Sisterhood of War: Minnesota Women in Vietnam

Approximately nine thousand U.S. military nurses served in Vietnam during the U.S.-Vietnam war. Though women did not serve in combat, nurses encountered the consequences of war on a daily basis as they cared for its casualties -- military and civilian, American and Vietnamese. And, like so many other Vietnam veterans,they struggled with their wartime experiences once they returned home. The fact that they were women veterans added another layer of difficulty to their readjustment, however. The assumption was that all veterans were men. In Minnesota, a handful of nurses who had served in Vietnam banded together as sister veterans and offered each other the help, support, and recognition that no one else had. Join the author of Sisterhood of War: Minnesota Women in Vietnam (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2011) for a discussion of nurses’ experiences during and after the war, with a special focus on this unique group from Minnesota.

Kim Heikkila Ph.D.,Author

Wed., Mar. 15, 2 p.m., SPCC Rm. 219, Free

Books available for purchase following the program