Posted on Oct 10, 2015
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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How many women served in Vietnam?

RP Members this question just came up from an early post on Woman with PTSD from the Vietnam War. Check out this great video!

http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history/videos/elizabeth-allen

Though relatively little official data exists about female Vietnam War veterans, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation estimates that approximately 11,000 military women were stationed in Vietnam during the conflict. Nearly all of them were volunteers, and 90 percent served as military nurses, though women also worked as physicians, air traffic controllers, intelligence officers, clerks and other positions in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps, U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marines and the Army Medical Specialist Corps. In addition to women in the armed forces, an unknown number of civilian women served in Vietnam on behalf of the Red Cross, United Service Organizations (USO), Catholic Relief Services and other humanitarian organizations, or as foreign correspondents for various news organizations.

In November 1993, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. in front of a crowd of some 25,000 people. The centerpiece of the memorial is a bronze statue by Glenna Goodacre, which depicts three female nurses assisting a wounded soldier.
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MSgt Electrical Power Production
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Edited 9 y ago
At the end she made a very important statement, that the Army did a lot of good that is never recognized. I would add that the U. S. as whole never gets recognized for the good we accomplish.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
9 y
MSgt (Join to see) Yes, I agree. Our country was in a lot of civil unrest and turmoil, so a lot of American Men and Women that actually volnteered, drafted, or who were already serving didn't get the recognition they deserved. It will take a lifetime for all of us to make up for that - they were all heroes!
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Cpl Jeff N.
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Is it likely some nurses had post traumatic stress? Yes it is. Just as nurses (and doctors) in modern emergency rooms could and likely do. Anyone put in a situation that puts excessive stress on them could end up with memories/dreams/situations that cause them to relive it.
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LTC Paul Labrador
LTC Paul Labrador
9 y
This is why it puts my scruff on edge when folks do the whole POG bashing thing. Yeah, your duties may not have taken you off the FOB, but that doesn't you weren't exposed to some horrific shit on a daily basis like hospital staff were.
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SCPO Investigator
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9 y
Absolutely, no doubt about it, Corporal.
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SPC Lyle Montgomery
SPC Lyle Montgomery
>1 y
1LT (Verify To See) - I understand how the memories can come back later and bug you.God bless Sandy.
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SPC Lyle Montgomery
SPC Lyle Montgomery
>1 y
LTC Paul Labrador - Absolutely right.
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Our own 1LT Sandy Annala was a combat nurse in Nam...
Sgt Field Radio Operator
Sgt (Join to see)
9 y
Ma'am, I have the deepest respect for 1LT Sandy Annala and all the other nurses that served in Vietnam. With the arrival of medevac helicopters, these brave nurses experienced horrors on a daily basis.
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Yes they did...

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