Ash

“The ugliness of the world does not fade, nor are fear and grief made less by time, nor is any suffering forgotten. We are only made stronger by its blows.”
― Christopher Ruocchio, Ashes of Man

“He knew we were wounded. Wounded by war, wounded by the betrayal of our nation. Wounded twice, once in Vietnam, and again at home.”
― Diane Carlson Evans, Healing Wounds

“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.”
― Diane Carlson Evans, Healing Wounds

“While we don’t know the exact numbers, we know that many American women serving in Vietnam were sexually harassed, and some raped, but afraid to report it to higher military authorities for fear of retribution. We were vulnerable and knew the Army Nurse Corps could not, or in some cases would not, protect us. Women who did report were often transferred, lost promotions, or were marked as troublemakers. Our surviving Vietnam meant keeping secrets and watching our backs.”
― Diane Carlson Evans, Healing Wounds