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Diane Carlson Evans

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Healing Wounds: A Vietnam War Combat Nurse’s 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington, D.C. Kindle Edition

by Diane Carlson Evans (Author), Bob Welch (Author), Joseph Galloway (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition

4.8 442 ratings

in Vietnam War History

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Featured in Kristen Hannah’s new book The Women

What is the price of honor? It took ten years for Vietnam War nurse Diane Carlson Evans to answer that question—and the answer was a heavy one.

In 1983, when Evans came up with the vision for the first-ever memorial on the National Mall to honor women who’d worn a military uniform, she wouldn’t be deterred. She remembered not only her sister veterans, but also the hundreds of young wounded men she had cared for, as she expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C.: “Women didn’t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. If they belong there, we belong there. We were there for them then. We mattered.”

In the end, those wounded soldiers who had survived proved to be there for their sisters-in-arms, joining their fight for honor in Evans’ journey of combating unforeseen bureaucratic obstacles and facing mean-spirited opposition. Her impassioned story of serving in Vietnam is a crucial backstory to her fight to honor the women she served beside. She details the gritty and high-intensity experience of being a nurse in the midst of combat and becomes an unlikely hero who ultimately serves her country again as a formidable force in her daunting quest for honor and justice.

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260 pages
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English
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Publication date

May 26, 2020
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7074 KB
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Editorial Reviews

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"Diane Carlson Evans went from working as a combat nurse to becoming a national advocate for all the women who served during the Vietnam War. What makes Healing Wounds different from other nurses' wartime memoirs is the aftermath. Evans came home with the awful inventory of battle in her memory. She married and became a mother of four, yet the loss and sacrifice she witnessed in her fellow nurses and patients never left her. This emptiness, combined with the country's indifference to the women's war efforts, drove her into the political world to push for a statue to honor those females who served, next to the statue of the Three Soldiers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. One powerful Washington, D.C. committee vetoed the idea and said if there was a statue dedicated to women, the next statue might have to be for the dogs who served in the K-9 units. It is this compelling story of perseverance that will make you angry, proud, and inspired." -- Elizabeth M. Norman, PhD, RN, author of "Women at War: The Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam," and "We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Women Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese"

"A powerful book. A necessary book. Within the first dozen pages, tears were flowing. Diane took on three heroic tasks in her life: serving as a combat nurse in Vietnam; despite ferocious opposition, leading the battle for a monument on the Mall to women who served in Vietnam; and telling her story in this book of the emotional price paid when she was shamefully rejected and reviled by fellow Americans. Diane recovered from the war and its aftermath by acting, doing, and salvaging the memories of the women who served. We owe her an incalculable debt." -- Theodore Roosevelt IV, Underwater Demolition Team 11, Vietnam two tours: 1966 and 1967

"It’s been said before, but it’s worth repeating: To create a great memoir you 'only' need two things: a compelling story and the ability to tell it compellingly. Diane Carlson Evans has three compelling life stories to tell. And she tells them exceptionally well in her new, eye-opening memoir..." -- The VVA Veteran, a publication of Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc.®

"'The sun is shining on us,' Diane Carlson Evans said on a radiant fall day as she opened the ceremony to dedicate the Vietnam Women's Memorial on November 11, 1993. I was among 25,000 others who celebrated in a triumphant moment for our nation, for all women who served in Vietnam, and for Diane, whose dignity, decency, and courage are of the highest caliber I know. I was in Vietnam as a twenty-two-year-old reporter. Diane, a twenty-one-year-old nurse. We thought we were all grown up. Healing Wounds affirms what I have long believed: the best Vietnam war stories are love stories. Diane's love of her country, her patients, and her fellow nurses, carried her through the mud and blood of Vietnam. Her love carried her over every obstacle placed in her path in the ten years, ten years, it took her to spearhead her vision into reality. Don't be fooled by her Minnesota nice. Diane is a woman warrior who fights with love and courage of her convictions instead of bullets. Healing Wounds is exquisitely painful, heartbreakingly beautiful, and ultimately, triumphant. Finally, the sun is shining on Diane Carlson Evans." -- Laura Palmer, Author, "Shrapnel in the Heart," Co-Author, "War Torn, Stories of War from the Women Reporters who covered Vietnam"

"A fascinating, yet heart-rending chronicle of Diane Carlson Evans' heroic journey and her decade-long struggle to honor the women who served during the Vietnam War. Every Brother and Sister veteran, their families, and those who haven't served, should read Healing Wounds." -- John Finley Sommer, Combat Medic, 3/12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, Vietnam, 1968 and Executive Director, The American Legion, 1991-2009

"Evans' book is a soulful accounting of her long-fought journey to recognize the immense contributions and sacrifices of women during the Vietnam War." -- Chuck Hagel, 24th Secretary of Defense, United States Senator, and Vietnam Veteran

"I was Lieutenant Sharon Lane's Head Nurse when she was killed by a rocket while on duty in our hospital in Vietnam. She is remembered with her name etched on the Wall in Washington, D.C. Diane Carlson Evans' long journey fighting for us has helped heal my deep emotional wounds and those of thousands of sister veterans who lived through that war and who are honored and forever remembered by the Vietnam Women's Memorial." -- Colonel Jane Carson, USA(Ret), Vietnam, 1969-70

About the Author

Diane Carlson Evans, a former captain in the Army Nurse Corps who served in the combat zone of Vietnam, is the founder of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, Inc. She served as president and CEO of the Foundation's board of directors-headquartered mainly in Washington, DC-for thirty years. Today she advocates for veterans and speaks nationally about the contribution of women during wartime. She has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees and prestigious awards from civic and veterans organizations.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B086HS8S7B
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Permuted Press (May 26, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 26, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 7074 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 260 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #12,559 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1 in Vietnam War History (Kindle Store)
- #3 in Biographies of Medical Professionals (Kindle Store)
- #6 in Vietnam War History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 442 ratings

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Diane Carlson Evans

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CPT Diane Carlson Evans, Army Nurse Corps, Republic of Vietnam (born 1946) is a former nurse in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and the founder of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial located at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Evans initiated and led the effort to completion.

Carlson Evans was born and raised on a dairy farm in rural Minnesota and graduated from nursing school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon graduation, she joined the Army Nurse Corps and served in Vietnam, at age 21, in 1968-1969. She served in the burn unit of the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau and at Pleiku in the 71st Evacuation Hospital, a few kilometers from the Cambodian border in the Central Highlands; casualties arriving just 10 to 20 minutes by helicopter from the field. Including her one year in Vietnam, Carlson Evans completed a total of 6 years in the Army Nurse Corps.

Carlson Evans attended the dedication of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial (the "wall") in 1982. Following the dedication of the statue of three soldiers at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in 1984, Carlson Evans founded the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, to honor the service of American military women who served during the Vietnam War era. She worked from 1983 through 1993 to establish the Vietnam Women's Memorial, lobbying federal authorities for permission to build a memorial to the 11,000 military women who served in Vietnam and the 265,000 who served around the world during the Vietnam era.

It was a ten-year effort with seven years of testimony before three federal commissions and two congressional bills for Evans and her supporters to earn permission for the memorial. Once permission was granted, more than 300 artists entered a major design competition in 1990. Sculptor Glenna Goodacre, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, submitted a design that received honorable mention and was selected as the statue that replaced the design "Nurse" by Rodger Brodin which was used as a fundraiser during the early days of awareness-raising. The Goodacre statue now stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The bronze sculpture is 7'0" tall with four figures, 3 women and a wounded soldier. The Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated before a crowd of thousands on November 11, 1993, with remarks from then Vice President and Vietnam Veteran Al Gore.

Since the dedication of the Vietnam Women's Memorial in 1993, Carlson Evans has remained active in the veteran’s community. As Founder and President of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, she speaks nationally about the experience of women in wartime. She and her husband, of forty years plus, have four children and seven grandchildren.

Award and honors include:

• Honorary Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters from Haverford College, Pennsylvania

• Honorary Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters from Sacred Heart University, Fairfield,

Connecticut

• Honorary Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters from Carroll College, Helena, Montana

• National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs "Advocate of the Year" Award

• Governor’s Excellence Award, State of Minnesota

• "Outstanding Civic Achievement Award" by the USO, Washington, D.C.

• "Vietnam Veteran of the Year" award from the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans of America

• "Woman Agent of Change’ by the AAUW (American Association of University Women)

• "Woman of Distinction" by the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders

• "Woman of the Year, Jesse Bernard Award" Center for women’s Policy Studies, Washington,

D.C.

• "National Special Service Award" by BRAVO (Brotherhood of all Veterans Organizations)

• "Veteran of the Year Award" by VIETNOW

• "Service to Mankind" Award by the SERTOMA Club

• "Gold Medal of Merit" by the Veterans of Foreign Wars

• The Lillian D. Wald "Spirit of Nursing" Award, New York City

• World T.E.A.M. Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

• Sigma Theta Tau International Award

• Montana Amnesty International Human Rights award

• DAR Medal of Honor, Daughters of the American Revolution

• Lifetime Memberships were awarded to Ms. Evans from The American Legion, Veterans of

Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and Vietnam Veterans of America.

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Riveting

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024

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Very good , informative story. I just read aThe Women by Kristen Hannah, which I think was based on this book . Highly recommend

8 people found this helpful

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William W. Shugarts III

An Inspiring & Courageous Journey That Should Be Read by ALL Vietnam Era Veterans

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2020

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Diane Carlson Evans book “Healing Wounds” is a riveting account of her military service in Vietnam with the U.S. Army Nurses Corps and her daunting, 10-year quest to create the Women’s Memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.

Her journey from the farmlands of Minnesota to Vietnam, the challenges of war-time service, then returning home to a divided country and her perseverance thru the maze of organizational bureaucracies & politics in the creation of a memorial to honor the 265,000 women who served during the Vietnam era is inspiring! Women in service matter!!

Her style of writing, the heartfelt stories from her mother’s example as a nurse, the Minnesota farm life of her childhood, the give & take of a large family, the idealism to be an Army nurse in the 1960’s are so authentic. Then, the intensity of Diane’s “war stories” detailing the gritty service in Pleiku are so realistic, so moving and so relatable. They will ring true with any “In-Country” Vietnam veteran.

An example: “Rockets pounded. Officers shouted instructions diffused by the noise. Chaos laughed in the face of whatever sanity was left” describing a “mushrooming nightmare” for their medical team when a Chinook helicopter of wounded landed.

Humbling speaking, this book is in the same category as Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”.

Bill Shugarts, Vietnam Veteran (1969-1970) 23rd Infantry Division-Americal, NPS Wall Volunteer, USO Warrior & Family Center Volunteer, Families of the Wounded Fund Board Member, No One Left Behind Board Member, Military Ministry Leader, Fawn Lake Veterans Group Director

May 2020

15 people found this helpful

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Carroll Campbell

A "must read" background to Kristin Hannah's best sellling novel 'The Women'.

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2024

Verified Purchase

This is a very well written book that details the challenges that faced the Diane Evans having a memorial statue take its rightful place for honoring the women who served during the Vietnam War alongside the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, D.C. The amount of work and dedication involved in this effort is truly staggering.

One person found this helpful

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Hope

Very Touching

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024

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After reading The Women I feel that it was very important to read Healing Wounds. It is so important to know behind the scenes details. I feel incredibly sorry and guilty that I wasn't more aware of what it was like for vets coming home. Reading this was a very touching experience.

One person found this helpful

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Craig Macintosh

Fresh Look at Vietnam and Beyond

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

Once America's crusade in Vietnam was over, and the smoke had cleared, those who had fought and died there were forgotten and the country moved on. The veterans kept their memories mostly to themselves, reluctant to share with others...except with fellow vets, if at all. And typical of America's collective memory, the healers were among those forgotten, despite the miracles they bravely performed in the military hospitals under extreme conditions. Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse, has written a searing memoir of year in Vietnam. Tending wounded soldiers, and sometimes Vietnamese victims of the war, Carlson performed heroic deeds, sometimes as incoming rockets put her and patients at risk. She writes with vulnerable, brutal honesty about a homecoming set adrift by what we now know as PTSD. At one point, she went back into the service to find her place, her role, in a nation that wanted to forget. A chance encounter with a former Marine-turned-sculptor, ignited a mission to see that women who had served as nurses in Vietnam were recognized for their sacrifice. America often comes late to the table concerning womens' roles in our wars. Carlson was not to be denied. Determined to see a memorial raised to her sister veterans, she enlisted hundreds, mobilized funders, cajoled reluctant politicians, shamed a government that shirked it responsibility...and battled other veterans' groups that resisted her goal of a fitting memorial to our women veterans from Vietnam. Her goal became her life. She became a hardened warrior, who would not take "no" for an answer. She traveled this land, spoke to hundreds of groups, galvanized mostly-male veteran organizations into action, and roamed the halls of Capitol Hill monthly to achieve her goal. She won the battle in the end. Her story of how she did that is amazing, given the opposition she faced. Captivating read. Today, if you visit the Vietnam Wall, you will find three bronze soldiers facing the 58,000 names engraved in black granite...including the eight nurses killed in the line of duty. And, in a nearby grove, you will discover the statue of three nurses aiding a wounded warrior: a collective effort by those who wanted to see the truth of the sacrifices American women made in the Vietnam War. "Healing Wounds: A Vietnam War Combat Nurse's 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington, DC." A must read to complete the circle.
Craig MacIntosh, 1st Infantry Division, 1968-'69

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