“Some books leave you wrecked and ruined with several tissues by your side…this is one.”
The Women is profound, so confronting and will find its way beneath your skin seeping into your soul. It’s a tale hard to shake and it is time now to hear the stories of Frankie, Ethel and Barb. Vietnam War combat nurses – courageous, exceptionally skilled and serving prolonged hours of shifts in a war zone.
The incoming helicopters with the wounded kept coming and their surgical skills become finely honed. The wounds, losses, heat, rec time are all extremes with alcohol to wash the war chaos from their minds. The friendships forged are a life-saving bond.
The Women is two parts – the war zone, the why and how they got there and then the return with the aftermath and stigma of being in Vietnam serving.
On their return to their homeland they are scorned, ignored and certainly not recipients of a heroic welcome – let alone any welcome. They were broken, traumatised, bewildered and exhausted but denied care, understanding and wise counsel.
“There weren’t no women in ‘Nam mam…”
It took a long time for effective medical practice to respond to the unique stresses and trauma the veterans carried.
They were young, though trained, they were ill-prepared for the chaos of the Vietnam War. They signed up for dutiful service, based on heroic tales of women in World War Two…but this was a very different time and war.
*It wasn’t until 1993 that a memorial sculpture was unveiled in Washington DC and true acknowledgement of the service, resilience and honor was given to The Women.
Macmillan