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Healing Wounds: A Vietnam War Combat Nurse's 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington, D.C.
What is the price of honor? It took ten years for Vietnam War nurse Diane Carlson Evans to answer that question—and the answer was a heavy one.
In 1983, when Evans came up with the vision for the first-ever memorial on the National Mall to honor women who’d worn a military uniform, she wouldn’t be deterred. She remembered not only her sister veterans, but also the hundreds of young wounded men she had cared for, as she expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, “Women didn’t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If they belong there, we belong there. We were there for them then. We mattered.”
In the end, those wounded soldiers who had survived proved to be there for their sisters-in-arms, joining their fight for honor in Evans’ journey of combating unforeseen bureaucratic obstacles and facing mean-spirited opposition. Her impassioned story of serving in Vietnam is a crucial backstory to her fight to honor the women she served beside. She details the gritty and high-intensity experience of being a nurse in the midst of combat and becomes an unlikely hero who ultimately serves her country again as a formidable force in her daunting quest for honor and justice.
In 1983, when Evans came up with the vision for the first-ever memorial on the National Mall to honor women who’d worn a military uniform, she wouldn’t be deterred. She remembered not only her sister veterans, but also the hundreds of young wounded men she had cared for, as she expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, “Women didn’t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If they belong there, we belong there. We were there for them then. We mattered.”
In the end, those wounded soldiers who had survived proved to be there for their sisters-in-arms, joining their fight for honor in Evans’ journey of combating unforeseen bureaucratic obstacles and facing mean-spirited opposition. Her impassioned story of serving in Vietnam is a crucial backstory to her fight to honor the women she served beside. She details the gritty and high-intensity experience of being a nurse in the midst of combat and becomes an unlikely hero who ultimately serves her country again as a formidable force in her daunting quest for honor and justice.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 387 reviews
February 17, 2024
This was a most fascinating read for me. After finishing The Women by Kristin Hannah, I just wasn’t ready to let that era go. I saw that she used this book as part of her research for her book. Being raised in the Washington D. C. area, I remember when this monument was placed, but didn’t remember the true struggle in getting it placed. I am so glad I read this. It is full of fascinating facts from start to finish that really show the struggle in getting this well deserved recognition for the women of the Vietnam Era.
October 8, 2024
Welcome home, ma'am.
Continuing my additional reading after reading Kristin Hannah's The Women, I read Carlson Evans' account of her experience as a nurse in Vũng Tàu and at Pleiku. Her experiences with caring for wounded and burned patients were harrowing to say the least.
Ms. Carlson Evans had unfortunately many negative encounters from anti-war opinioned persons upon arriving home from military service in Vietnam. She tried to keep her feelings and war service hidden in order to "move on" and to heal. At that time, the trauma of PTSD was not well known or treated, especially for women veterans.
Much of the book dealt with the arduous 10-year story of how she spearheaded the Vietnam Women's Memorial to be created and dedicated on Veterans Day, 1993. From The Nurse concept by Roger Bodin to Glenda Goodacre's winning design, I was riveted by the back-and-forth actions amongst the board members, from the accounts of support and backlash from fellow veterans, senators, congress members and journalists. True grit. That is what makes up Diane Carlson Evans, and I admire her greatly for it.
Continuing my additional reading after reading Kristin Hannah's The Women, I read Carlson Evans' account of her experience as a nurse in Vũng Tàu and at Pleiku. Her experiences with caring for wounded and burned patients were harrowing to say the least.
Ms. Carlson Evans had unfortunately many negative encounters from anti-war opinioned persons upon arriving home from military service in Vietnam. She tried to keep her feelings and war service hidden in order to "move on" and to heal. At that time, the trauma of PTSD was not well known or treated, especially for women veterans.
Much of the book dealt with the arduous 10-year story of how she spearheaded the Vietnam Women's Memorial to be created and dedicated on Veterans Day, 1993. From The Nurse concept by Roger Bodin to Glenda Goodacre's winning design, I was riveted by the back-and-forth actions amongst the board members, from the accounts of support and backlash from fellow veterans, senators, congress members and journalists. True grit. That is what makes up Diane Carlson Evans, and I admire her greatly for it.
March 22, 2024
Like many others, I discovered this book after reading The Women by Kristin Hannah. That book made me interested in learning more about the nurses who served in Vietnam and I am so glad I followed my curiosity.
Diane’s story is full of inspiration, strength, heartbreak, and hope and I found myself so moved by both her wartime experiences and her unwavering dedication to getting a memorial added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC to honor the women who served. Her vision was to create a symbol of healing and hope for those women, including herself, whose contributions had been largely invisible, leading to a unique kind of isolation.
What I found especially powerful was the fact that Diane never settled for less than what she felt these women deserved. There were so many times she could have said yes to lesser versions of her vision. The pushback and opposition she experienced in pursuit of this dream so perfectly illustrated the ways in which women are expected to just shut up and settle for whatever they can get. But she knew that a monument depicting actual women and for that monument to be added to the memorial in DC was the only suitable option, and so despite frustrating red tape, death threats, sexism, corruption, and more she persevered. Highly recommend!
Diane’s story is full of inspiration, strength, heartbreak, and hope and I found myself so moved by both her wartime experiences and her unwavering dedication to getting a memorial added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC to honor the women who served. Her vision was to create a symbol of healing and hope for those women, including herself, whose contributions had been largely invisible, leading to a unique kind of isolation.
What I found especially powerful was the fact that Diane never settled for less than what she felt these women deserved. There were so many times she could have said yes to lesser versions of her vision. The pushback and opposition she experienced in pursuit of this dream so perfectly illustrated the ways in which women are expected to just shut up and settle for whatever they can get. But she knew that a monument depicting actual women and for that monument to be added to the memorial in DC was the only suitable option, and so despite frustrating red tape, death threats, sexism, corruption, and more she persevered. Highly recommend!
June 2, 2020
So much written about this war, mostly from a males viewpoint. This book tells the times, what was happening, the views on this war, but from a Woman's view. Diane was not by choice, desire, but wanted to honor those woman who served. Getting the Memorial was a eye awakening that one could not accept. The Male Views on Women who served, not good at all. Diane tells you about Vietnam, a nurse that saw the war and pulled no punches. Your going to learn so much, I'm going to let you read and see what I mean, don't want to take away from the book. You are going to be angry, your are going to feel emotions, this is a very powerful book. Vietnam, a war like no other and and when those who served came home, it did not end, and so this is Diane story, it is by far and away the best book on Vietnam, the time period, the impact it had on a individual, no different than all those males and females who served in Vietnam.
Bob Welch, well I cannot say enough about him. He has such a talent for helping tell the story of Diane, she is the one who is talking, but it is Bob who puts it down on paper and what a gift he has. I've ready pretty much everything he has ever published, he is that good.
He has written "Easy Company" World War II, outstanding, one of the Band of Brothers is who is telling the story. "American Nightingale" the first american nurse to die in WWII. She had been gone 60 years and Bob tells the story as if he had met her.
My point is, if Diane ever wanted to have her story told, and to be told the way she wanted it to be told, Bob is the only author I would trust in doing so.
Healing Wounds, is a must, don't think about it, get it. It was so important to let a woman tell us about Vietnam, is was important for this woman to show us what she had to go through to get the memorial and for those who served to be given the respect they had never gotten. Vietnam, a war in a foreign country and a war that came home with those who served.
Bob Welch, well I cannot say enough about him. He has such a talent for helping tell the story of Diane, she is the one who is talking, but it is Bob who puts it down on paper and what a gift he has. I've ready pretty much everything he has ever published, he is that good.
He has written "Easy Company" World War II, outstanding, one of the Band of Brothers is who is telling the story. "American Nightingale" the first american nurse to die in WWII. She had been gone 60 years and Bob tells the story as if he had met her.
My point is, if Diane ever wanted to have her story told, and to be told the way she wanted it to be told, Bob is the only author I would trust in doing so.
Healing Wounds, is a must, don't think about it, get it. It was so important to let a woman tell us about Vietnam, is was important for this woman to show us what she had to go through to get the memorial and for those who served to be given the respect they had never gotten. Vietnam, a war in a foreign country and a war that came home with those who served.
March 24, 2024
4.5 ⭐️ Kind of wish I read this before I read The Women. You can really tell how much info Kristin Hannah pulled from this book- from war stories to healing when back in the US. Super informative!
May 19, 2024
I wanted to read this nonfiction account of nurses serving during the Vietnam war because I loved reading Kristen Hannah's The Women. I enjoyed the retelling of the authors history at the beginning. However, most of the story was about the political hoops she was forced to jump through in order to make her mission of getting a statue to honor women who served during the Vietnam war. It was interesting but too long. More about her family and how that dynamic played out during those 10 years would have been excellent!
May 1, 2024
One of the bffs told me this was a must read for me, and she couldn’t have been more spot on. I’m low key obsessed with women’s monuments and how women are memorialized in public history, so this memoir of Diane Carlson Evans’s service as a combat nurse in Vietnam and her subsequent fight for a memorial honoring female veterans in DC was straight catnip for me.
She provides moving insight into what women experienced in Vietnam (not only facing but fixing the most horrific scenes of the war while also navigating power dynamics and threats of sexual assault from men fighting on her own side) and the delicate balance of our humanity (I’ll never be able to forget the image of the cinnamon rolls IYKYK), but also her erasure as a rejected veteran not only because of plummeting public opinion of the war but also because of her gender. Her decade long fight for female inclusion in the Vietnam memorial in DC is so moving (& often frustrating). Her experience with both of these things make her critical comments about politics feel justified. I surprised myself by crying in the first three pages but then found myself doing it 5 or 6 more times till the end.
Fav nonfiction so far this year.
She provides moving insight into what women experienced in Vietnam (not only facing but fixing the most horrific scenes of the war while also navigating power dynamics and threats of sexual assault from men fighting on her own side) and the delicate balance of our humanity (I’ll never be able to forget the image of the cinnamon rolls IYKYK), but also her erasure as a rejected veteran not only because of plummeting public opinion of the war but also because of her gender. Her decade long fight for female inclusion in the Vietnam memorial in DC is so moving (& often frustrating). Her experience with both of these things make her critical comments about politics feel justified. I surprised myself by crying in the first three pages but then found myself doing it 5 or 6 more times till the end.
Fav nonfiction so far this year.
April 17, 2024
This is the story I was hoping to find in The Women. I wish I could personally thank Diane for telling this story and for her perseverance in getting a memorial, not a plaque, for the women who served in Vietnam. Yes, there were women who served in the Vietnam War.
February 13, 2025
I learned a lot from this book. I would have liked to hear more about why the author chose to go to Vietnam and her transition back and fewer details on the work around the monument.
May 25, 2025
"As my time in Vietnam continued, I saw the best of America in our hospital beds while working side by side with hundreds of our brave men and women. Fate chose this battleground for my generation. It did not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants or innocent children who were machine-gunned, bombed, or tortured. Our fate, I was starting to realize, was being determined by the stroke of a pen by senators and congressmen in Washington, D.C., most of them who knew nothing of war"
Healing Wounds by Diane Carlson Evans is a memoir that presents us with Diane's life as a war nurse during the Vietnam War and the hardships that she had to endure during and after her tenure.
It's one of the most fast-paced memoirs I've read where Diane just doesn't beat around the bush with adding any kind of unnecessary anecdotes that span across multiple chapters. Right from the start she's very selective of the things she wants to tell, that are strictly related to the Vietnam war and her life surrounding it. The book is divided into 5 parts, starting off with Diane's life before she volunteered for the Vietnam war, and ended with shining a light on the efforts of all women war nurses whose efforts went unnoticed all those years. I had read The Women by Kristin Hannah last year where I saw the mention of this book as a reference, and I can say Kristin Hannah must've got a significant inspiration from this memoir. Although, I would've to say that Healing Wounds is a much better book than The Women, but yeah I guess comparing both wouldn't be justified.
Through this memoir you get a glimpse of what war nurses have to suffer, the constant pressure of bombings, firings near the medical facilities, attending to multiple patients at the same time just as more and more patients are brought in. Moreover, treating every human being doesn't matter a Vietnamese or an American, and of course getting bullied and trolled consequently in the future. Diane's writing is quite powerful in terms of capturing the trauma and the feeling of futility of it all, as they had to work daily towards something being ordered by people who just would never grasp the severity of what they were enduring.
And to somehow make it all make some sense, Diane started working towards building something that reflected their efforts to their country that was not backing down a single minute criticizing and demeaning them. Diane's story of struggle and finally a glorious acknowledgement of it sends a very impactful message, that just as a war nurse she gave it all saving every patient she could, she gave it all trying to pioneer all the efforts of the war nurses by building a war memorial in their tribute (which has a complete part dedicated to it, documenting the issues faced from the approval to final sanctioning of it)
Overall, a really strong and straightforward memoir.
Healing Wounds by Diane Carlson Evans is a memoir that presents us with Diane's life as a war nurse during the Vietnam War and the hardships that she had to endure during and after her tenure.
It's one of the most fast-paced memoirs I've read where Diane just doesn't beat around the bush with adding any kind of unnecessary anecdotes that span across multiple chapters. Right from the start she's very selective of the things she wants to tell, that are strictly related to the Vietnam war and her life surrounding it. The book is divided into 5 parts, starting off with Diane's life before she volunteered for the Vietnam war, and ended with shining a light on the efforts of all women war nurses whose efforts went unnoticed all those years. I had read The Women by Kristin Hannah last year where I saw the mention of this book as a reference, and I can say Kristin Hannah must've got a significant inspiration from this memoir. Although, I would've to say that Healing Wounds is a much better book than The Women, but yeah I guess comparing both wouldn't be justified.
Through this memoir you get a glimpse of what war nurses have to suffer, the constant pressure of bombings, firings near the medical facilities, attending to multiple patients at the same time just as more and more patients are brought in. Moreover, treating every human being doesn't matter a Vietnamese or an American, and of course getting bullied and trolled consequently in the future. Diane's writing is quite powerful in terms of capturing the trauma and the feeling of futility of it all, as they had to work daily towards something being ordered by people who just would never grasp the severity of what they were enduring.
And to somehow make it all make some sense, Diane started working towards building something that reflected their efforts to their country that was not backing down a single minute criticizing and demeaning them. Diane's story of struggle and finally a glorious acknowledgement of it sends a very impactful message, that just as a war nurse she gave it all saving every patient she could, she gave it all trying to pioneer all the efforts of the war nurses by building a war memorial in their tribute (which has a complete part dedicated to it, documenting the issues faced from the approval to final sanctioning of it)
Overall, a really strong and straightforward memoir.
July 20, 2024
Just wow! Diane Carlson Evans is a hero. She is a formidable woman who persisted despite so many hurdles. After reading The Women by Kristin Hannah, I wanted to know more about nurses service in Vietnam. I am thrilled I read this gripping memoir.
February 24, 2024
This really complimented the Kristin Hannah book. Hannah referenced this book in her research for The Women and I definitely picked out the links.
Diane Carlson Evans work is stunning. Thank goodness for her perseverance. What an inspiration. I can’t wait to go see the memorial. She is such an inspiration and her book is outstanding.
Diane Carlson Evans work is stunning. Thank goodness for her perseverance. What an inspiration. I can’t wait to go see the memorial. She is such an inspiration and her book is outstanding.
November 22, 2024
A MUST read if you enjoyed Kristen Hannah’s book, The Women. This book was amazing and Diane’s story is so moving. The first half focuses on her experiences in Vietnam and you will see many similarities to pieces from The Women. The second half focuses on her endless effort to have a Vietnam Women’s Memorial, which was so interesting. All the obstacles she faced, the politics behind it, raising funds, just overall a very interesting process and her determination is very inspiring. Seriously enjoyed this!
January 23, 2025
1960s-1990s US and Vietnam
All that military nurse Diane Carlson Evans went through to have a place to honor women veterans that served in Vietnam was a lot. The portions of the book that detailed her time in Vietnam were descriptive and difficult to listen to.
All that military nurse Diane Carlson Evans went through to have a place to honor women veterans that served in Vietnam was a lot. The portions of the book that detailed her time in Vietnam were descriptive and difficult to listen to.
July 7, 2025
Healing Wounds: A Vietnam Combat Nurse’s 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington D.C. by Diane Carlson Evans with Bob Welch (2020) is an autobiography of Diane Carlson Evans.
The book covers three main aspects of her life: her experience as a nurse in operating and recovery rooms in field hospitals during the Vietnam War, her life after returning from Vietnam to America, and her efforts to gain recognition for the contributions of service women during the Vietnam War.
This book provides detailed insights into the life of a woman who served as a combat nurse during the Vietnam era and her experiences following the war. It offers readers information about the challenges faced by service women and their role during the Vietnam War.
I recommended Healing Wounds for those interested in learning about the journey of a combat nurse and the issues that prevailed during and after the Vietnam War.
The book covers three main aspects of her life: her experience as a nurse in operating and recovery rooms in field hospitals during the Vietnam War, her life after returning from Vietnam to America, and her efforts to gain recognition for the contributions of service women during the Vietnam War.
This book provides detailed insights into the life of a woman who served as a combat nurse during the Vietnam era and her experiences following the war. It offers readers information about the challenges faced by service women and their role during the Vietnam War.
I recommended Healing Wounds for those interested in learning about the journey of a combat nurse and the issues that prevailed during and after the Vietnam War.
June 7, 2024
I listened to this audiobook as a follow up after reading The Women by Kristin Hannah. I studied the Vietnam war extensively in college and the history of women’s contributions was definitely a missing piece. Diane’s story is not only an important reminder of the sacrifice of the women of Vietnam, but it also highlights how often the work and pain endured by women is too often invisible.
March 29, 2025
An eye-opening book that chronicles the struggle to recognize women Vietnam veterans with a memorial in Washington, D.C. It left me feeling grateful to Diane and her sister veterans for persevering to see it through while at the same time infuriated that so many people (mostly men) tried to stand in the way of this memorial. It is one of my favorites in Washington, D.C.
May 11, 2023
The first 75% of the story was very engaging. The last bit was more a thank you to all the supporters. But, as history it is important to us women veterans and especially our sisters who served in Vietnam.
March 12, 2024
3.5
Heartbreaking what she went through in Vietnam and coming back home and trying to get the memorial for women. She poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into getting women who served in Vietnam a memorial.
Heartbreaking what she went through in Vietnam and coming back home and trying to get the memorial for women. She poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into getting women who served in Vietnam a memorial.
June 1, 2020
Comfortable read, not a lot of "war stories".
The chapters on her feelings and thoughts after returning and the many years after struck a strong chord with this reader.
The chapters on her feelings and thoughts after returning and the many years after struck a strong chord with this reader.
March 1, 2025
Like many others, I came here after reading “The Women” by Kristin Hannah. After that story, I was not yet ready to let go of the Vietnam era. “Healing Wounds” by Diane Carlson Evans is a powerful and thought-provoking memoir that dives into the experiences of women during the Vietnam War. I found the treatment of women throughout the book completely infuriating, as they faced immense challenges, both on the battlefield and in their struggle to be recognized. I hated how these veterans were treated by our country when they returned home from the war, and the total abandonment they felt. However, despite the harsh realities, this book is a testament to the strength and resilience of these women. It is beautifully written, full of healing moments and ultimately empowering. Diane Carlson Evans captures not only the pain but also the beauty of perseverance, making it a deeply moving and inspiring read. I hold the women who served in Vietnam in the highest regard, with deep respect and admiration for their courage, strength, and sacrifice. I couldn’t recommend this book more.
September 29, 2025
I'm reading this in honor of the brave, unrecognized women who served alongside the men in the complicated, horrible war in Vietnam and to learn more about The Women that Kristin Hannah celebrated.
So utterly grateful for having come across this book, in my journey to read books outside my comfort genres. The author narrates her resilient navigation to bring the Vietnam Women's Memorial to the National Mall. Opening with the path she took as a nurse who volunteered to serve in a dirty and complicated war, to the years of silent "don't ask me about my time" in country, to the void that Maya Lin's starkly healing memorial left, the book reveals the incredible roadblocks (locally, internally, governmentally) to the first memorial honoring women. Emotionally redeeming is to hear how the Women's Memorial has healed and honors the service by those who volunteer (when so many men of that era were unable as their number was called). It is unflinching and therapeutic.
So utterly grateful for having come across this book, in my journey to read books outside my comfort genres. The author narrates her resilient navigation to bring the Vietnam Women's Memorial to the National Mall. Opening with the path she took as a nurse who volunteered to serve in a dirty and complicated war, to the years of silent "don't ask me about my time" in country, to the void that Maya Lin's starkly healing memorial left, the book reveals the incredible roadblocks (locally, internally, governmentally) to the first memorial honoring women. Emotionally redeeming is to hear how the Women's Memorial has healed and honors the service by those who volunteer (when so many men of that era were unable as their number was called). It is unflinching and therapeutic.
January 5, 2025
Dang this book is beautiful. I read it after reading Kristen Hannah’s “The Women” because it was one of Hannah’s resources. I listened to the entire book while driving back to school. I also started crying during the book which was crazy because I am not a cryer (and i was driving lol). Diane’s story is hard to hear but it is a beautiful story and I am so glad she shared it so I could read it. If you read “The Women” please read this non fiction account of the same story !! (also, this book will probably be helpful for dorian book club on “The Women”)
July 20, 2025
Interesting story and perspective about fighting for women veterans to get the recognition they deserved after Vietnam, but not the best writing/narrating. I listened to the audiobook version and that may be why it was less enjoyable. Learned more about the nursing experience in this war and appreciated the real life perspective, so it was still worth the read for me. This book was a big inspiration for Kristen Hannah’s The Women, and kind of cool because the nurse who wrote this book grew up in Buffalo, Minnesota and shares her Minnesota farm girl to combat nurse transition which I enjoyed reading about in the first half.
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July 28, 2025Great companion novel to The Women, a must read, especially if you’re were left wanting more from The Women
December 28, 2024
Earlier in the year I read The Women by Kristin Hannah and she mentioned this book. It is excellent!! The behind the scenes story of bringing a memorial to the National Mamm to honor women who had worn a uniform. An amazing book!
December 6, 2025
If you loved The Women by Kristin Hannah like I did, you will love this personal experience of a real Vietnam nurse and her pursuit to get these invisible heroes of the war recognized decades after. Heart-wrenching, raw, and so beautiful. The audiobook was the way to read it!
September 30, 2024
What is the price of honor? It took ten years for Vietnam War nurse Diane Carlson Evans to answer that question—and the answer was a heavy one.
In 1983, when Evans came up with the vision for the first-ever memorial on the National Mall to honor women who’d worn a military uniform, she wouldn’t be deterred. She remembered not only her sister veterans, but also the hundreds of young wounded men she had cared for, as she expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, “Women didn’t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If they belong there, we belong there. We were there for them then. We mattered.”
In the end, those wounded soldiers who had survived proved to be there for their sisters-in-arms, joining their fight for honor in Evans’ journey of combating unforeseen bureaucratic obstacles and facing mean-spirited opposition. Her impassioned story of serving in Vietnam is a crucial backstory to her fight to honor the women she served beside. She details the gritty and high-intensity experience of being a nurse in the midst of combat and becomes an unlikely hero who ultimately serves her country again as a formidable force in her daunting quest for honor and justice.GR description
I listened to this book for book club choice, July. It was good to follow up with this book after reading The Woman by Kristin Hannah. I had visited the memorial on our trip to Washington DC, so was able to visual the scene. What a journey Diane took to get the memorial done, incredible that it took 10 years. I would have liked to have heard more about her time in Vietnam.
In 1983, when Evans came up with the vision for the first-ever memorial on the National Mall to honor women who’d worn a military uniform, she wouldn’t be deterred. She remembered not only her sister veterans, but also the hundreds of young wounded men she had cared for, as she expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, “Women didn’t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If they belong there, we belong there. We were there for them then. We mattered.”
In the end, those wounded soldiers who had survived proved to be there for their sisters-in-arms, joining their fight for honor in Evans’ journey of combating unforeseen bureaucratic obstacles and facing mean-spirited opposition. Her impassioned story of serving in Vietnam is a crucial backstory to her fight to honor the women she served beside. She details the gritty and high-intensity experience of being a nurse in the midst of combat and becomes an unlikely hero who ultimately serves her country again as a formidable force in her daunting quest for honor and justice.GR description
I listened to this book for book club choice, July. It was good to follow up with this book after reading The Woman by Kristin Hannah. I had visited the memorial on our trip to Washington DC, so was able to visual the scene. What a journey Diane took to get the memorial done, incredible that it took 10 years. I would have liked to have heard more about her time in Vietnam.
April 25, 2024
After reading The Women by Kristin Hannah and finding out that she based much of her story on Diane Carlson Evans, I wanted to listen to this book. The two really go hand-in-hand. Diane's story is much like the main character in The Women, although after doing one year of service, Diane came home from Viet Nam. She kept much locked up inside of herself until the memorial wall was built in Washington, D.C. After that, she took it upon herself to erect a statue to the women who had served in Viet Nam. What a battle!! This book was a complete eye opener into all that goes into having a memorial created--all the hoops and battles she had to go through were probably harder than what she experienced in the war. Several times Diane is described as tenacious, and that is definitely the word to describe her. Thank goodness there are people like her in the world who work so hard for what is right and healing!! I enjoyed listening to this book!
May 12, 2024
Picked this afer reading The Women by Kristin Hannah. More about the fight for the rightful recognition and honoring of women veterans than the nurses story in Vietnam, but such an important historical account.
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