Women in Vietnam

In one of the many great ironies of the Vietnam War, the United States government has no idea how many women actually served in Vietnam. In those days, record-keeping did not reflect a person's gender, so the numbers vary from a low of 8,000 to a high of more than 12,000. Women served as nurses, entertainers, as clerks and secretaries for the American Embassy and other government and related agencies. All were young, all were volunteers. None were drafted. They nursed troops in M.A.S.H. units and in field hospitals. They entertained troops to keep their minds off the horrors of war. Some even died doing it. In the words of Bobbie Keith, who became a weather girl on Armed Forces Television, "We were nervous, we were excited. It was an adventure, it was a learning experience. We all wanted to participate in what we thought was right".And they served gallantly. Steinman's oral histories cover every aspect of the female experience in Vietnam, and are powerful reminders of the extraordinary accomplishments of the women who served.