Women's Role In Vietnam War

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The Vietnam conflict, commenced in 1955, brought along with it a costly and gruesome war that resulted in the deaths of many men, women, and children. It has been estimated that nearly three million perished during this war, bringing a plague of death that has long been remembered by various veterans today. The disrupted war, unpopular with civilians in the United States, ended after the withdraw of the U.S forces from Vietnam in 1973. Furthermore, the war underrepresented women, as a military career for women in the 1950’s was almost impenetrable. Although it is true that there was a higher number of men fighting in Vietnam compared to women, the small number of women who did serve their duty in Vietnam made an indescribable difference. From nurses to volunteer work, the women who served in Vietnam brought a sense of bravery, and dauntlessness that is unable to be replicated. …show more content…

The civilian account of women serving has not been recorded, maybe this is furthering the notion that war is a “man’s job.” Today, it is quite common to see female officers and females in the combat zone, that wsa not the case during the Vietnam war. Many of the female American officers spent their time nursing (Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History). These nurses experienced the horrors of Vietnam. Dealing with the casualties of war that produced morbid and abhorring injuries, that effected the nurses both physical and mentally. Mary Dickenson, army nurse corps, described Vietnam in one word: “Insanity. To me it was a year of total and complete insanity. Nothing was ever gained; nothing made sense. There was a constant stream of mutilated bodies, and for what?” (Gruhzit-Hoyt,

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