Nurses

Nurses in Vietnam



__** Fast Facts! **__ The 8th Field Hospital, in Nha Trang, had been the only in-country U.S hospital for three years.The 3rd Field Hospital, in Saigon, was the first to arrive during the buildup of American soldiers in Vietnam. Although some nurses were a part of the Army, many were actually volunteers. It was very uncommon for nurses to be conflicted in the heat of war, but many were wounded and nine died while serving. Only 1st Lt. Sharon A. Lane was a victim of hostile fire.

"The average nurses during the war were 23.6 years old. They were all relatively new to nursing, only 35% had more than two years nursing experience. Nurses were both female, 79%, and male, 21%."

7,484 nurses served in Vietnam.

**__ Famous People! __**
 * Colonel Mildred I. Clark was Chief of Corps from 1963-1967, and Colonel Anna Mae Hays was Chief of Colonel from 1967-1971.


 * Sharon Ann Lane was killed in June 8th, 1969 at the 312th Evacuation Hospital when it was struck by 122mm rockets fired by Vietcong.

Vietnam Nurses

A 52 minute documentary was filmed called Vietnam Nurses by Polly Watkins in 2005 about six Australian nurses that arrived in Saigon, Vietnam from 1962 to 1972. It was based in Vung Tau, the only Australian field hospital in Vietnam. It portrays how little many nurses were prepared for the traumatizing reality of the war. None were ready for the life or death situations, the horrific injuries inflicted upon soldiers, or the intense rush of saving the men. It won four AFI(American Film Institute) Awards including //Best Documentary// and //Best Director in a Documentary//!

Originally, a few nurses from the United States were sent to train South Vietnamese nurses about how to care for wounded soldiers, not to stay and take care of the American soldiers. "As the war expanded a greater burden was placed on the Army Nurse Corps. Over 11 years from March, 1962 (when the 8th Field Hospital opened in Nha Trang) to March,1973 (when the last Army nurses departed the Republic of Vietnam), more than 5,000 Army nurses served in America's longest war."

After all of the long hours and horrifying wounds these women had to see, many nurses found their time being a nurse at the war rewarding. They were able to serve their country and save and comfort the wounded men in their time of need. During the Vietnam War 98% of the men who were wounded and made it to the hospital survived. Nurses witnessed some truly interesting events such as men recovering from their wounds or acts of true selflessness that were actually common during fighting situations, and many nurses made close friends with their fellow coworkers some of them still keep in contact today.

The war was very controversial, for men and women. Most of the men didn't even have a choice. But the women could choose their own side, whether to help out or sit out. A woman's touch can make a difference in a world believed to be dominated by men. That's why so many women went out to be nurses,to possibly change what the wounded men's lives could or could not have been.

The women who joined and wanted to help out went in for the same reasons the men went into war. They wanted to serve their country, to help the injured soldiers, to receive training, education, and to prove themselves in war.

Combat nurses normally worked 12 hours shifts six days a week. However, during a major battle those 12 hour shifts easily turned into a 24 to 36 hour shift. But in addition most of the nurses volunteered around the community. They went to local orphanages, or hospitals to teach hygiene, offer their medical help, as well as teach English. Vietnam nurses suffered from a tremendous amount of stress. They always had a lot of patients they had to serve. They were taking care of very young men that sometimes they would not be able to save, which made them feel guilty. Everything they saw stirred a lot of emotions in the women.

After the war, nurses were not recognized by the public. Some even suffered from PTSD, like many veterans did. They were also excluded from veteran services. The VA, or Veteran Administration, would not extend support services to women and rarely publicized if they did give benefits financially and educationally. They were disregarded in Agent Orange studies, even though the risks were considered greater for the women.  In 1979, Lynda-Van Devanter started up a the Vietnam Veteran Women's Association Project and  became the first advocate for women of the war. All the women and nurses raised money for a memorial, which ended up being located in Washington, D.C.   Lynda-Van Devanter also  wrote a book about  her experiences in the war! "While one nurse comforts the soldier, another kneels in thought or prayer. The third looks to the skies - for help from a medevac helicopter, or perhaps from a higher power."

A book was written by Diane Yancey about the struggles and hardships of the men and women who fought in the Vietnam War;

===="Trained to give medical care to wounded GIs in the field, combat medics regularly endured all the hardships and stress of "humping the boonies" with their unit...a medics purpose was to help, not kill, and constantly seeing the ugliness of war was particularly difficult...the hospital at Da Nang was the largest combat casualty unit in the world. A line in a poem by Thomas Hardy that a nurse has never forgotten "Alive enough to have strength to die" They depend on the nurses for strength and life, look for the fear in their faces to see how bad it is but never find any because they are army tough. "Nurses listen to their stories, maintained a cheerful, positive demeanor, but inside never came out...They built "walls" between themselves and the GIs." so they didn't break down in front of them or be to angry with the men. "This POW was personally responsible for the deaths of six...GIs. When he was wheeled onto my ward, something snapped. I was overwhelmed with uncontrollable feelings of hate and rage. I couldn't go near this guy because I knew, without any doubt, that if I touched him I would kill him"(Yancey 62-66). ====

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