In the Combat Zone: An Oral History of American Women in Vietnam, 1966-1975

by Kathryn Marshall

Book Overview

Biographies of twenty women who went to Vietnam for various reasons. A mix of popular history and true scholarship. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316547077
• ISBN13: 9780316547079
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Remembering the women

Marshall's book is a wonderful addition to the oral history scholarship on women's experiences of Vietnam. It is especially significant in that it remains, to this day, one of very few books that directly address female vets in Vietnam. Though Marshall obviously has a hand in the shape the narratives take, it is important to remember when reading this book that these are not, for the most part, Marshall's words. She is not trying to make a unifying or generalizing statement about the female experience but rather seeks to let the diverse voices speak for themselves. In doing so, she uses twenty oral histories from women who served in varying capacities: as Army nurses, Red Cross recreaton workers, as volunteers for religious organizations, and as journalists. And what these stories speak of are incredibly diverse experiences in Vietnam, filled with both pain and joy, suffering and redemption. This may not be the be-all, end-all of scholarship on the subject, but it is important in that it fills a void. The histories in Marshall's book help us remain aware that Vietnam was not only a man's war.