AJN The American Journal of Nursing - Vietnam Nurses Stories

In the May 2009 issue of AJN, Kay E. Schwebke, MD, MPH, a staff physician at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, authors an article about her interviews with nurses who served in the armed forces in Vietnam and the meaning of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial to these nurses. AJN Editor-in-Chief Diana Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, talks with Dr. Schwebke about why she wrote the article and how her discussions with Vietnam nurses have changed how she practices and how she thinks about health providers who serve in war zones.

Mary O'Brien Tyrrell reads her poem, “Unseen.”

“I am a nurse before I am an officer.”

Lynn Kohl reads her poem, “Deep Inside Me.”

Lynn Kohl reads her poem, “But I Was.”

Lynn Kohl has been on disability with posttraumatic stress disorder since 1982. “You were not there when your loved one died, but I was.”

Penny Kettlewell reads her poem, “I Hold Them.”

Penny Kettlewell reads her poem, “Coffee Room Soldier.”

Diane Carlson Evans reads her poem, “Black Man.”

“One of the worst memories of Vietnam was seeing children die. . . . Every time somebody died, I died with them.”