Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the place where Book Bloggers from around the world share their bookish finds with one another in a virtual place called The Sunday Salon. Thank you to for Deb at ReaderBuzz keeping us all together on Sundays and hosting The Sunday Salon now! I also visited with Kim at The Caffeinated Reader, another Sunday gathering place for us bookish people called The Sunday Post ! It's been a while since I've shared a book or two. I have been reading and busier than ever since retiring, but I need to get back here... I miss sharing all the great reads I've been enjoying! So, this week, I wanted to share something recommended to me during a recent visit to the Vietnam Veterans display of The Wall that Heals...
This week, in my little town, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, The Wall That Heals came... displayed in a field, in beautiful farm land, not too far from where I live. The Wall That Heals is a replica of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial that is in Washington, DC. It also is an educational center as the trailer that brings in the memorial is turned into a learning experience with displays and information that brings what the Vietnam Veteran's experienced to life.
Even though this is a 3/4 replica of the original memorial in DC, it still has the power to move anyone who sees it. The over 58,000 names displayed is enough to silence the room, but seeing how the Veterans who visit are moved by their visit, brought tears to my eyes.
One of the facts I learned during my visit to The Wall was that there are only 8 women whose names appear on The Wall. These 8 women were all nurses that died while serving in the Vietnam war. And on the day I visited The Wall, I sought out these women to see their names among the many. I had their names and their locations on the wall. As I stood in front of one of the panels I was approached by one of the Veteran volunteers. He asked me if I had any questions, and if I'd like to do a rubbing of any of the names on the wall. I explained to him, that I did not have any relatives engraved on the wall, but that I was amazed how there were only 8 women on the wall. We got to talking about those women and their histories. He shared his story with me, and I thanked him for his service and told him I was glad that he was able to come home and glad he was okay. "Okay is a relative word" he tells me. And I understood what he meant without further explanation... but then a strange thing happened. This Vietnam Vet, a man in his 70's, tells me if I am interested in these women, I should read, The Women by Kristin Hannah. He went on to tell me, that even though it is fiction, it really tells the story, the experience, of one woman during her time in Vietnam. He originally picked the book up because of the cover, which shows a helicopter flying over palm trees. He read it because of it's story... Here is the blurb about the book found on Goodreads...
Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided. Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm's way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
You can learn more about The Wall That Heals at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. You can learn more about the women "on the wall" by clicking on this link.
Have you read any books about the Vietnam War?
Fiction or Nonfiction?
The Women by Kristin Hannah was published by St. Martins Press February of 2024. You can listen to an excerpt on the publishers page.
Summer time is coming and reading is heating up along with the weather in South Carolina. I'm looking forward to sharing some great reads...
Happy reading... Suzanne