The significant role that has been played by women in the Vietnamese society cannot be overlooked. Unlike the women in other countries in the region, traditionally “a special position and prestige in family and society” has been held by the women in Vietnam ("Vietnamese Women in the Eighties" ). There is an old but memorable Vietnamese saying: “When war comes, even women have to fight” (Tai). In Vietnam, for as long as the people have been fighting against international forces, women were an essential part of that struggle. It is said that hundreds of thousands of women played a huge role in helping the Viet Minh troops emerge victorious over the French in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (Finney), and the Viet Cong unit rosters had many female names.
Much higher numbers have been reported by the Vietnamese Administration, almost over eleven thousand (Marshall 4-5). Although the numbers of women in the Vietnamese military were high, the women in Vietnam have had to go a long way to be treated as equals. The women were regarded as second class citizens in the military and even after they returned home. Although after the war these women were now Veterans just like their male comrades, but they were not still not treated properly. Additionally, sexual harassment of women, which is rather common in today’s society, was also predominant in the military. For some women, the weekly paycheck that they would receive while training as military nurses was a viable alternative to getting a job to cover tuition, or taking out a loan. For other women, the excitement lured them into the military.
Many of the women joined the military for a chance to travel to the enchanting Vietnamese local as it once was, full of luscious forests.
Vietnam War
Women also had a sense of patriotism when the Vietnam War began. Nurses were particularly enthusiastic about going to war and contribute with their skills. A majority of the women who were serving their country during the Vietnam War were nurses ("veteranshour.com"). Before being hired, women were prepared for the real casualties and the real war by undergoing mock set-ups of battlefield casualties. The women also received field training where they were taught how to fire an M-16; although ironically, they were never permitted to fire these weapons. Another part of their -Vietnam training too was to use a compass to find their way out of a field. These young women enjoyed being away from their parents out on their own for the very first time in their lives.
According to women who served in the Vietnamese military, despite getting lost they had never enjoyed themselves so much in their life (Walker 95). Unlike what is the norm today, women had very limited roles in the Vietnam War. There were no female plane or helicopter pilots, mechanics, or truck drivers working in the Vietnamese combat zones. However, the conditions that the large number of women served in were often draining and dangerous. In his article Unarmed and Under Fire: An Oral History of Female Vietnam Vets, Austin Bunn has written that “They served prominently in Saigon, in the Mekong Delta and at Long Binh, which was, for a time, the largest Army headquarters in the world. They could not fight, nor were they allowed to carry weapons to defend themselves. Most were part of the pioneering Women’s Army Corps (WAC), created in 1942 to integrate the armed forces” (Bunn).
The female nurses had not undergone proper training for the serious combat injuries that were supposed to treat. Strangely, the soldiers who were wounded during the war were referred to as casualties rather than patients. The artillery that was used during the war was particularly designed to cause a multitude of severe injuries. Apart from the guns, “antipersonnel” and white phosphorus bombs were also used. Phosphorous and napalm are capable of burning the skin right down to the bone (Docherty and Goose) Moreover, Vietnam is a small country and helicopters were being used to airlift wounded soldiers to hospitals. This meant that unlike the wars before it, there were more soldiers for the nurses to treat, most of whom had severe wounds.
The basic experiences of a majority of the military nurses who served in Vietnam have been described in the book The Vietnam War. Unlike the injuries that nurses had been exposed to before the Vietnam War, these perhaps came face to face with the more dreadful injuries. Continuously dealing with these horrid injuries was emotionally traumatic for the nurses. Moreover, there was also the risk of full-scale enemy attack, rocket fire, and snipers. Thus, the nurses were under the same amount of stress as the male soldiers fighting in the field. Had it not been for these nurses, along with the rapid evacuation of wounded men and the technological advancements of that time, these fallen soldiers would have probably not survived, just like in previous wars.
Often, in dire situation, the nurses even had to cut off the arms of many wounded soldiers (Walker 237). In the trauma units, even the nurses who had received surgical training were not prepared for the level of bloodshed. Almost 60% of the nurses who had decided to serve in the Vietnamese military had merely received 2 years of medical training, and a majority out of these 60% had received less than 6 months of training (Marshall 6). The nurses referred to the medical procedures they have to carry out as horridzomas and horriblectomies. Moreover, apart from treating wounds they had never contemplated or set eyes on before, they also had to deal with unfamiliar diseases as well, such as bubonic plague, dengue fever, malaria, TB and typhoid. They were also treating soldiers for drug addiction and by the end of the war, drug wards had been set up to get the soldiers to give up drugs like amphetamine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and cocaine.
The Vietnamese Army and Navy provided the women with barely any training for the type of work they had to do as a part of the military. When it comes to the women in general who serve in the military, it is commonly perceived that it is men who are fighting in the danger zone while the women are safe and sound behind them. Regardless, this has definitely not been true for the women serving in the military in Vietnam (Walker 13). While serving in Vietnam, approximately fifty-eight civilian women and 9 military nurses from Australia and America were killed during the war ("eclecticco.net"). Most of the women who died during the war were killed in helicopter, plane, or other vehicular crashes, but at the same time, at least one woman was killed during a mortar attack as well (Schomp). This seems to further suggest that the women were sent to the dangerous front lines without being properly trained for combat.
The participation of women on the front line was even more dangerous because they were not properly trained for combat and the military was just ignoring this fact. Apart from playing the role of caregivers, women also volunteered to be there to boost morale. Many believe that the only contribution that women made during the Vietnam War was at the front line or as nurses, but that is certainly not true. Despite their limited role in the Vietnam War, the contributions of the women were diverse. For instance, just like canteens and clubs for the servicemen to relax were being run by women during World War II, a similar system had been implemented in Vietnam as well during the war. These women were given nicknames such as “Kool-Aid kids” and “chopper chicks,” which suggests that feminism had not yet reached the troops in Vietnam.
Although many books have been written about the Vietnam War, but not many of them mention the contributions and the role of women in the war as realistically as A Time Remembered: American Women in the Vietnam War by Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt. The book contains a range of essays about the women who served in Vietnam during the war. The author is has formerly worked with the Office of War Information and has previously written another book about military women. Stories of 27 women can be read in this book. 11 out of these women were military nurses in Vietnam at the time of the war. Six out of these women were civilians and worked for the American Red Cross. There rest of them served in various other military positions. The nurses, in particular, also served as clerks, entertainment or recreational specialists and secretaries (Gruhzit-Hoyt). At one point in the book, Gruhzit-Hoyt agrees that “Women played a vital role” (Gruhzit-Hoyt) specifically referring to truly vital contributions the women made to medical care.
In the book Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam, stories of women who battled in the Vietnam War diaries, oral interviews, and army reports have presented, which shed further light of the contributions made by women in the Vietnam War. For instance the book presents the story of Nguyen Thi Duc Hoan, a former guerrilla fighter who served in Vietnam, and later became an actress, filmmaker and director. She made several films about the women who served in Vietnam and the issues they faced. Even her daughter trained in the Vietnamese militia. In her interview quoted in the book, Duc Hoan said that the survival of Vietnam fundamentally depended on the will of the people. She mentions how even the women who generally very gentle by nature were inspired to enter the violent battlefield for their country. She calls the Vietnam War “a total people’s war” (Turner and Hao 47).
Another former Vietnamese militia woman mentioned in the book is Ngo Thi Tuyen. According to what Turner has written based on an interview in 1997, Tuyen played a key role in the Vietnam War. She supplied the Dragon's Jaw Bridge’s Vietnamese defense with a key point on the north-south artery of Highway 1. Tuyen had also helped in the attack on American plans in 1965 that had come to destroy the bridge but failed. Till today, her heroism is celebrated and honored in the country. There were many other similar heroic women who also served in the Vietnam War and made their own respective contributions. Almost every woman who was serving there in Vietnam at the time of the war had volunteered to be there, whether military or civilian. Thus women from both sides of the war were willingly making whatever contributions they could.
In Women in Vietnam: The Oral History, written by veteran journalist Ron Steinman who was also written The Soldiers’ Story, testimonies of 16 extraordinary women who served in the war have been collected in the book. Although this part of the war has long ignored despite of how crucial it is, fortunately an honest, steadfast and unwavering account has been provided in this book about the role of women in the war. These women recall their power experiences on the bases, in the cities, towns and villages, and on the front lines. All of these women served honorably and with dedication without complaining, whether they were there to help out or raise morale. Apart from being a remarkable historical document, Women in Vietnam presents a power insight in the outstand accomplishment of women in the Vietnam War (Steinman). This book is truly a must read to learn more about the forgotten women of Vietnam.
On March 8, which is the International Women’s Day, a nationwide ceremony is organized by the Vietnam Communist Party in honor of the female citizens for the role they played in Vietnam War and continue to play in the Vietnamese society. Similarly, in the United States, there is the Vietnam Women's Memorial, which is dedicated to all the female nurses who served in the Vietnam War. Apart from the fact that women made significant contributions in the Vietnam War, ever since the war ended, there has been a great increase in the number of women joining the military.
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