Veterans honored at WWII memorial in The Heights

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- As a nurse on a hospital ship during the Vietnam War, Commander Joan Tulich had her hands full.

"Sometimes we'd have to outrun a typhoon," Tulich said, "That was a thrill a minute."

Tulich said sailors were able to phone home on her ship.

"Hopefully after they had heard they had been wounded, rather than to scare the poor woman on the other side," Tulich said, "And if you were standing by, they'd say, I want you to say 'hi to my nurse, hi to my nurse."

PHOTOS: Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee honors veterans

Tulich served 20 years in the Navy. She married Eugene Tulich, who was a liuetenant commander in the Coast Guard at the time.

"I was senior to him, too," Joan Tulich said.

Eugene jokingly said he had to follow orders.

"I was a lieutenant commander, and she was commander, so what could I say? Yes, Ma'am," Eugene Tulich said.

The Tulichs live in the Spring area now. Both were honored for their service at Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's Memorial Day Ceremony at the World War II Monument in the Houston Heights.