#137 Remembering the Women
A review of Kristen Hannah’s epic The Women
When Kristen Hannah, one of America’s most prolific novelists, decided to tell the story of the heroic and largely ignored nurses who served in the Vietnam War, a new generation was introduced to some forgotten history and heroines. It is certainly time that some of the myths surrounding the service of military nurses were debunked and the uncomfortable truths of the Vietnam War era are exposed.
In the 50 years since the end of the war, the seemingly senseless loss of so many American and Vietnamese soldiers, along with countless civilians, is all the more shocking when we recall that the war’s veterans were not venerated or honored with parades and flyovers when they returned home from combat.
Instead, the men who served were blamed for the unpopular war and a series of high-profile war atrocities. The women who served as nurses could barely get any recognition at all. Many of the male and female veterans suffered unspeakable trauma, both physical and emotional. The toll of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was misunderstood and unrecognized until years later. Many veterans, like those portrayed in Hannah’s novel, did not get the mental health support that they needed.
Vietnam nurses’ point of view
In this 2024 work of historical fiction, Hannah tells the story of a young woman named Frances “Frankie” McGrath, who trains as a nurse in San Diego and follows her brother, a naval officer, into service in Vietnam. Young Frankie has an abrupt and traumatic introduction on the night that she arrives at an evacuation hospital in Saigon. The inexperienced RN isn’t ready for the combat injuries and suffering that greet her in the sweltering wards and the operating room of Saigon—who could be?
Frankie befriends two fellow nurses who will show up for her time and time again over the years and during the difficulties to come. Following the narratives of those three women becomes the throughline of the novel from wartime to the troubled re-entry into an indifferent and hostile community they all face later when they arrive home.
As the story progresses, Frankie takes a reassignment to an even more dangerous post at a remote military aide station. She sees the hideous loss of civilian life in the most heart-wrenching way. Her experiences with a child burned in a Napalm attack are particularly gutting. She tries her best for the young soldiers and civilians, but even her compassionate idealism is not enough.
The reality of life after war
The novel would not be complete without some tales of love and heartbreak. The danger and unpredictability of military life make for unstable liaisons. After some predictable romantic steps and missteps, Frankie makes it back home to Coronado Island. Her homecoming falters with a family and community ashamed of the war and ignoring the contributions of all the soldiers, particularly the women.
After her discharge from the army, Frankie starts having nightmares and flashbacks. Like so many combat veterans, she suffers from PTSD at a time when the medical community barely recognized it. Alcoholism contributes to her difficulties at work and re-entry into society. She tries to get help and treatment in an era when the role of women and their service was mostly ignored. Hannah writes, “Frankie had nowhere to go. No one to talk to. She knew something was terribly wrong with her, but not how to fix it.” (p. 413)
With no welcome home and no understanding of her predicament, Frankie fights her own sense of desperation.
“… Maybe it had started when she’d been spat on in the airport, or when her mother asked her not to talk about the war, or maybe as news of the atrocities began coming out. Almost every civilian she’d met since coming home, including her own family, had subtly or overtly shown her that what she’d done in Vietnam was shameful. She’d been a part of something bad. She’s tried not to believe it; but maybe she had. She’d gone to war a patriot and come home a pariah. ‘How do I get back to who I was?’” (p. 426)
Sadly, Frankie must hit rock bottom with substance abuse and depression before she can get back up. With the help of her friends and some therapists, she starts her long recovery. She eventually gets trained to help other female veterans heal their wounds so they can move forward with their lives.
In a therapy session for veterans, Frankie says,
“We are the women who went to war—the nurses of Vietnam—and many of us felt silenced at home. We lost who we were, who we wanted to be. But I’m living proof that it can get better. You can get better. It starts here. In these chairs, reminding ourselves and each other that we are not alone.” (p. 452)
An era of conflict
This is a complicated era of history that the author introduces through the lives of her very diverse and sympathetic characters. Some of the characters were imprisoned at the infamous Hoa Lo Prison, dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton.” The novel highlights the effort to remember and bring home those imprisoned and missing in action. Hannah also introduces readers to the anti-war movement and the veterans’ groups who marched in protest.
Physician readers who lived through the Vietnam era will identify strongly with the anxiety of the draft and the difficulties of serving as military doctors. Younger readers may be introduced to the history of the Vietnam War for the first time. The celebrations honoring veterans with supporters wearing camo gear are relatively recent occurrences that our Vietnam War veterans did not experience. “The Women” is a lengthy reminder of the trauma that our young service men and women suffered both in the combat theater and after they returned home to a United States in turmoil.
