"And The War Goes On..." American Women Battling Sexism in the Vietnam War Era
The Vietnam War continues to haunt the legacy of the United States. The Wall was built, people discuss the politics of the war, and then life goes on. Veterans to this day struggle to talk about their experiences in the war. One group of veterans has been largely ignored by the public to the point where they are nearly forgotten. This group of veterans is the women. Women served in Vietnam as nurses, military officers, Red Cross Donut Dollies, civilians, and missionaries. This research project examines the experiences of women in three phases: before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The goal of this project is to show how women were not only in Vietnam but that they played crucial roles during the war only to come back home and not be treated as veterans. This thesis highlights different voices of women and shows how they navigated going to Vietnam, serving in America’s longest war, and then returning to a divided country.