Lynda Van Devanter's Character Analysis

After four years of seemingly endless battle between a divided nation, more than 600,000 people were killed. These lives, however, were not given in vain. Had it not been for the American Civil War, abolition may not have been carried out. The nation might have remained divided. Women might have remained confined to their roles as the "homemakers." Although the Civil War was fought in hopes of preserving the nation and ridding it of slavery, another war raged on within the depths of this war--the women's war. Serving as nurses both in the hospital and on the battlefields, women came to know a whole

These military hospitals were prone for infectious diseases that was detrimental to their health. Soldiers would come off the battlefield with “measles, smallpox, typhoid, and malaria” the list goes on. It was easy for nurse to contract these disease because the military hospital were so overcrowded and had poor ventilation. Military nurses did not let that stop them from taking care of soldiers. Women would work all hours of the night making sure the wounded and ill soldiers had the best care. It was their duty to see after the soldiers and they were proud of

I was pleased to have attended a lecture cosponsored by the Ethics Center, the Fresno State office of the president, the Fresno Bee and Valley PBS. The lecture began with Dr. Castro recognizing a few leaders on campus, including a past Fresno State president, Dr. John D. Welty and campus volunteer Mary Castro. Dr. Castro then mentioned a few things about Mr. Brooks stating that he is a columnist for the New York Times and an analyst for the PBS “News Hour” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Dr. Brooks also teaches at Yale University, one the finest university in the country. Dr. Castro continued by saying that he learned that Mr. Brooks office hours are from 9am to 1pm and how “cool” it sounded to him. I was surprised how many people attended the event. I was fortunate to find a seat. David Brooks mentioned how he has some remote roots in the Central Valley because his father grew in Chowchilla, CA but Mr. Brooks grew in New York.

Jimmy knows too well the agonies of abandonment. First, when his mother, Cecilia, ran away with Richard to pursue a better lifestyle. Then, due to his father’s, Damacio Baca, alcoholisms and violent behavior; he also had to leave Jimmy behind. In spite of the drawbacks from abandonment to being a maximum security prisoner in Arizona State Prison, Jimmy preserver’s the darkness of prison by overcoming his illiteracy. However Cecilia and Damacio is not as fortunate as their child; Cecilia is shot by Richard after confronting him for a divorce and Damacio chokes to death after he is released from the detox center(Baca 263). Therefore the most significant event in this section of the memoir, A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca is the death of Jimmy’s parents.

The role of race and gender in the United States have been a constant social and cultural struggle, but for male and female service members in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War of author Heather Marie Stur’s book "Beyond Combat: Women and Gender in the Vietnam War Era" when she focused more on the Cold War era policies. While her emphasis is primarily on Americans in Vietnam, the framing chapter on Madame Nhu as Orientalist dragon lady. Similarly, she considers the image of the "girl next door" in need of protection in relation to the actual positions of donut dollies nurses and WACs in

This chapter covers the transition of Mary Anne Bell, of how she changed from being a normal, sweet teenage girl to being one of the Green Berets, filled with enthusiasm for the war and intrigued with the culture of Vietnam. This message is about how the innocence of women is consumed by the war and how once they begin to learn more about it, they are hopelessly entranced by it, far from returning to their usual selves. Rat talks about how, “Anne made you think about those girls back home, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years. Try and tell them about it, they’ll just stare at you with those big round candy eyes. They won't understand zip.”(O’Brien 108), and this shows that women won’t understand what Vietnam really is like, they have to experience it themselves. Women also won’t understand the grueling mental pain that soldiers experience in the war.

The Vietnam War was the longest war ever fought by U.S. military forces. U.S. personnel were engaged from 1961 until 1973. Approximately 10,000 U.S. military women served in Vietnam during the war. Most were members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurse Corps. All of the Army nurses were volunteers who attended a six-week basic training class, and then were assigned to one-year stunts in Vietnam hospitals and mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) units. Most of these nurses were fresh out of nursing school, some with less than six months of clinical experience. These nurses were not prepared for the physical and emotional wounds that they would have to heal.

On March 15, 1965, large shipments of troops arrived in South Vietnam. These troops occupied the country until 1973. During this time, many men fought and died for the United States of America. The numerous nurses that operated on thousands of soldiers are often forgotten. The soldiers that the nurses operated on were usually blown apart and crippled for life. The nurses worked diligently to save these men. Even by working hard to save these men they were not recognized as army personnel by the public. The Vietnamese citizens and even the male American soldiers looked down upon the nurses. The United States did not acknowledge the nurses that served in the Vietnam War until 1993. The nurses

After the North Vietnamese fired directly upon two U.S. ships in August 1964, the United States’ Congress responded with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization to deploy troops to Vietnam, ultimately spurring America into the war movement. By the end of the war in 1975, over two million Americans were deployed to Vietnam, and among them only eight thousand were women, 90% of which served as nurses. The insignificant amount of women participating in the war was because during this time, women were believed to be psychologically and physically unsuitable for war. In the novel The Things They Carried, by Vietnam War veteran Tim O’Brien, O’Brien confronts the conventional gender roles of women, asserting

The main source is a book called Beyond Combat: Women and Gender in the Vietnam War Era, written by Heather Marie Stur, and was published in September of 2011. Heather Marie Stur is a director of University of Southern Mississippi’s Vietnam Studies program and is an author of several articles, including some about the Vietnam War. This source is valuable to answering the thesis question and revealing the past of the Vietnam War because it was written by an assistant professor whose research interests are gender and conflict, the U.S. in a global context, and the Vietnam War. Stur gathers information from her research and writes about it in

The women during the Vietnam War have been mostly forgotten because of the attention that has been given to the men’s military recognitions. However, women have always played a part with the terrifying and bloody war. According to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation, more than 11,000 military women were stationed in Vietnam during the conflict. Also, Independent surveys estimates that the number of women, both civilian and non-civilian was between 33,000 and 55,000 (Carlson). Despite these high numbers of women in military, they however, struggled to attain equality. The great efforts that the women have done as nurses and entertainers for the soldiers were mostly ignored and discredited.

A few blocks down the road Estelle Louise says,” Clemmie Sue that there gotta be the greatest birthday in many a long years. Who you be thinking this here Harry guy might be?”

I first met Finnian Schaner when he was a 6th grader running for class representative. He arrived in a button down shirt and a tie. His outfit was not ironic, in fact it was a depiction of who he is: serious, dedicated and professional. Subsequently, I had the pleasure of teaching Finnian in both my English and my AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) elective class and found him to be intelligent, conscientious and kind. Here in our small community of Mendocino, I am able to see students as whole people. I see Finnian in class, on the lacrosse field, at the grocery store. In all these instances, his general goodness shines through.

Throughout The Things They Carried, society’s antagonizing treatment towards the soldiers and veterans is symbolized through O’Brien’s characterization of women as selfish, insensitive, and ignorant.

War, a word that often describes the aftermath of a disagreement tends to often become a topic of conversation amongst Americans today. Since the founding of our fathers we have faced ample amounts of conflict. Justice amongst these circumstances is not easy to reach, sacrifices had been made and will continue to until the conclusion is met. While their loved ones are away, the families of the fighting soldiers face daily obstacles. These sacrifices often become overlooked and taken for granted. Women have always played an important role in the success of family life and the well being of our country under these circumstances; through the years, these tasks have ranged from work on the assembly lines to performing seamstress duties for a soldier’s uniform. Without this unwarranted support, we’d be at a loss during these disheartening times.