Milwaukee VA nurse capstones military career with Hero of Military Medicine Award
A Milwaukee VA nurse was honored in her military capacity during the annual Henry Jackson Foundation’s Heroes of Military Medicine awards ceremony May 9 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Lt. Col. Darcie Greuel was selected as the U.S. Army honoree, and was the only nurse recognized during the ceremony.
“I was shocked, literally shocked,” she said. “I am humble. I know I am, and it’s just that I’ve been doing this work for so many years. It’s nothing extraordinary to me. It’s what I do. It’s who I am. I love doing it. I love caring for soldiers. I love Veterans, and I feel very blessed that I’ve been able to kind of bring those two worlds together. It’s just been such a fulfilling life or mission for me personally.”
When Greuel shared with her daughter that she had been selected, her daughter, who is also a nurse at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, pointed out that the award was being presented during National Nurses Week.
“She was so excited about it,” Greuel said. “And she’s like, ‘I’m so proud of you. You deserve it as a nurse.’ She was my biggest cheerleader. Knowing that she was in the audience with my two boys as well, and my two daughters-in-law and my son-in-law, I just couldn’t have been prouder.”
The annual Heroes of Military Medicine awards recognize outstanding contributions by senior leaders, medical professionals, and civilians who distinguished themselves through excellence and dedication to advancing military medicine and enhancing the lives and health of our nation’s wounded, ill, and injured service members, Veterans, their families, and civilians, according to the foundation.
Greuel was recognized for her military service while also serving military Veterans as the program manager for the Milwaukee VA Medical Center’s Post-9/11 Military2VA Case Management program.
“I’ve been [with the Milwaukee VA Medical Center] for almost 24 years, and I’ve always felt blessed having my foot in those two, Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs,” Greuel said. “We work together. You can’t separate the two, especially the job that I do, and I felt very blessed that I’ve been able to do a lot of education at the VA regarding DoD and vice versa.”
The award has served as the perfect culmination for Greuel’s military career. She officially retired June 1 after completing more than 40 years of service.
Greuel didn’t grow up aspiring to be a nurse. When she enlisted in the Army Reserves, she joined as a medical specialist, because she enjoyed interacting with people. It wasn’t until she went through training that she realized she would have to give people shots or IVs.
“I was one of those kids that hated going to the doctor, that were deathly afraid of needles and stuff,” Greuel said. “That was my first taste of medical, which gave me a lot of experiences in the military, which helped me to really find my passion and decide to become a nurse.”
The Army afforded her the opportunity to further her career and education. In 2000, Greuel began working at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center as a Med-Surg nurse. Three years later, she deployed to Afghanistan as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the intermediate care ward of the 452nd Combat Support Hospital.
“I hit that 20-year mark literally in Afghanistan, and it was kind of almost like the pinnacle of my career,” Greuel said. “It was such a culmination of a high point of my career, all the years of training, no one ever thought we’d ever go to war again…No one would have ever thought it, but boy, that was just such an experience. A life-changing experience, and I think there’s just no way I was going to be retiring at 20 years then.”
Greuel subsequently commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and held various commands in the years that followed. Her VA career also progressed, and she became a case manager for the Military2VA Case Management program in 2007. She is the only nurse that has ever been hired into the program at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center and became the program manager in 2013. In December 2022, Greuel earned her master’s degree in nursing with an emphasis in Veteran and Military Health care – a bucket list item for her.
Throughout her career, Greuel has shown compassion for all generations of Veterans and Service Members. As a commander, she had two of her units participate in the Milwaukee VA’s “Reclaiming our Heritage” celebration which occurred annually through 2011. She also brought her units to march in the Veterans Day parade in downtown Milwaukee, or to tour the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison.
“That’s what I love doing, being out in the community, involved,” she said. “I just feel like it’s just who I am and what I do. I’m very passionate about what we do, and it’s never been because I’m a Veteran or because I’m serving. It’s just because it’s just given me so much more insight.”
In serving at the Milwaukee VA, one of the moments that stood out to Greuel was when she was asked to portray Wisconsin Army National Guard Spc. Michelle Witmer during a Lantern Tour at Wood National Cemetery. Witmer was killed 20 years ago when her Humvee came under attack in Baghdad. Greuel took pride in sharing Witmer’s story and was approached by Witmer’s family to thank her for honoring Michelle’s memory. Greuel carries that memory with her and strives to connect with all Veterans she encounters and make them a priority.
“You just want people to feel like the little things matter so much,” Greuel said. “They really do. They matter so much. You never know someone’s story, what they’re going through.”
Even though Greuel is now officially retired from the military, she plans to continue to educate and build personal connections through her work at the Milwaukee VA. On the day she hit 40 years of military service, she attended training to be a facilitator for the Milwaukee VA’s Tour of Duty program which provides VA employees with a deeper understanding and appreciation of military service and civil service.
The Tour of Duty program is in addition to her role at the VA ensuring that all Post-9/11 Veterans and service members are provided a seamless transition into VA health care and benefits programs when returning from deployments or transitioning out of the military.
“I’m still serving,” Greuel said. “I’ve always felt that I’m still serving. It’s just in another capacity…I’m super excited that I will still stay in my role here, and especially with what I do with my program transitioning Post-9/11 [service members]. Super excited about staying on, it’s such meaningful work.”