Isolation Ward In A Hospital For A Week … Been There … Done That

This Ebola virus in the U.S. is very serious stuff. I spend a week in isolation in the hospital at the Naval Air Station at Pensacola, Florida. I was 21 years old and a cadet in the Naval Flight Officer flight training program at Pensacola. I contracted measles. Yes, measles! This is not a serious life-threatening disease in the U.S.

Since I was living with other cadets in a small area, the Navy gave me two choices. Move off-base and reside in a hotel for a week. Or, admit yourself to the base hospital for a week of hospital isolation. I elected the hospital stay for a week … in isolation. This was the right decision for me. I did not infect any of the cadets who were training with me. I thought about the health and training of others and not just me.

I survived the measles virus as I expected I would. I survived flight training, earned my wings of gold and served 20 years in the Navy as a Naval Flight Officer. I pray every day for everyone in the world who is suffering from the killing Ebola virus. I pray that world leaders will make good decisions that will eradicate this killing disease.