American Daughter Gone to War; On the Front Lines with an Army Nurse in Vietnam
New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1992. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 25 cm. 352 pages. Acid-free paper. Illustrations. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. A former army nurse during the Vietnam War describes her days and nights, dating fighter pilots, tending to wounded soldiers, and getting a taste of the tragedy of war while working in a Saigon intensive care unit. An idealistic young nurse in 1966, Winnie Smith requested assignment to an intensive care unit in Saigon to care for wounded American soldiers. The horrors she saw and endured there were to change her life. The initial camaraderie of war, drinking to relax and the pleasure of leave on East Asian beaches soon wore thin. Struggling daily to keep dying men alive - to calm terrified memories and offer solace for ruined young lives - undermined Winnie's idealism and her strength. Once back in America, the reality of life after the nightmare of war left her isolated and dismayed, and any years later she still battled with flashbacks and uncontrollable bouts of crying. Only the support of other veterans, and the astonishing courage and endurance she had found in Vietnam, helped Winnie begin her long road back to peace. Daughter Gone to War is a mirror for America's own loss of faith over the course of one of the most shattering conflicts of the century, and an inspiring account personal heartbreak and renewal. More