[.ca] A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of 26 American Women ... (ISBN 089141617X)

From Amazon.com:
A decade after America pulled out of Vietnam, the seeds of the often heart- wrenching oral history, A Piece of My Heart, were sown when writer and filmmaker Keith Walker met a woman who had been an emergency room nurse in Cu Chi and Da Nang. She and 25 others recount the time they spent "in country" as part of 15,000 American women who volunteered or served as nurses and in the military. After working on too many mutilated young men, one nurse tells of wanting to ask her mother to "check around and see if she could find one whole eighteen-year- old." Like male veterans, many returned with post-traumatic stress disorder. They found it hard to shake the numbness that made a war zone bearable or to settle into a life minus manic highs and lows. "The one thing Nam did for me was that I felt like I could walk on water," says a nurse, a conviction that made later jobs seem worthless or impossibly bland.

poignant memoirs of Vietnam nurses:
Some 15,000 American women served in Vietnam, all of them volunteers, the majority medical personnel. Red Cross and military nurses experienced the close-up horror of war every day of their tours. Many returned with post-traumatic-stress similar to that of combat veterans. For years, many refused to speak of the nightmares they brought home from the war. Then, filmmaker Keith Walker spent three years coaxing these memoirs from 26 remarkable women. It took me nearly that long to read them! Get out your handkerchief, take a deep breath, and read them for yourself. Be warned, this is not "MASH" but the raw reality! "Piece of My Heart" is heart-wrenching, heart-breaking. But so important to remember. The names of seven nurses are enshrined on the Vietnam War Memorial. Had it not been for the courageous service of all the medical volunteers, there would surely be thousands more young men's names on the Wall.

There's a special place in Heaven...:
... for all of the women who served in Vietnam. Read this book, plus the late Lynda Van Devanter's Home Before Morning and you'll see why. While Lynda's book is a hauntingly graphic record of the triumphs and tragedies that the ANC nurses and Army surgeons experienced in Nam, A Piece Of My Heart gives the reader a very broad perspective of the contributions of women in many other areas. The foreword to the book was written by the wonderful Martha Raye, whose unflinching commitment to the men and women who served in Nam led to her being a two-time Purple Heart recipient. That even an entertainer could be wounded twice in the line of duty speaks volumes about the risk level In Country. Equally, Civilian Flight Attendant Micki Voisard almost met her end when her airliner almost collided with a B-52 that was maintaining radio silence during an airstrike. Yet even though the Red Cross Donut Dollies, such as Penni Evans and "Sam" Bokina Christie and WACs such as Doris Allen all have compelling stories to relate, it is the experiences of the nurses that really stay with you, long after you have put the book down. For most of her post-Nam life, former ANC nurse and author Lynda Van Devanter (Home Before Morning - available through Amazon.com) was haunted by the memory of a young soldier who had no face, and who eventually had to be left to die because of the extent of his injuries. When you read the piece by Anne Simon Auger (91st Evac. - Chu Lai) you realize that injuries of that magnitude were not as uncommon as you might hope and pray. Anne also described a young soldier whose face had been shot away, leaving him blind and in her words, "a vegetable". While my own view is that people in such terrible physical condition should be given enough morphine to shut down their breathing, or in the absence of that, on the battlefield, a mercy round from an M-16, I fully accept that however you have to deal with such shocking injuries, it will stay with you for the rest of your life. Let us not forget that while the cowardly Stalinist flag burners were calling the returning troops "baby killers", thousands of true blue American women were risking their own lives to support the largely teenaged US soldiers in a war that increasingly made no sense to the people who were being asked to fight it. These women were Vets. These women were heroes. These women were angels. We must constantly seek ways to honour them. Their sacrifice must never be forgotten.

Important Book!:
This book should be required reading for students of Vietnam War history classes in high schools and colleges in America. Sincerely, Diana J. Dell, author, "A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories."

Good Times, Bad Times:
These stories are so heart-wrenching I had to take a break while reading simply to keep from falling to pieces. These women are so amazing and strong - they're inspiring. I Loved this book and GREATLY recommend the play with the same title by Shirely Lauro that was based off of these stories. It's so unbelievable and so real it makes you feel for those 6 women more than you'd ever imagine!

Apiece of all our Hearts:
Being a Vietnam vet,I had never Watched any of the movies or read any of the many books, till this one came alone,and I'm still not sure why. Once I started it I never wanted to put it down. I could feel all their pains,fears,anger,and depression as the war still put holes in my heart.As I read the book the 3rd time it was as if a weight of 20 years ago was suddenly lifted from my chest.A light came on and said -you're not alone,many suffered as you had,in silence. My ist book is now so worn from me passing it around to my friends that I my soon have to buy the 2nd edition model.If you want to understand the human sufferings of war--read this book