By Donna Reuss
Alexandria, VA – It is hard to remember the National Mall in Washington, D.C., before the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial, “The Wall.” Since 1982, the Wall has memorialized those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. But how many of us know that eight women are among the listed names?
More than 265,000 women served in military and civilian positions around the world during the Vietnam era: November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. Not subject to conscription, all the women who served during that period were volunteers.
Of course, women were barred from combat roles back then. However, over 10,000 women were deployed “in-country” close to the fighting. Helicopter transport for the wounded put nurses in particular within range of hostile fire.
While those in Vietnam were primarily nurses, including the eight women listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, others had administrative jobs, worked in the intelligence field or communications or air traffic control.
Another group of women who served the war effort was Pan Am airline flight attendants. In 1966, Pan Am began operating rest and recreation (R&R) flights for American soldiers in Vietnam for the American government. The flight attendants, some making as many as 200 flights into combat zones, were named second lieutenants to provide them Geneva Convention protections in case of capture. Unlike the male pilots, however, these women did not receive hazardous-duty pay.
Several women also served as flight attendants with the Flying Tigers military cargo charter airline.
Two nurses were the first American female military members to die in the Vietnam conflict, killed in a helicopter crash in 1966. Only one servicewoman was killed in action; the rest died in accidents or of illness.
Fifty-nine civilian women died during the war, including four as prisoners-of-war (POW), while working as war correspondents, photojournalists, and in humanitarian missions with the American Red Cross, United Service Organizations (USO), Peace Corps, and various other religious groups or government agencies.
In 1962, Eleanor Ardel Vietti, a physician and missionary, became America’s first female POW in Vietnam. She is currently the only American woman unaccounted for from that war.
In 1965, Dickey Chapelle became the first female war correspondent killed in Vietnam, and the first American female reporter killed in action in American history. Barbara Robbins, a CIA stenographer/secretary, died in an explosion at the Saigon embassy that year. She was the CIA’s first female member to die in the line of duty.
To honor the American women who served in the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Nurses Memorial Project, later renamed the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project, was founded in 1984. It took a long time, facing rejection early on, but the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was finally dedicated on Veterans Day in 1993. The statue, in Constitution Garden near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, represents all women service members, not just nurses. It was the first in the Nation’s Capital exclusively to recognize the service of military and civilian women.
March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. During this Women’s History Month, as you recall with gratitude the men who fought and perhaps died in the Vietnam War, remember also the many women veterans who voluntarily supported, served, and risked their lives as well.
If you are a veteran, veteran’s family member, or know a veteran who needs help, go to Virginia Board Veterans Services at www.dvs.virginia.gov/dvs; dss.virginia.gov/community/211.cgi; contact American Legion Post 24 Veteran Service Officer at [email protected]; or check out the Resources List on the Post 24 website: valegionpost24.com. For crisis intervention and suicide prevention services, dial 988 and Press 1, or text 838255, for the Veterans Crisis Line.
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