Women Can Be Heroes Too
The Women by Kristen Hannah is one of those books whose impact will last forever. It is a book that will not fail to change you as your heart breaks for the women. It will affect your emotions as you feel disappointment, hurt and anger for the way the women are treated; as well as admiration for their bravery.
The Women follows a young woman who went to war as a newly qualified nurse, in Vietnam. She bonds with the only two other female nurses. It is a trio who will support each other for a lifetime as only they understand the horrors they lived through. The war in Vietnam was mainly a man’s war.
The Vietnam War started as war on communism but became more unpopular as the years rolled on. Many young American men and Vietnamese civilians lost their lives, and the American government did not always report the truth. “He told her repeatedly that the war was coming to an end. Walter Cronkite said the same… But it was still going on. And men were dying.” For the first time, people had the war beamed straight into their living rooms via the medium of television. The Vietnam War was a war that provoked many anti-war demonstrations.
The book is powerful. We watch Frankie evolve from a society teen to a brave young nurse. “Frankie had been taught to believe that her job was to be a good housewife, to raise well-mannered children and keep a lovely home.” Her view of life will be forever changed. “What’s it like?… Vietnam?”… “Words won’t help… I could talk all day about what it’s like and you still won’t be ready.” Frankie goes from innocence to experience after being totally unprepared for the horrors of war.
The role of nurses was important. Not only did they assist the doctors, they could perform life-saving treatments themselves. Sometimes their role was to hold the hand of the dying. The men who returned, never forgot the nurses who helped them. “There are men going home to their families because of us.”
It was important to have some R n R. “She knew how fragile dreams were and this war had taught her to dance while she could.”
The reader is immersed in the horrors of war. “Her village had been bombed… And only the Americans had bombs.” We meet the orphans of war, and see the dreadful slow deaths from napalm.
There was no glorious return home for Frankie. Her family were ashamed of her having gone to war. The American people spat on her and verbally abused her as she stepped off the plane and travelled home.
Naturally, there was PTSD for the returning heroes. Our hearts break for Frankie. “I don’t know what to do, who I am now. Without the Army… I just want… for someone to care that I’m home.”
The women who returned were the forgotten heroes. All the groups set up for returning veterans were for men only. Even those running the groups declared “there were no women in the war.”
The women served. And Americans at home didn’t want to know.
The Women is a social commentary of the time – from 1967 to the mid 1970’s. We hear of the fight for civil rights and of the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. We also hear of lynchings of ordinary black youth.
This is a book that needs to be read in honour of all who served. They gave their all so we could have today.
I cannot recommend The Women highly enough. It is a book that will haunt me forever.
JULIA WILSON