Helping people care: Retired Air Force nurse and Vietnam Veteran establishes local scholarship to help youth become nurses

Humble.

Gracious.

Community-minded.

Those are among the words that aptly describe Lt. Col. T. Belford Mills, a retired United States Air Force nurse and Vietnam veteran who, at age 85, believes it is time to give back to his community and to his honored profession.

That giving is in the form of newly established scholarships with the Clinton County Community Foundation that will be awarded in 2027 to one or two high school students pursuing studies and a degree in nursing or a similar, healthcare-related profession.

Caring for people.

That's what Belford has done for most of his life.

"I want to encourage kids to try nursing. My career was very fulfilling, and I do not see any scholarships locally for nursing," Belford said.

"When I went to school, they paid to have a place for me to sleep and live, and my meals were included with my training. I got a check for housing and would go to the hospital to eat. I don't know if they do that anymore, so I want to help."

A Renovo native, Belford's dad, Paul, taught English at the former Renovo High School.

In fact, Paul Mills, after retirement, was instrumental in helping to get what is now Bucktail Medical Center built and opened in South Renovo.

His mother, Becky, also worked while raising her family in a modest home on Ontario Avenue.

Becky Mills was very civic-minded, Belford remembers. She worked in the community as a volunteer. She served on the school board and was among those in office when the new public school was built in Farwell.

Both parents were a tremendous inspiration in Belford's life.

"I was that kid that everybody wanted for the fact that I was quiet and didn't bother anybody," Belford remembers.

While in high school, Belford worked at the old Bratz Dairy on Fifth Street dipping ice cream. He graduated from the former Renovo High School in 1958 and soon began his career in health care.

He was hired as an orderly at Williamsport Hospital, where his aunt, Ruth Casson - his mother's sister – worked as a registered nurse.

Belford said it was his Aunt Ruth and a male nurse who also worked at Williamsport who inspired him to pursue a career in nursing.

"I worked mostly on the third floor as an orderly at Williamsport, I remember. I worked there for several years," he recalled.

"Then one day my Aunt Ruth said, 'why don't you think about becoming a nurse?' Belford said. "I also remember there was a gentleman there who worked as a nurse for years and everyone knew him. He was

very well-respected. He also talked to me, and he was an inspiration to every patient. He was renowned in Williamsport."

So it was off to Edward J. Myer Memorial Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y. for training.

It was intense training at that, as Belford recalls working in the ward treating people fighting alcohol addiction.

"I worked in most every part of the hospital as one of four mean studying nursing. I didn't live at the hospital like the girls did, but I was schooled and trained there. I was in a three-year program and, after graduation, I worked another year in the emergency room."

"We did everything there. We didn't refuse anyone, even if they couldn't pay. We also didn't send patients to other hospitals. Some patients were even affluent and wanted to go to Myer Memorial Hospital because of its reputation," he said.

"It was very good training."

"Most of the time when I first started, I gave out medicines, helped patients get a bath and provided physical assistance. As I grew more knowledgeable, I became kind of like a teacher. It wasn't just making sure patients got medicines; it was teaching patients how to take care of themselves.

"That was very rewarding. If I found they couldn't do something, I tried to teach them and that was rewarding."

Of course, Belford kept in close touch with his Aunt Ruth, a consummate caregiver.

"I was talking to my aunt and she suggested after my training that I might want to look into the military. Well, I did and I thought that, if I didn't go, they might draft me for a year or two anyway and I wouldn't be able to do what I wanted."

"I knew with my background and credentials they would say, 'OK, we're going to draft you' and I probably would've ended up in the Army Nurse Corps.

"But I wanted the Air Force because I knew I would be able to move around more."

So, in 1968, Belford signed up.

He spent the next 26 years serving the country in the Air Force, moving from assignment to assignment and traveling the United States and the world.

His first assignment in the Air Force was at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., where he spent two years.

Then he went to Vietnam for a year - about 1971, he recalls.

He served as a flight nurse in Vietnam.

"Any soldier that needed moved from Point A to Point B, I was on the plane. We were running two to three flights a day to different areas when I started at Cam Ranh Bay," Belford explained.

Many of the Americans memorialized on The Wall came through Can Ranh Bay.

It was a major port, major airfield and major logistics point for American forces during the war.

Belford remembers spending two very busy weeks there, and then to the north and south, "or where-ever we needed to go."

"Sometimes I wore a flak jacket (body armor). We got shot at once in a while, but I never knew it happened. After the flights, the pilots would just say, 'We had some fire today,' and that would be the end of the conversation.

"We didn't want to upset people by talking about it."

After a year in Vietnam, he was assigned to the AFB in Frankfurt, Germany.

He continued to serve as a flight nurse for three-and-a-half years, shuttling patients – mostly in a Douglas DC-5 propellor airplane – to and from bases and hospitals all over the European continent.

The work overseas was very fulfilling, Belford said.

He met scores of fellow military personnel and others.

Then it was time to work back in the states.

Belford moved here and there to various bases, including Warner Robbins, Sheppard, San Antonio and other installations.

Amid his service, Belford rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

It was at Sheppard AFB in Texas where Belford met the love of his life, the former Kay Hummel.

She was born and raised in Texas, near Fort Worth, where they met.

She was in charge of volunteers at the hospital where Belford worked.

"I was stationed there for a time. She worked with and for me. Part of my work was to find Kay to help me help someone. She was more respected and remembered than me in Fort Worth!"

They fell in love and married, then moved to Tennessee.

Belford retired from the Air Force in 1994.

Kay passed in Tennessee after 25 years of marriage, so Belford said he "decided to move back to where I was raised ... closer to my brother and sister."

He had two brothers, Paul and Jan.

Both have passed.

He also has two sisters, Becky Ann and Jean Marie.

Starting in 2027, the T. Belford Mills Memorial Scholarship will be awarded in the Keystone Central School District.

Belford is hopeful that two students can receive scholarships.

The high school graduate must be enrolled in a nursing program or health-care related program at an accredited college, university, post-secondary vocational or trade school.

The scholarship will be awarded to deserving graduates based on need, academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement.

Scholarship recipients shall be awarded annually by a committee appointed by the Keystone Central School District or its successors.

The scholarship shall be paid directly to the recipients' university, college, post-secondary vocational or trade school.

The Foundation will administer the scholarship fund as a "forever gift" so it can keep on giving.

Belford feels fortunate that he can help.

"I do know that a dollar does not go as far as it used to so that's why I want to help young kids become nurses."