The Vietnam Women's Memorial: Background information when reading The Women

The Vietnam Women's Memorial

This article relates to The Women

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, she formed the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project and began working to get the memorial approved by Congress. Opposition arose almost immediately; Evans, like Frankie in the novel, was repeatedly told that since women hadn't been in combat, they hadn't suffered like their male counterparts and thus didn't deserve their own memorial. Others argued that a statue honoring women would encourage other minority groups to advocate for their own specific memorials, while still others agreed with Evans that a memorial was deserved but believed it needed to be placed somewhere other than near the existing Vietnam memorial.

In 1984, the Three Soldiers statue was added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a monument meant to serve as a symbol for everyone—including the women—who had served during the war. Evans disagreed, and she and the Project volunteers, many of whom had themselves served during Vietnam, continued their efforts, eventually getting the chance to share their story on 60 Minutes in 1988. The segment garnered national attention for the Project, prompting many viewers to donate money and write letters to the editors of papers nationwide. Despite winning over the American people, it would still be another four years before the Women's Memorial would be added to the National Mall. Sculptor Glenna Goodacre's 2,000 pound, 6'8" bronze statue was dedicated on November 11, 1993, as part of a three-day celebration of patriotism and courage.

More than 25,000 people attended the dedication of the statue, which portrays three uniformed women, one of whom is tending to a wounded soldier. Another woman scans the sky as if searching for help from a medivac helicopter while the third is kneeling, staring at an empty helmet. Goodacre stated that her work is meant to pay tribute to "[the women's] compassion, their anxiety, their fatigue, and above all, their dedication." It is the first and only memorial to military women on the National Mall and is dedicated to all the women who served in Vietnam, be they nurses, air traffic controllers, military intelligence or members of civilian organizations such as the Red Cross, the United Service Organizations or the American Friends Services. Nearby stand eight yellowwood trees, a somber memorial planted to honor the eight nurses killed in Vietnam whose names also appear on the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

In The Women, Frankie is repeatedly told there were no women serving in Vietnam. Everyone knows this is a lie, but that doesn't stop them from trying to dismiss her pain and anger. Diane Carlson Evans was told the same thing, yet she refused to let her service and the service of more than 200,000 other women go unrecognized. For Evans and other women who served in Vietnam, the statue is a symbol of pride, a way to let go of the hurt and anger they felt about their treatment upon returning home after their service. It's also a testimony to the skills, determination and love that served them during the war and their subsequent efforts to establish the memorial. The memorial is a beautiful reminder to the public that women service members were in Vietnam and that their bravery and dedication deserve to be honored.

Vietnam Women's Memorial, courtesy of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This article relates to The Women. It first ran in the February 7, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.