Customer Reviews

Home Before Morning

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After reading a number of unnecessarily harsh and, from my point of view, patently untrue "reviews" that disparage this book and its author, I feel obliged to weigh in. I am a Viet Nam nurse vet; when I first read this book several years ago, I was amazed by its honesty and heartened that a sister-in-arms had been brave enough to tell it like it was. I cannot speak to the precise details in Van Devanter's fine and harrowing account of her life before, during and after Viet Nam, but I can say that her experiences during her service ring entirely true to me. I have heard her reputation slandered before, and have wondered why the denegration was so vehement and so personal. Do those who defend their greatly-amended version of our reputation as Viet Nam nurses by tearing down this excellent book feel that we must, for some reason, be portrayed as angels to the world at large? Such a picture would be as false as denouncing us as [prostitute]. We were human beings, with all the fine and base characteristics that entailed. We were young women--most of us still in that amorphous hormonal classification of "late adolescence." We lived on adrenalin and bad food, experienced heartbreak daily, dealt with entirely too many males, and did a mind-boggling body of work to the best of our abilities in spite of the pain, frustration, sexism and distraction. "Home Before Morning" is the grandmother of female Viet Nam accounts, an important piece of literature, a first-of-its-kind window on the Viet Nam war. It is well-written and evocative, and its author--who certainly must now have earned the peace she found so elusive in this life--deserves our profound respect for publishing it at a time when she must have realized it would draw criticism from those who find such raw truths threatening.

As a writer of fiction that draws on my experiences in Viet Nam, I owe Lynda Van Devanter a great debt. The first among us, she whacked through the jungle of criticism, took the heat, and secured the road for the acceptance of a woman's unique view of what is, by nature, a testosterone-charged world. She deserves a medal, posthumous though it would now be, for grace under fire.

Susan O'Neill, Army nurse-vet and author: Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam.

I read this book close to 10 years ago in a college history class. It was on a list of choices and I picked it because it was the only book about the experience of a woman in wartime. I'm glad I did, because the book still ranks in my mind as one of the most interesting points of view of the Vietnam experience in print. There are hundreds--maybe thousands--of books about the memories and heroic deeds of the male soldiers in various wars, but what about the women who had to put them back together, nurse them back to health, and often send them back to the front to be wounded again? Since reading Home Before Morning I actively seek out the stories of the doctors, nurses and other "support" personnel involved in military actions.

I read so many books that I often don't remember the names of authors or even the titles of the books, but this one has stayed with me. That is a testament to the writing ability of Van Devanter and the emotional pull of her story. I'd recommend this book to anyone considering a career in the military, medical field, or anyone interested in women's history. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

Since its publication in1990, I have recommended "Home Before Morning" as necessary reading for anyone who has more than just a casual interest in the Vietnam War. This personal insight from a woman's point of view reminds us that the thousands of soldliers who fought in the war were not its only victims/casualties; as an Army nurse serving in a MASH unit, she was no less affect by the aftermath of combat than those who experienced it first hand. And upon returning to the States after her tour of duty, she was treated with the same indiginity and disrespect given any other Vietnam vet returning home. For many Vietnam vets, myself included, Lynda Van Devanter, and others like her, will always be heroes, in our hearts. When dealing with the harsh realities of war - as witnessed by one who served on the receiving end of its by-product, "Home Before Morning" is a must read. Once you read this book, you, too, will want to share it with others.

I read the original book when it was first published in '90. I also had the pleasure of being a collegue of Ms. vandevanter when she was living and working in CA. When I knew her, I considererd her rude, brash, undiciplined, crazy,contemptuous of the "RULES." Words such as hero, post traumatic stress disorder, or combat nurses were not in the popular media in the mid seventies. There were no heros, just people who did not fit into neat civilian boxes. Ms. Vandervanter's book was about the first nurses story published. It laid bare how torn a soul becomes when subjected to the daily horrors of war and then the hate of your own countrymen on return. It then chronicals how many years it takes to rebuild-a process I'm sure was helped my this book. Ten years have gone by, millions of words have been written about Viet Nam but this is still the first and the classic book about nurses in combat. I look forward to rereading this book and have two Viet Nam era nurses waiting to read it. Keep this book in print as reqired reading about the "glory"of war.

When the soldiers came home from Viet Nam, they were not the only ones to feel the wrath and confusion of the public sentiment. The nurses came home to an emptiness that until now, and this book, has never been revealed.

Ms. Van Devanter opens her heart and soul to the brutal reality of how nurses functioned in the Viet Nam War. It is a deep and painful experience, but an experience that is nevertheless taken with the courage of a true trauma nurse. These nurses placed others first in all situations, emotional and physical. Their sacrifice was daily, and there is no doubt that it adds up and takes its toll at the conclusion. For some, the toll was taken immediately, and for others, it was taken slowly, later, when they went home and tried to adjust to life after the war.

This is a stark and brilliant accounting of a life dedicated to saving the lives of young men in Viet Nam. The nurses were there to help save lives of the US, but unfortunately, when they got home, they found little resources available to help them save their own lives and re-enter a "normal" life after Viet Nam.

While much has been said about the men who fought in Viet Nam, until this book, little was acknowledged about the sacrifice these nurses made for their country. It is a stark contrast to see that this population was extrememly overlooked and under-supported upon their return to civilian life after the war.

However, let me be clear. This is not a book that whines and demands retribution. It merely states the obvious, and is a picture of what was. This is an important accounting of a nurse, performing the art she was trained to do and the courage she had to put it on paper and make it accountable.

I served with Lynda for a few months at the 67th Evac Hospital in Qui Hnon, RVN, although I don't remember her. I found her descriptions of the OR very accurate. If anything, she downplayed the horrors. Other reviewers doubt her account and one cites Lynda's supervisor at the 71st, Col. Mary Grace, as not remembering it that way. I don't know Col. Grace, but I knew the Nursing Supervisor at the 67th. I only saw her in an operating room once, when she mistakenly thought the Army Times was coming to take a picture and she walked out in the middle of the operation when she learned it wasn't going to happen. I think Lynda Van Devanter served her country twice, once in Vietnam and once when she wrote such a honest and painful book.

Unfortunately, the English Language has gone dull, leaving no appropriate way to explain how amazing this book is. From the moment you begin reading it, you are immediately pulled in, wanting to continue.... even through all the struggles and anguish that Lynda VanDevanter goes through. If it wasn't for my 12th grade literature class(just last year), i would have never picked this book up, but I am now so thankful that I have... and I only wish that it was still in print so i could read it again. For a more articulate explanation of how great the book is, read my former teacher's review. She (Andrea Welling) described it perfectly. What an awesome book. Don't pass up such an excellent read.

Lynda was a U.S. Army nurse at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku from 1969-70. In 1979, a year after the founding of Vietnam Veterans of America, she helped launch and became the head of VVA's Women's Project. She also began counseling other Vietnam veterans and conducting seminars around the country. Lynda was among the first few who committed herself to helping herself and others recover from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following Vietnam. I knew Lynda personally for many years. It took me a few years to get around to reading this book and when I did I wished I had read it earlier as it provided me a lot of insight into what ordinary men and women were thinking and feeling as they found their lives involved in the quagmire called Vietnam and the impact that it had upon them for the remainder of their lives. Honest, sad, vivid. Lynda passed away in 2002.

This novel is one of the most provocative books I have read. It immediately grips one's attention and forces the reader to see more of the Vietnam War than was seen through the eyes of the media. The imagery is compelling and honest. I first read this novel as a junior in college and now use it in the classroom for my high school students. It allows the reader to follow Ms. VanDevanter's personal struggle endured not just during the war, but years after.

Home Before Morning Is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. I bought the book when it was originally published back in 1983. At the time I was a young O.R. nurse and I was fascinated by the idea of nurses in Vietnam. Oh, if only I had been old enough to volunteer the way Lynda VanDevanter did. She quickly dashed the stars from my eyes with her descriptions of life in Pleiku. And if the horror of Vietnam wasn't bad enough, what she (and so many other returning vets) endured when she returned to the U.S. makes me ashamed, even today. That she emerged from the years of PTSD to help other women veterans is a testament to her courage and strength of character. My copy of Home Before Morning remains on my bookshelf, and always will. It has been passed around to many friends and co-workers. I think it should be required reading in every high school American History class.