Barbara Hesselman Kautz

This is a first-hand account of the author's time served as a nurse in the 24th Evac Hospital unit in Long Binh during 1970/71. Half of her tour was spent in ward 5 which attended to soldiers with brain or spinal injuries; many were in comas and those awake required constant attention. Her shifts were 12 hour days and six days a week...rotating shifts between days and nights after a "catch-up" day. The stories within the book tend to rotate between her care of specific patients (American, VC, and civilians), her coworkers, and her off-time where she sometimes breaks the rules. After six months, she tranfers to a different part of the hospital where the work is less stressful.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story by Barbara Kautz - as I learned more about what nurses had to endure during their one-year tour of duty. While in Vietnam during the same time, I spent time in the 93rd Evac as a patient which was nearby and could relate to much of what she talked about in her book. Barbara does offer an update on her coworkers at the end of the book and talks about a couple of the recent reunions.

Thank you Barbara for your sevice, sacrifice and Welcome Home! As a "round eye" nurse in Vietnam, your presence alone brightened many a soldiers' day. Hightly recommended.… (plus d'informations)