The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War 

Women experienced for the first time during the Vietnam War some field training, like being taught to fire weapons, work compasses, and march in sync with other soldiers. The nurses for the Vietnam War were required to deal with serious injuries, due to the weapons and bombs involved with this war. According to M. Carlson author of the Vietnam Conflict,  "Approximately 60 percent of the nurses who arrived in Vietnam had had less than two years medical training and of this 60 percent, most had had less than six months" (para. 7). Nothing totally prepared this Army and Navy nurses better than the actual experience of being on the battlefield and in hospitals. 

It is known that women during the Vietnam War were affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder just like male soldiers were. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is characterized by a change in personality or anxiety tolerance due to a major event that involved the threat of injury or death. Sadly, these women did not receive help like male soldiers did from the Veterans Administration. They were denied counseling to help relieve their PTS symptoms. 

During the Vietnam War, more specifically the Panama Invasion, the first command for combat was made by a woman named Linda Bray. She directed troops from a distance to invade, which went down in records and made a mark history. The Vietnam Conflict stated that a New York Times/CBS New's Poll showed that 72 percent thought that women should be allowed to be in combat if they desire to. Due to the fact that they could not join in combat, many critics argue that women soldiers were at a greater risk for death and injury, because while they were still stationed close to the battlefields like male soldiers, their lack of combat training increased their chances of getting hurt or potentially killed.

References

Carlson, M. (n.d.). The vietnam conflict: Women and the unknown solider. Retrieved from http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/bestresearch_womensoldiers.html

Women in Military Service For America Memorial Foundation Inc. (n.d.). Highlights in the history of military women. Retrieved from http://www.womensmemorial.org/Education/timeline.html

(2012). U.s marine corps lav-25 in panama. (2012). [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama