Customer Reviews

Women at War: The Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam (Studies in Health, Illness, and Caregiving)

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This compilation is a strong, touching insight to the pre, intra, and post nursing experiences of some of our country's finest military nurses. I can feel the excitement, the danger, the hopelessness, and the tragedy of the time. I feel almost guilty that I was in junior and senior high school during this war, that I wasn't able to be there to try to keep our guys alive and well. This is a book for ALL nurses, especially for the ones who are getting a little burned and/or jaded. Our bad days at work are miniscule in comparison.

After reading a number of books regarding women who served in the Vietnam War, I was anxious to read this book as well. I expected more personal stories, perhaps a synopsis of the interviews of each of the 50 nurses studied. And the word "studied" is where my main problem with the book lies. It's written like a research paper or dissertation...I was unable to connect with any of the women on a personal or emotional level. I found myself paging ahead, hoping it would get interesting, but unfortunately, it never did. I much prefered "Women in Vietnam" by Ron Steinman or "A Piece of My Heart".

Being a veteran of the Navy Hospital Corps during the Viet Nam Era, I couldn't wait to read this account of the Viet Nam Conflict from the perspective of the nurses who served. I have had the honor to work with many nurse veterans over the years, and often marveled at the stories they had to tell. This book presents these stories in a format that holds the reader's interest. To me, the most enlightening section of the book was in the conclusion. The nurses were given an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and asked: knowing what they know now; would they go through the experience again? The second question they were asked: what advise would they give to young nurses who were going off to war? This is a wonderful book for nursing students as it gives an illustration of the values and heritage of nursing as well as a description of how nurses cope when under extreme stress. Nurse veterans will appreciate the photography and the anecdotes of how time away from the hospital units were spent. I highly recommend this book, as well as Dr. Norman's other book, "We Band of Angels".

i had to put the book down on several occasions. it magnified the horrors of war to a point where despair and despiration,filled my soul.There is one line which sums the entire feeling of book "you reach out to someone and then they are lost". a remarkable documentation which makes vietnam, whether it be a hospital or a battleground look like a gateway to a graveyard.

Describes the feminine side of nursing in Vietnam War, a time "when people grew up fast", too fast. Gives personal accounts, factual,and enlightening and disheartening at the same time.