescue training.”

At the same time, Terriquez-Kasey worked as head nurse in the Emergency Department at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. While there, she was also part of a team that responded to disasters across Manhattan on the Mobile Emergency Resuscitation Vehicle (MERV).

In 1985, armed with a newly acquired master’s degree in nursing, Terriquez-Kasey applied for active duty and was accepted. Her first assignment was at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where she ran a surgical unit. She was then reassigned to the 41st Combat Support Hospital. Advancing to the rank of major, Terriquez-Kasey moved on to William Beaumont Army Medical Center in Fort Bliss, Tex., where she ran a trauma unit and supervised a 500-bed facility with multiple intensive care units.

After almost a decade of active-duty service, in 1993 Terriquez-Kasey fractured her back. Although she underwent surgery and rehabilitation, she had to leave the military and retired as a partially disabled veteran.

In 2001, while a faculty member at Binghamton University, Terriquez-Kasey joined a Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) that responded to incidents across the United States. She remained on the DMAT team until 2014, and was called up to provide support for disasters such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, among others.

“The whole experience of being in service was an honor,” Terriquez-Kasey said. “In the military you have this tremendous opportunity to serve your country and, at the same time, you come out with a sense of honor that you actually did things in a positive way.”

The chance to see the veteran’s memorials was the highlight of the trip for Terriquez-Kasey, who feels a kinship to the nursing and medical personnel who have served.

“Over the years, I trained so many nurses and medics, most of whom were deployed overseas,” she said.

Terriquez-Kasey hopes to document her experience as a woman in the military and submit it to the Military Women’s Memorial, which includes an historical repository where females who served can share their stories.