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Female Warriors:  The Women’s Army Corps of the Vietnam War

Rachelle Gates

Senior Thesis

Advisor—Jeffrey Barlow

May 15, 2000

Table of Contents:

 

1.     Introduction—3-7

2.     The Establishment and Utilization of the Women’s Army Corps—7-10

3.     The Women’s Army Corps of the Vietnam War—10-13

4.     The Living Conditions of the Women’s Army Corps, Vietnam—13-15

5.     The Daily Activities of the Women’s Army Corps, Vietnam—15-16

6.     The Women’s Army Corps and the Male Soldiers of the U.S. Military—16-17

7.     The Women’s Army Corps and the Tet Offensive—17-18

8.     Recognition for the Service the Women’s Army Corps of the Vietnam War—19-20

9.     Present-day Feelings About the Vietnam War—20-22

10.  Conclusion—22-23

11.  Bibliography—24-25

12.  Interview:  Graph of Service—26

13.  Photographs—27-36

14.  Maps—37-38

15.  Interviews from the First Women’s Army Corps, Vietnam Reunion, November 11, 1999 in Olympia, Washington.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to a foreign country in service of our country . . . we gave aid and encouragement to a whole segment of our brothers and sisters . . . we survived a war . . . we are noble . . . we are brave . . . we are adventurous . . . we are an active part of world history . . . we are interesting . . . we have lived such exciting lives . . . we have gone far beyond the boundaries allowed to most of our sisters . . . we did it together . . . and we still have each other.

Patricia “Mama-san” Brimeyer, Army Service Clubs, Vietnam 1968.[1]

 

Introduction

 

            Male soldiers have a distinct voice when they speak of war.  Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D., author of Achilles in Vietnam, can best explain the voice of a male soldier.  Dr. Shay creates a system that explains how and why male soldiers react to war in the ways they do.  Dr. Shay’s system is based on the story of Achilles in Homer’s epic The Iliad.  The focus of the system is to compare the reactions of Achilles’ soldiers to war, with the American male soldiers’ reactions to the Vietnam War.

            Dr. Shay’s system is based on eleven stages: 

·Betrayal of “what’s right”

·The shrinkage of the social and moral horizon

·Grief at the death of a special comrade

·Guilt and wrongful substitution

·The berserk

·Dishonoring the enemy

·What Homer left out (other obvious similarities)

·The soldiers’ luck and God’s will

·Reclaiming the Iliad’s gods as a metaphor of social power

·The breaking points of moral existence

·Healing and tragedy

 

During stage one, the betrayal of “what’s right”, the soldier’s moral world is violated by a commanding officer’s betrayal of the soldier’s moral order.[2] During the Vietnam War American soldiers experienced the betrayal of “what’s right” when those who held all of the power and responsibility broke the trust of the soldiers.   Stage two, the shrinkage of the social and moral horizon, refers to the breaking of a soldier’s family, civilian, and military ties.  The social bonds of a soldier are lost once war begins, sometimes culminating in the complete alienation of the soldier from any bonds, social or military.  Grief at the death of a special comrade, stage three, is when a fellow soldier is killed and his fellow troop members are overwhelmed by the sadness his death.  During war, men who serve together form a special bond, one that is forged from the conditions of war.  When the bond is broken by death, the surviving soldiers are left with guilt and confusion.  Stage four, guilt and wrongful substitution, represents the devaluing the self by the soldier.  The bond that is shared by soldiers in combat causes the soldier to value his comrades more than himself.  The result of this value system is that when a comrade dies the soldier blames himself and suffers from consuming guilt and grief.  The berserk stage, stage five, is defined as a frenzied attack by a soldier in an animalistic manner.[3]

When a soldier attacks in a berserk state of mind; he does so without consciously knowing what he is doing.  The berserk state is the result of the four previous stages.  The soldier reacts to his feelings and environment in an uncontrollable and unconscious state of mind.  Stage six, dishonoring the enemy, is how the soldier justifies killing his enemy.  The soldier creates an image of the enemy that allows him (the soldier) to have a reason to kill him.  The soldier justifies his actions in war by seeing the enemy as detestable and inhuman.  By dehumanizing the enemy, the soldier is able to fight without remorse.  What Homer left out, stage seven, represents all of the effects of war that Homer either ignored or understated in the Iliad.[4]  Within this stage, the suffering of the civilian community and those who have been wounded are addressed.  Stage seven explains why soldiers react to civilian life in a reclusive manner.  Soldiers of war are unable to fully resocialize because they view what they did on the battlefield at unacceptable within the realm of civilian moral standards.  Stage eight, the soldiers’ luck and God’s will, explains the paradigm created by the soldier in an attempt to cope with guilt.  The soldier can blame his poor luck or God himself.  By blaming God, the soldier has removed himself from guilt and is thus more capable to deal with the aftermath of war.  Stage nine, reclaiming the Iliad’s gods as a metaphor of social power, is when the soldier recognizes that regardless of mans dominance over nature, there is an all powerful force that causes life.  The reclaiming of the Iliad’s gods refers to a modern day acceptance of a being that controls our lives, gods will.  (Man, as a human, has no power to change the decisions of God or a greater being.)  The breaking points of moral existence and what breaks, stage ten, is when the soldier suffers from the symptoms of PTSD.

The symptoms of PTSD include:

                        ·Social withdrawal and isolation

·Random, unwarranted rage at family, sexual dysfunction, no capacity for   intimacy

·Somatic disturbances, loss of ability to experience pleasure insomnia

·Depression

·Hyperactive startle reaction

·Peripheral vasoconstriction, autonomatic hyperactivity

·Sense of the dead being more real than the living, depression

·Fragmented, vigilant sleep

·Traumatic dreams, reliving episodes of combat, fragmented sleep

·Night sweats, automatic hyperactivity

 

The last stage, healing and tragedy, is when the soldier begins to recover from the trauma of war.  Dr. Shay points out that recovery can never be complete because a return to the “normal” can never be complete.[5]  Healing does occur, but the process is long and very difficult, requiring many hours of therapy and rehabilitation.

            But not only men had served in war.  Women have played many roles in war, the most common ones as soldiers, healers, and service-oriented volunteers. Female healers and service volunteers share a common voice when they speak of their experiences in the Vietnam War.  The stories told by this group of women is distinctly feminine.   Their images of war are laden with emotion, passion, and pain.[6]  When nurses speak of their service in Vietnam their stories are filled with acknowledgments of emotional, physical, and spiritual tolls that the war took them, as women.[7]  Elizabeth Norman, author of Women and War: the Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam, recalled that during her interviews with military nurses tears were always present.[8]  Nurses are unable to separate the gore, death, and tragedy from the roles they played throughout the Vietnam War.[9]  Nurses and service-oriented volunteers viewed themselves as women in war, focusing on their gender instead of their roles.  This group of women fulfilled their gender based roles by acting as women taking care of others.[10]

The female soldier is most like the male soldier; her reactions to war and her memories of war mirror his.  Female soldiers have a unique voice, one that differs greatly from all other females who serve during war.  The reactions that female soldiers have during war and the voice that they use to recount their service, most resembles the male soldier.  Female and male soldiers differ in one way, their gender.

            The female soldiers of the Vietnam War fit into many of Dr. Jonathan Shay’s stages of a male soldier’s transition through war.  Since women were not allowed to carry any weapons in Vietnam they could not experience Dr. Shay’s stage five, the berserk stage.  During the Vietnam War female soldiers experienced the remaining ten stages of Dr. Shay’s system:

                        ·Betrayal of “what’s right”

                        ·The shrinkage of the social and moral horizon

                        ·Grief at the death of a special comrade

                        ·Guilt and wrongful substitution

                        ·Dishonoring the enemy

                        ·What Homer left out (other obvious similarities)

                        ·The soldiers’ luck and God’s will

                        ·Reclaiming the Iliad’s gods as a metaphor of social power

                        ·The breaking points of moral existence

                        ·The healing and tragedy

 

Female and male soldiers who served in Vietnam had many of the same experiences, the only difference being women were not allowed to carry weapons or to fight in combat.  Women soldiers considered themselves to be warriors, regardless of the absence of physical combat.

           

The Establishment and Utilization of the Women’s Army Corps

 

 

World War II offered women a new role in military efforts during wartime: the Women’s Army Corps (WAC).  The Women’s Army Corps allowed women to join the United States as enlisted personnel or officers.  WAC personnel were able to serve in the military as soldiers who specialized in support roles.  Despite the service and sacrifices of the women who served in the Women’s Army Corps, national recognition for the service for female personnel has yet to be awarded.  Discrepancies in the recognition of the service of female support soldiers continue to occur despite the number of years that have passed since the Vietnam War ended. Despite the hardships of war and the dangers faced daily by members of the Women’s Army Corps, little recognition has been given and virtually no information exits on the service of these women.

 

            The Women’s Army Corps was assembled in 1942 during World War II to make the female population of the United States available to the war effort in Europe.[11]  On July 3, 1943 Congress signed the WAC Bill into law.  Those who joined the Women’s Army Corps and served in the Europe during World War II were stationed in combat zones, but were dependent upon male soldiers for their well-being and protection.

            The purpose of the Women’s Army Corps was to allow women to aid the American war effort personally.  The United States Army believed that women could best support the war effort by performing noncombatant military jobs for which they were already trained.[12]   The Women’s Army Corps was established in the capacity of providing needed support to the United States Army.  The Women’s Army Corps was created as a purely support group and were utilized by the U.S. Army within that capacity.  The majority of enlisted women were assigned positions as telephone switchboard operators, clerks, typists, secretaries, and motor pool drivers, while officers served as executive secretaries, cryptographers, and photo interpreters.[13]  The positions filled by WAC personnel had been filled by male soldiers up to the point that the Women’s Army Corps was established and initialized, and by having women fill these positions the United States Army was able to make more men available to fight the war.

Throughout World War II over 150,000 women served in the Women’s Army Corps and “handled highly classified material, worked long hours with few days off, and were exposed to a significant amount of danger”.[14]  Despite being part of the U.S. Army, WACs were not given the same consideration as their male counterparts.  WACs were not allowed to give orders to men or to receive the same benefits for the same military ranks.  After the end of World War II WACs were not allowed to collect the pensions or disability benefits awarded to male soldiers.  Despite the service of WACs in World War II, the women were not considered to be real soldiers, but merely women assisting men in war.  The roles of WACs in World War II directly corresponded with the roles of women in American society.

On October 20, 1978 President Carter signed the FY 1979 Defense Procurement Authorization Bill, which had previously been approved by the Senate and House, putting an end to the Women’s Army Corps.  Order PL 95-584 abolished the Women’s Army Corps as a separate group.  The United States Army issued Order 20, which fully assimilated the Women’s Army Corps into the Army, on October 20, 1978.  After thirty-five years after the WAC Bill was signed the Women’s Army Corps was permanently disbanded.[15]

 

The Women’s Army Corps of the Vietnam War

 

The Vietnam War required the service of 62,594,200 men and cost 58,188 American lives, eight of which were women.  Add to the number of military personnel the unknown number of civilian volunteers.  The definite number of women who served in Vietnam during the war, cannot be reached.  Estimates place the total number of women in Vietnam to be between ten and fifteen thousand.[16]

Throughout the duration of the Vietnam War 4,675 women served in the United States Army.  The U.S. Army contained the largest number of women and offered two branches of service in which women could enlist.  Female army personnel could serve in the Army Nurses Corps or the Women’s Army Corps.  The Women’s Army Corps operated in Vietnam for nine years (1964-1973) and approximately 700 WACs served in Vietnam.  The number of WACs in Vietnam reached its peak strength in January of 1970 with twenty officers and 139 enlisted women.[17]

WAC advisors were first sent to Vietnam to aid the government of South Vietnam with the planning and development of the Women’s Armed Forces Corps (WAFC).  WACs advised the WAFC on organization, recruitment, training, and administration.[18]  After the completion of the WAFC project, WAC personnel were assigned posts in the headquarters of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) in Saigon; in the headquarters of the U.S. Army, Vietnam, at Tan Son Nhut Air Base; in the U.S. Army Central Support Command at Qui Nhon and Cam Ranh Bay and in Long Binh.[19]

            Long Binh was at one time the largest U.S. military logistic and headquarters complex.  The complex was located just outside the city of Bien Hoa, about 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Saigon.[20]   According to WAC Commander Joanne Murphy  (Long Binh 1967-1968), the complex in Long Binh consisted of a hospital and “just the military installation”, but as the war raged on the complex was updated.[21]  After 1968 the Long Binh hospital included “surgical hospitals, restaurants, swimming pools, and movie theatres”.[22]  The Long Binh complex also served as headquarters for the II Field Force, Vietnam, and III ARVAN Corps and as a transit base for soldiers leaving and entering Vietnam.[23]

WACs, like male members of the U.S. Army, went to basic training before being stationed in Vietnam.  While at basic training WACs received the same military instruction that males did.  Women “trained with M-16s, M-14s”, practiced marksmanship, learned how to utilize foxholes, and practiced “mounted and dismounted attacks”.[24]  Regardless of the combat skills learned by WACs while at basic training, WACs were never placed in a position that would require the use of these skills.  Joanne Murphy (Long Binh 1967-1968) recalled that women were helpless in Vietnam:  “We had no weapons.  None what so ever.  We had one young man who had a rifle standing outside of the WAC detachment.  That was the only protection that we [WACs] had . . .”[25] Once in Vietnam WACs were stationed in dangerous combat zones, but were not given any means to protect themselves.  It was against military rules for women to carry weapons in Vietnam, regardless of the dangers of being assigned to a combat zone.

            Members of the Women’s Army Corps faced many fears in Vietnam, one of which was being taken prisoner.  “The biggest fear was to be taken prisoner” by the North Vietnamese.  The fear of being captured by the enemy was intensified when “in 1968 military intelligence had gotten a document off of a North Vietnamese” that stated that “they [N.V.] were offering a $25,000 reward for a white American female”.[26]  The United States government provided WACs with a life insurance policy that was only worth $10, 000.  After being informed that the North Vietnamese were willing to pay $25,000 for a white female, WACs realized that they, as women, were worth more alive to the enemy than dead to the U.S. government. 

            Getting to and from work exposed WACs to the dangers of war.  The first female First Sergeant to be assigned to a combat zone, Marion C. Crawford (Long Binh 1966-1967) recalled one incident that caused an enormous amount of emotional distress for the women.  “One time we sent our women off to work, they went by bus because the headquarters was quite a ways from the WAC detachment.  And pretty soon I looked out and say the bus coming back, only about a half an hour later, if that.  All of the women were crying as they got off of the bus . . . They had passed body after body, because there had been an attack the night before.  Our men and the enemy all chopped up”.[27]  The harshness of war had touched the WACs of Long Binh.  “That was the only time I saw them so emotionally disturbed that they couldn’t go to work.  But they were in the detachment for about an hour.  They got themselves calmed down.  We [Joanne Murphy and Marion C. Crawford] went over and talked to them, and they were headed back to work”.[28]  Regardless of the dangers of their assignments and the atrocities of war witnessed by members of the Women’s Army Corps, their duties were never ignored.  Risks were taken daily by members of the Women’s Army Corps, even in the most mundane of their duties.

 

The Living Conditions of the Women’s Army Corps, Vietnam

 

Because of the close living quarters and the small number of women serving in Long Binh, WACs became very close with each other.  Evenings were spent entertaining fellow WACs and most women spent their time hanging around the detachment.[29]  WACs not only shared living quarters with each other, but also shared their feelings about the war.  WACs would come home to the detachment every evening to talk, laugh, and cry.  According to Marion C. Crawford, “there wasn’t much time for entertainment” and the little time there was was spent with other WACs.[30]  The lack of entertainment and the early curfews for WAC personnel were also major contributing factors in the close-knit family formed from members of the Women’s Army Corps. 

Linda J. McClenahan described the WAC detachment of Long Binh as a “mini-compound within a compound”.[31]  The WAC detachment was protected by “high fences with rolled barbwire at the top and a security guard—not for protection from the VC (Vietcong), but to keep us separate form the gentlemen in the late hours of the evening”.[32]  Within the mini-compound “there were five two-story barracks, and depending on the rank, there were from one to four women in each room”.[33] Outside of the barracks were bunkers, or “small green buildings that had corrugated-type roof and a lot of sandbags”.[34]  The bunkers served as the only means of safety afforded to the women during attacks.  Inside the bunkers “were small wooden seat benches” “that could hold about fifty people”.[35]  During attacks on Long Binh women personnel would seek safety in the bunkers, sharing their fear with each other.

Inside of the women’s barracks “there was your basic Army cot with the inch-and-a-half mattress, a footlocker, a dresser, and a regular locker”.[36]  Each of the cots was cloaked with thick mosquito nets that not only kept insects out, but fresh air, also.  To provide a sense of privacy, some WACs “bought those Vietnamese room dividers”.[37]  Televisions were not as popular as radios among WACs because the only television station that was available was the Armed Forces Network.  Meals were taken in a communal mess hall.  WACs shared their mess hall with the 24^th Evac. Hospital, which was located within view of the helicopters bringing the wounded in for medical treatment.

The relationships forged between fellow WACs can best be explained by stages three and four of Dr. Jonathan Shay’s system.  Grief at the death of a special comrade (stage 3) explains the close bond formed between the women.  Regardless of the fact that women were unable to serve in physical combat roles they reacted to the trauma of war like male soldiers, forming very strong relationships with the women serving with them.  Guilt and wrongful substitution (stage 4) occurred because the women felt a need to protect each other.  Protecting each other meant valuing the lives of fellow WACs more than ones own. 

 

 

 

The Daily Activities of the Women’s Army Corps, Vietnam

 

            Members of the Women’s Army Corps were required to put in long hours everyday.  The hours of work were different for each woman.  As the Company Commander, Nancy J. Jeurgevic (Long Binh 1968-1970) was “up at about five thirty” and in by “ten or eleven o’clock”, depending on the needs of the women under her command.[38]  For enlisted WACs, schedules differed; many “were at work by seven in the morning” and would return to the WAC detachment whenever their service was no longer required.[39]  Sometimes WACs would pull twenty-four hour shifts if the war demanded it.

            Many WACs volunteered their free time to the military hospitals or local orphanages.  Janie Cole (Long Binh 1968-1970) described her daily schedule as “eight hours working in finance” and after work ended, she’d “work in the orphanage, taking care of the little babies and from there” Janie would “go to the hospital and help with the wounded”.[40]  Linda J. McClenahan’s volunteer work was very similar to Janie Cole’s.  “About once a month we would go over and see the kids, try to take them clothes and toys and whatever we could get folks from the home front to ship us”.[41]

 

The Women’s Army Corps and the Male Soldiers of the U.S. Military

 

Unlike military nurses, WACs did not experience significant amounts of sexual pressures.  According to First Sergeant Marion C. Crawford, “the intelligent ones [men] treated us well”.[42]  “For the most part the men were marvelous to us.  Perfect”, agrees Commander Joanne Murphy.[43]  Overall the male soldiers felt compelled to protect the WACs, and during attacks on Long Binh male soldiers would surround the women’s barracks.  Many male soldiers went as far as stealing in an attempt to make the war more manageable for the WACs.  “They [the male soldiers] bent over backwards to bring us treats, anything to make us feel comfortable”.[44]  First Sergeant Marion C. Crawford remembers, “One first sergeant stole a bathtub out of a French house.  [He] brought it back on top of a tank because I told him women like baths, they don’t like showers . . . Not two days later a tank comes right up with a big old French bathtub on top”.[45]  Janie Cole (Long Binh 1968-1970) recalls “they [the men] treated us like royalty” and that “they [the men] were really proud of us”.[46]  Proud because the women of the Women’s Army Corps were serving, alongside the men, in a combat zone.  A mutual respect between male and female soldiers exited during the war and still exists today.

Whispers of sexual harassment and rape have become louder as the years after the end of the Vietnam War pass.  Sexual improprieties existed in every sector that women served in, but were more prevalent among female nurses.  Linda J. McClenahan (Long Binh, 1969-1970) describes the attentions of male counterparts as a “fine line between flattering popularity and sexual harassment”.[47]  Linda J. McClenahan recalls, that for the most part “those guys, hell, they were mostly like brothers”, but that “there were times when you couldn’t distinguish between the two [flattering popularity and sexual harassment]”.[48] 

            Women in Vietnam were expected to fulfill a number of roles; “mother, sister, sweetheart, confidante”, but “contrary to popular opinion, most of us [WACs] did not fill the role of lover”.[49]  Men who held less dangerous posts and worked side-by-side with WACs applied sexual pressure.  Men who were in the most dangerous positions acted more like “the perfect gentleman” and merely relished the company of a “roundeye”.[50]

 

The Women’s Army Corps and the Tet Offensive

 

            Long Binh was the target of the Vietcong in 1968 during the Tet Offensive and once again in 1969.  Commander Joanne Murphy and First Sergeant Marion C. Crawford experienced the Tet Offensive first hand.  Both women describe the 1968 attack by the Vietcong to be their most emotional experience during the war.  During the attack on the ammunition dump at Long Binh Marion C. Crawford thought that an A-bomb had been dropped, because of “the big mushroom cloud” surrounding the complex.[51]  The vulnerability of being a woman in a combat zone occurred to Joanne Murphy during the as she witnessed the attack with Marion.  “And the sounds went on for hours and the mushroom cloud just coming forward towards us at the WAC detachment.  Just rolling towards us, and there was nothing in-between us and the ammunition dump.  Absolutely nothing, no buildings . . .”[52]

During the bombing of 1968 a concussion bomb landed near the building were the women were housed. “The concussion blew it into pieces, and all we could see ere these pieces.  We thought the women’s barracks had been hit, and she (Joanne Murphy) went running over in her metal helmet and boots and her pajamas on.  And I did the same thing in my pajamas and steel helmet and my boots.  To run across the field to see if the girls were all right.  The door had been blown off of the end of the building.  It was coming down, but the girls were wonderful”.[53]  The women soldiers “were under their bunks doing exactly what they were trained to do.  They were getting into their fatigues. They were calm, cool, and collected”.[54]  Despite the fear felt by the WACs during the Tet Offensive the women were not deterred, and continued the job they were assigned to do.

Members of the Women’s Army Corps justified the killing of the enemy in the same ways that male soldiers did.  Female soldiers viewed the enemy as wrong and thus inhuman because of their (the enemy’s) actions, using stage four (dishonoring the enemy) of Dr. Shay’s system the same as male warriors.

 

Recognition for the Service of the Women’s Army Corps, Vietnam

 

 

“Women’s Memorial”

 

these sisters are one

A circle portrayed by individual

snapshots in time

of a past which ultimately bonds

forever

we who served

the caring, brave and sometimes

fragile women of war

Poem read at the dedication of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial[55]

 

Recognition for the service of women during the Vietnam War did not occur until 1988, when congress approved a four million-dollar bronze sculpture that would serve as a monument to the women who served in Vietnam.  The bronze sculpture was dedicated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. on November 11, 1993, over thirty years after the end of the war.  “The Vietnam Women’s Memorial recognizes the health-care professionals, air traffic controllers, communications specialists, intelligence officers, and clerks whose service was largely overlooked until recent years”.[56]  The memorial “is a 6-foot-8-inch statue of three women” made out of bronze.[57]  The memorial is the first of its kind, and according to its sculptor, Glenda Goodacre, should be viewed as “a monument to the living, as the Wall is a monument to those who died”.[58]  Former Army Nurse Diane Carlson Evans conceived the idea for the memorial.  From conception to completion, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial took ten years to complete.

            The Women’s Army Corps of Vietnam have not celebrated a reunion until recently.  The first reunion of its kind occurred on November 11, 1999 in Olympia, Washington.  For many of the women in attendance this was the first time they had been reunited with the women with whom they served in Vietnam.   Karen Offutt, a former WAC of Vietnam, believed that the reunion would do her more good than harm.  “I’m looking forward [to the reunion] with trepidation.  I don’t know what memories will come out.  On the other hand, I’m hoping that it will put closure to it”.[59]  The purpose of the reunion is not only to unite the WACs of Vietnam, but also to give the women an opportunity to share their experiences and feeling about the Vietnam War.

 

 

Present-day Feelings About the Vietnam War

 

Female Vietnam Veterans received the same welcome that male veterans received from the American public.  The United States had changed drastically since the end of World War II.  No longer was the country, as a whole, supportive of the war effort in Vietnam.  Veterans were no hailed as heroes, but called “baby-killers”.  The American people, as a morally wrong action taken by the United States, viewed the war in Vietnam.  Protests and burning flags replaced the heroes welcome, causing Vietnam Veterans to hide their military service. 

Many WACs remained in the military instead of integrating themselves into civilian life, mirroring the actions taken by many male veterans upon their return to the United States.  The reaction of WACs to civilian life can best be explained by stage seven (what Homer left out), which explains the reluctance of soldiers to completely reintegrate themselves into society.  Only three of the women interviewed had been married, two of which were divorced.  Female Veterans, like males, did not speak about their experiences in Vietnam, even keeping their service secret from their husbands.  “Many women went from job to job, searching for the challenge they had known in Vietnam.  Many describe the difficulties they had in establishing long-term personal relationships; they found most Americans to be shallow and self-centered, not wanting to know about the war.  Several had difficulties in discussing, even with their families, their feelings about what they had been through.  Almost all of them considered going back to Vietnam”.[60]  Many former WACs viewed their time in Vietnam as the most exciting and emotional experiences they had ever encountered.

When asked whether or not WAC veterans would serve again, the unanimous answer was a definite “yes”.  Nancy J. Juergevic (Long Binh 1968-1970) answered the former question with an emphatic “absolutely” and further explained that she would serve again “because it’s my duty”.[61]  The sense of duty felt by Nancy J. Juergevic was felt by her fellow WACs and was the main reason women went to Vietnam. 

WACs believed that serving in Vietnam was their duty as American citizens.  The only bad feelings WACs have about the war are directed at the United States government and society.  Marion C. Crawford (Long Binh 1966-1967) placed blame on the “politicians calling the shots”[62], not the Army.  Kathy Retzlaff (Long Binh 1969-1972) agreed with Marion:  “I don’t think we were allowed to win it [the war].  For one thing there was too much politics . . .”[63]  The reactions of the WACs to the American government exactly like the male soldiers experience with stage one (betrayal of “what’s right”) of Dr. Shay’s system.  Members of the Women’s Army Corps believed that the United States government went against “what’s right”, making the Vietnam War one of politics.

A definite answer to the question of “who won the war” was never reached.  Former WACs believed that there was no true winner, that both sides lost.  All agree that the number of lives lost in Vietnam was enormous and unnecessary.  Regardless of the lack of a true winner, all of the former WACs believed that their service in Vietnam was needed and important to the war effort.  Marion C. Crawford (Long Binh 1966-1967) explained it best:  “When your country is in trouble the place to be is in the Armed Forces.  We wouldn’t have all of the freedoms we’ve got if, it weren’t for the men and women in uniforms”.[64]  Regardless of the outcome of the Vietnam War and the welcome WACs, along with other veterans, received pride for their involvement in the war effort still exists.

 

Conclusion

 

            Female soldiers, especially the members of the Women’s Army Corps of the Vietnam War, resemble the American male soldier.   They shared similar experiences in war and their memories are vocalized the same.  Members of the Women’s Army Corps viewed themselves as soldiers who were women, not as women who were soldiers.  WACs interpreted their position in the Vietnam War to be the same as male soldiers, with the exception of physical combat.  By comparing the WACs of Vietnam to the male soldiers studies by Dr. Jonathan Shay the similarities in their experiences and memories becomes evident.  The female and male soldiers of the Vietnam War should be viewed for the role they played, not their gender.  Regardless of their sex, the Women’s Army Corps of the Vietnam War served as soldiers and still view themselves in that role.  To best study this unique group of women two things must be taken into account:  they were soldiers first and women second.

 

 

            Our War

I don’t go off to war, so they say,

I’m a woman

 

Who then has worn my boots?

And whose memories are these,

of youth’s suffering?

 

I’m a woman and I’ve tasted man’s war.

Our war.

And he knows that I love in no greater way

than to share in his life or his death.

 

What are the rules?

Man or woman,

we are prey to suffer and service together

 

Please don’t forget me.

I’ve been through war’s hell and if only you will listen,

I’ve a story of those chosen to sacrifice for us all.

 

Diane Carlson Evans, Vietnam 1968-1969.

 

 

Bibliography

 

Cole, Janie. .  Interview by Rachel Gates.  November 11, 1999.

Crawford, Marion C. and Joanne Murphy.  Interview by Rachelle Gates.  November 11, 1999.

 

Frost, Jennifer and Adam Land.  Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War.  Edited by Stanley I. Kutler.  New York:  Charles Scribner’s Son, 1996.

 

Goldlust, Ellen D. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War.  Edited by Stanley I. Kutler.  New York:  Charles Scribner’s Son, 1996.

 

Juergevic, Nancy J. .  Interview by Rachelle Gates.  November 11, 1999.

Marshall, Kathryn.  In the Combat Zone:  An Oral History of American Women in Vietnam, 1966-1975.  Boston, Massachusetts:  Little, Brown and Company, 1987.

 

Morden, Bettie J.  The Women’s Army Corps, 1945-1978.  Washington, D.C.:  Center for Military History United States Army, 1990.

 

Norman, Elizabeth.  Women at War:  the Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.

 

Retzlaff, Kathy and Bridgett Connolly. .  Interview by Rachelle Gates.  November 11, 1999.

 

Shay, Jonathan, M.D., Ph.D.  Achilles in Vietnam.  New York:  Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.

 

Walker, Keith.  A Piece of My Heart:  the Stories of 26 American Women Who Served in the Vietnam War.  Novato, California:  Presido Press, 1997.

 

Wilcoxon, Patricia N. .  Interview by Rachelle Gates.  November 11, 1999.

http://www.illyria.com/vnwomen.html (cited April 6, 2000).

http://www.army.mn/cmn-pg/brochures/wac/wac.nun (cited April 8, 2000).

http://www.members.aol.com/warlibrary/vwamw.htm (cited March 20, 2000).

http://www.feist.com/~wichvaro/vietw~1.html (cited March 20, 2000).

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/11/11/women/ (cited April 6, 2000).

Maps:

http://www.instate.edu/gga/gga.cart/gecar277.htm (cited April 8, 2000).

 

Photographs:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/11/11/women/ (cited April 6, 2000).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name:                                    Year left for VN        Year returned to U.S.A

 

Marion C. Crawford                           1966                            1967

 

Janie Cole                                            1968                            1970

 

Nancy J. Juergevic                              1968                            1970

 

Joanne Murphy                                  1967                            1968

 

Kathy Retzlaff                                                1969                            1972

 

Patricia N. Wilcoxon                           1967                            1968