Women During The Vietnam War - 1294 Words

Women were a heavy presence in the Vietnam war. While 1/3 of the men in the Vietnam were drafted; most of the women volunteered. Many women wanted to escape having to settle down and get married and some had something to prove to their families. While others just wanted to help their country. 90% of the women were nurses, but they were also air traffic controllers, physicians, intelligence officers, clerks, among the positons. In the 1960’s, American women took a role and supported their country in many different ways. American women held many different purposes in the Vietnam War. Those who volunteered were in their early 20s to their late 40s. The draft was only required for men, so women who involved themselves in Vietnam did by choice.†¦show more content†¦She died instantly from shrapnel wounds to her chest. Years later in her honor on November 11, 1969 the Fitzsimons Hospital renamed their recovery room, The Lane Recovery Suite. (First Lieutenant Sharon Anne Lane) One woman said that she volunteered for the Vietnam War, to be able to live in a free county. This woman was Elizabeth Allen a psychiatric nurse who already had a brother serving in the war. Allen turned down potential career opportunities in the medical profession to support her brother and other men like him. Captain Allen was one of the nurses who requested frontline duty, per her request she was then assigned to the remote 12th Evac Hospital at Cu Chi. Her main duties were taking care of the Americans as well as Vietnamese women, children and fallen soldiers. After serving in Vietnam for a year, she served in the reserves for 14 years. Governor James Blanchard then appointed her to work with the Michigan Agent Orange Commission. Allen’s assignment was to care for the African American women who were dealing with post-dramatic stress and exposure to Agent Orange. (History.com) Figure 2: Elizabeth Allen pictured during the 1960’s. My War - Elizabeth A. Allen. HistoryNet. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. When interviewing Bill Clark, a former Vietnam soldier, he spoke about Martha Raye. Entertainers held a significant role in Vietnam. Raye was an entertainer who worked alongside the men and traveled on post with other soldiers for about four months. ClarkShow MoreRelatedWomen During The Vietnam War2754 Words   |  12 Pagesâ€Æ' Vietnamese women were very active during the Vietnam War between 1950 and 1974. Through the Vietnam War, women were able to get motivation and ideas to spark gender equality. Before, Vietnamese women were treated like second-class citizens to Vietnamese men due to a number of reasons, such as old Confucian traditions and oppressive husbands. These women did not question this way of life because of the deep rooted traditions of gender roles. During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese women went throughRead MoreRoles Of Women During The Vietnam War1291 Words   |  6 PagesThe roles of women and men in the Vietnam War varied greatly due the stereotypical characterizations of society. While women were not included in the draft, protected from its brutality and tragedies, men were forced from their homes, enlisted in the army. In O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, women are portrayed as apathetic towards Vietnam soldiers. They are the homebound sex, too fragile and moral to be awa re of the world outside their own, and unable to empathize with the emotional baggage thatRead MoreWere Women a Help or Bother During the Vietnam War?1212 Words   |  5 PagesAre women capable of handling battles and all its components? Of course because all throughout history women have made significant contributions to America, especially the Vietnam War. The United States has been slower to include women in its military planning and actions. Men believed in saving the United States from communism, and many women believed they could make a difference in the battle. Women, military as well as civilian, volunteered to go to Vietnam for a variety of reasons, as they wantedRead MoreThe Vietnam War, American Men And Women Soldiers1368 Words   |  6 PagesDuring the Vietnam War, American men and women soldiers, the majority of whom had volunteered, were sent to a place where nothing was accommodating. Not even the soldier’s issued equipment was adequate or accommodating. They were not emotionally, psychologically, or materially equipped for what they would encounter in Vietnam, or upon their return to a place where they should have been safe; home. The Vietnam environment was nasty, brutish, and dehumanizing on the soldiers. Young men and women, mostlyRead MoreThe Vietnam War Of Vietnam1534 Words   |  7 Pages The Vietnam War began November 1st, 1955 and ended April 30th, 1975. It was a long costly war that involved North Vietnam and their Southern allies, known as Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its main ally the United States. This war was very unpopular at home and would end with the withdrawal of the United States and the unification of Vietnam under communist control. Many think of war as something that just men are involved in but very rarely do people think of the role of women in the warRead MoreWomen During The War : The Silent Heroes1676 Words   |  7 Pages Women in the war: the silent heroes When the war broke out many men were deployed to fight but, without the help of women many of the men would have never survived. Between 4,000 and 15,000 women were sent to Vietnam for various reasons. Approximately 90% of the women were nurses. Though most of the women were nurses a select few were there in all military branches. Even though these women were in the specific branches they never fought on the frontline. The WAC, Women s Army CooperationRead MoreInfluence of the Media in the Anti-War Movement of the 60s and 70s1600 Words   |  7 PagesDuring his testimony to the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, John Kerry mentioned that in his opinion, â€Å"there is nothing in South Vietnam which could have happened that realistically threatens the United States of America.† In that same testimony, Kerry discussed that most people â€Å"did not even know the difference between communism and democracy. They only wanted to work in rice paddies without helicopter s strafing them and bombs with napalm burning their villages and tearing their country apartRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien1169 Words   |  5 Pagesabout Tim O Brien, a Vietnam veteran from the Unite States, who tells stories about what had happened when he and his team were stationed in Vietnam. He also talks about what he felt about the war when he was drafted and what he tried to do to avoid going to fight in Vietnam. The Things They Carried by Tim O Brien was precise with its portrayal of setting, conflict, and characterization in this Vietnam set historical novel. Tim O Brien recreated the setting of the Vietnam War through the descriptionRead MoreThe Vietnam War ( 1955-1975 )1575 Words   |  7 PagesThis investigation focuses on the Vietnam War (1955-1975), and will explore the question: â€Å"To what extent did role of Vietnamese women in society change after the Vietnam War?† The investigation will focus on the years 1945-1987, to analyze their role prior to the war, as well as after. The first source to be evaluated is The Position of Women in Vietnam, written by Richard J. Coughlin in 1950. The origin of this source is valuable because it was written during the time period that this investigationRead MoreThe Vietnam Womens Memorial Foundation Essay583 Words   |  3 Pages There is little official data on female Vietnam War veterans, because the military mostly favored recording the achievements of men in the army. The Vietnam Womens Memorial Foundation estimate that approximately 11,000 women were stationed in Vietnam from 1962 to 1973. Only about ten percent of women served as soldiers. The ones who did were normally treated as second class soldiers; their role was perceived only as a helpmate instead of a soldier, and they were often put in dangerous situations