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Father of slain soldier stunned by meeting with son's nurse

Jun- 8-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By AUDREY McAVOY, The Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — The father of slain Army 1st Lt. Nainoa Hoe said a chance meeting with the nurse who treated his son when he died in Iraq was "like being struck in the chest."

Allen Hoe and the Army nurse, Maj. Paula Coughlin, told CNN in a joint interview Tuesday they were stunned and amazed by their Memorial Day encounter in Washington.

Coughlin and Hoe were visiting a monument to nurses who served in Vietnam when Coughlin recognized a picture of the slain Hawaii native that the elder Hoe had pinned on his shirt.

"When I went to put the lei on Major Coughlin and she bent down for me to put it on, she saw the button and she said 'Oh my God. I know him,'" Hoe said.

"When she said that, it was like being struck in the chest. I said 'You know him? He's my son.' And she said 'I was with him at the moment he died.'"

Nainoa Hoe, 27, was killed by a sniper in Mosul, Iraq, on Jan. 22 while leading his platoon.

"I was amazed to see that it was somebody I knew. I automatically recognized him from one of our trauma victims," Coughlin said. "When I talked to Mr. Hoe about it, he confirmed my realizations. We got teary eyed and hugged."

She said she felt lucky to have met Nainoa's father.

"I wasn't supposed to be home from Iraq, so I think it was destiny that we met there that day," Coughlin said.


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