Officer, Nurse, Woman: The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War

Image Plates

A smiling Kate O’Hare Palmer wearing her flak jacket and helmet at the 2nd Surgical Hospital, Lai Khe, 1969. Courtesy Kate O’Hare Palmer. Boldly proclaiming its nurses to be the most beautiful girls in the world, this advertisement visually confirmed that military life would not be detrimental to feminine good looks. Also printed as a poster, this is the image Mary Ellen Smith saw on her arrival in Vietnam. The advertisement appeared in Glamour in April and June 1967 and in the American Journal of Nursing in June 1967. Author’s collection. Visually and textually, this advertisement assured women that army nurses enjoyed fulfilling professional and personal lives, “on and off duty.” It ran in the American Journal of Nursing in May, June, and September 1964. Author’s collection. The officer and nurse in this advertisement promised new opportunities and challenges in the ANC even as she affirmed that nurses were women. The advertisement appeared in the American Journal of Nursing in April, July, August, September, and November 1969; in Nursing Outlook and RN in April, July, August, and November 1969; in Mademoiselle in May and September 1969; and in Glamour in September 1969. Author’s collection. Different in artistic style than other recruitment advertisements, this image of a wounded soldier ran in nursing journals soon after American combat troops were deployed to Vietnam. It appeared in the American Journal of Nursing in January through September 1966 and in RN in January, February, and March through September 1966. Author’s collection. A nurse and other medical staff assessing the triage scene at the 8th Field Hospital, Nha Trang, ca. 1964–1967. While many nurses embraced the heightened level of medical practice they were expected to perform in Vietnam, many detested duties such as triage because they did not enjoy deciding which patients would be treated first—and last. Photograph from the Army Nurse Corps Archives, Office of Medical History, Office of the Surgeon General. Nurse Terry Krantz monitoring a patient at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital in 1968. Male nurses gained permanent status in the ANC for the first time in 1966 and composed up to 30 percent of the nurses who served in Vietnam. Photograph from the Army Nurse Corps Archives, Office of Medical History, Office of the Surgeon General. Kate O’Hare Palmer (far right) looking over the operating field, 2nd Surgical Hospital, Lai Khe, 1969. Courtesy Kate O’Hare Palmer. Nurses beside a security post at the 85th Evacuation Hospital. Hospitals were surrounded by various kinds of security, though many female nurses expressed more fear of sexual assault from U.S. soldiers than of enemy attack. Photograph from the Army Nurse Corps Archives, Office of Medical History, Office of the Surgeon General. Nurses, hospital staff, and helicopter crews celebrating Labor Day at the 3rd Surgical Hospital, Binh Thuy, 1971. The three female nurses seated are Kelly Farrell, Peggy Bradley, and Mary Dale Curts. They are joined by other hospital staff and helicopter pilots. Courtesy Jennifer Lundberg. Elizabeth Finn treating a Vietnamese child at an orphanage in 1967 as part of MEDCAP. Photograph from the Army Nurse Corps Archives, Office of Medical History , Office of the Surgeon General. Peggy Mikelonis visiting Vietnamese orphans near Binh Thuy. The American army staff brought medical supplies and, in this case, Santa Claus. Many nurses enjoyed working with the Vietnamese population, though orphanages such as this one also exposed them to the costs of the war. Courtesy Jennifer Lundberg. Paula and Gene Quindlen after their wedding at the Divarty Chapel in Chu Lai, August 22, 1970. Paula worked at the 27th Surgical Hospital, while Gene was stationed at a nearby medical company. The two spent their off-duty hours together. Photograph courtesy Paula Noonan Quindlen. Nurses Ann Dinger and Margaret Lewis treating a wounded soldier at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh in 1970. Photograph from the Army Nurse Corps Archives, Office of Medical History, Office of the Surgeon General. An exhausted Kate O’Hare Palmer...