Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
The Nude Nurse and the Master of the Whip.
[Full Story from Real Men, December 1974]
Eulalia Burns was a third-year student at The School of Nurse & Health Care at the University of Glasgow, working for a Bachelors of Nursing with Honours. A lineal descendent of the immortal Robert Burns (though by one of his seven children born out of wedlock), she had a strong amateur interest in poetry, but at her core was dedicated to helping people. Shortly after arriving at University, she had become active in the local chapter of Amnesty International.
It was through Amnesty, in late 1973 that she first heard of atrocities being committed against political opponents of the Pinochet regime. Over the winter she followed the stories closely, becoming more and more indignant over the injustices. In February, she could sit on the sidelines no more, and she volunteered to go to Chile for Amnesty as a nurse. She would help families of the political prisoners (referred to as the desapareciendo, the “disappearing” since they seemed to vanish from the earth). Secretly, she also arranged to smuggle out reports of any information she could obtain to incriminate and embarrass the regime. At 25, Eulalia was idealistic, by naïve. She really didn’t think seriously of the risks she was taking.
March 1, 1973, Eulalia Burns, wearing a blue International Red Cross uniform, deplaned in Santiago de Chile. Collecting her bags and hailing a taxi, she was immediately aware of the omni-presence of police and heavily-armed soldiers. Undeterred, she quickly got settled and began visiting the list of families she had been given in London by her Amnesty supervisor. She was able to provide medical help, but mostly, the families needed support and a shoulder to cry on.
Eulalia worked to build trust with the families and soon they began to tentatively talk of the terrors. She used a handheld reorder to tape the information. Within four weeks, she had an extensive library, documenting the human right abuses of the Pinochet Regime. She planned to deliver these to an officer at the British Consulate in a few days. But that never happened.
Continued
[Full Story from Real Men, December 1974]
Eulalia Burns was a third-year student at The School of Nurse & Health Care at the University of Glasgow, working for a Bachelors of Nursing with Honours. A lineal descendent of the immortal Robert Burns (though by one of his seven children born out of wedlock), she had a strong amateur interest in poetry, but at her core was dedicated to helping people. Shortly after arriving at University, she had become active in the local chapter of Amnesty International.
It was through Amnesty, in late 1973 that she first heard of atrocities being committed against political opponents of the Pinochet regime. Over the winter she followed the stories closely, becoming more and more indignant over the injustices. In February, she could sit on the sidelines no more, and she volunteered to go to Chile for Amnesty as a nurse. She would help families of the political prisoners (referred to as the desapareciendo, the “disappearing” since they seemed to vanish from the earth). Secretly, she also arranged to smuggle out reports of any information she could obtain to incriminate and embarrass the regime. At 25, Eulalia was idealistic, by naïve. She really didn’t think seriously of the risks she was taking.
March 1, 1973, Eulalia Burns, wearing a blue International Red Cross uniform, deplaned in Santiago de Chile. Collecting her bags and hailing a taxi, she was immediately aware of the omni-presence of police and heavily-armed soldiers. Undeterred, she quickly got settled and began visiting the list of families she had been given in London by her Amnesty supervisor. She was able to provide medical help, but mostly, the families needed support and a shoulder to cry on.
Eulalia worked to build trust with the families and soon they began to tentatively talk of the terrors. She used a handheld reorder to tape the information. Within four weeks, she had an extensive library, documenting the human right abuses of the Pinochet Regime. She planned to deliver these to an officer at the British Consulate in a few days. But that never happened.
Continued
