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In Kristin Hannah's The Women, nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps and is shipped overseas to serve as a combat nurse in the Vietnam War. Upon returning home, Frankie spends years running from her trauma until she eventually finds a way to share her experiences. At the end of the novel, she stands before the newly unveiled Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and vows to find a way to honor the women like herself who served. Frankie's vow is similar to that of Diane Carlson Evans, who dedicated more than a decade of her life to the creation of the Vietnam Women's Memorial.
Evans served in Vietnam as an Army Corps Nurse from 1966 to 1972. After the establishment of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, Evans conceived of a memorial for the 265,000 military and civilian women who served during the Vietnam War, including the 10,000 to 11,000 nurses who were stationed on the ground in Vietnam. In 1984...
