The Women

I've been hearing of novelist Kristin Hannah for years, but it wasn't until this book I decided to make her a priority. My friend Laurie sent it to me after a short text discussion about being on long list at the local library to get the book in hand. It is already number one on the New York Times Bestseller list, and I am so glad I got to read it so shortly after its release.

The story follows a young woman in mid-1960s California who voluntary signs up to be an Army nurse and is sent to Vietnam. It is trial by fire for this woman, as she is there during the escalation of the war, and the events such as the Tet Offensive. Much of the book takes place after her return from Vietnam, and what she encounters, and how life takes many drastic turns.

I appreciated that Hannah's research into this time gives it the accurate feeling I remember about that time. I lived in a world where the war was regularly shown on television, and as a middle-schooler during the time of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, I was well-aware of the feelings about the war. The generation gap was a real thing, but as an admirer of Kennedy, I believed in his stance against the war. Years later I would learn MLK was speaking out against it as well, which was creating new enemies for him.

 

My dad's cousins were drafted, and came back changed men. PTSD is real, and they had many struggle which affected them the rest of their lives.

The war loomed in my high school years as well, as the draft threatened my brother and the young men I knew. All though out The Women, Hannah gets these details right. The way she describes the general feelings of the nation, especially young people, rings true to me. This goes right up to the Peace Accord of 1973 -- the year I graduated from high school. I remember we all knew that the agreement had been made and there was quite a party on New Years Eve 1972 when we felt free of the yoke of Vietnam.

 

The sad part is that the Vietnamese kept fighting, and the war didn't officially end for them until The Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. Sadly, that was right after my little brother died, and I wasn't even aware of what happened on that day until three years later in a movie theater when I was watching a film called Coming Home, the first of many films about the war and the aftermath.

 

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The Women ends in 1982 when the memorial in Washington D.C. was dedicated for the 58,220 American lives lost, called The Wall.

 

I first visited The Wall in Washington D.C. by myself in September 1990 when I was in town for a conference. But it would be 1993 when it would take on even greater meaning for me.

In 1992 I met my friend Iris, and in January of 1993 her son took his life. We became fast friends after that. Iris is seven years older than I am, and had served in the Air Force during the time of the Vietnam War, although she never went there. She is a veteran of those times, so when we visited Washington D.C. in November 1993 for a conference, the monuments took on a more significant meaning than just my coming-of-age memories.

 

We drove to D.C. on November 11, 1993 (Veterans Day), and that day was significant because the Women's Memorial had been dedicated that day, giving recognition to the ones that were so often forgotten. (A common refrain in the novel is the many times the main character heard There were no women in Vietnam. In fact, there were over 10,000, eight who lost their lives.)

We had not been able to get tickets for the opening event at the conference, so that gave us the morning to visit the monuments. Given that it was Veterans Day Weekend, the mall were very busy, and we felt like something so large and significant. The amount of decorations was mind-boggling.

It was the Women's Memorial that took our breath away. The emotion on the faces is something to behold. I remember how much we wanted to just stay there and talk to people, and just BE. It was a gorgeous morning, and the timing was perfect.

 

 

On the back of the photograph below I had written that the man's name is Leroy and he was part of the Walk of the Warriors. He was having vets sign his flag, and Iris was happy to do so. (As an aside, this is the gift of good old photographs...I would not even remember what this was about if it wasn't written on the back of the photo.)

I looked up Walk of the Warriors and learned it was ignited by the Navajo Veterans Administration to honor their vets, in particular their women, and was timed for the dedication of the monument. Read more here.

I highly recommend everyone read The Women to understand more deeply what happened during that time, and why I continue to pray for peace as the real resolution to the problems of the world. And if nothing else, while reading it you will certainly be entertained by the celebrated storyteller that is Kristin Hannah.