Veterans Day marks the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Women’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 

The words of retired Admiral William Crowe USN, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, still replay as vividly today as they did on Nov. 11, 1993 at the Women’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedication. Breaking down in tears, Crowe recalled a night near Bien Theu, where the Viet Cong had just rocketed a small village:

“Our men were pulling people from their burning homes. We had eight little Vietnamese children who were burned and badly injured, and in need of immediate need of medical attention. We called in a dust-off (medivac helicopter). We were not supposed to take civilians to field hospitals, which in this case was 80 miles away, but we got the crew to accept the injured.

“The dust-off landed, and the parents all wanted to accompany their children to the hospital, but there wasn’t room for all of the parents. One nurse jumped out of the dust-off and took control of the situation. She was able to speak a few words of Vietnamese, and explained that one mother could go along. Watching her as she worked among the injured, I knew I had just seen an angel of the Lord at work.”

At various events both before and after the dedication day, veterans were seen walking around with tags attached to their hats or on strings around their necks, “looking for” friends they had served with, but had lost contact with over the years. Some searches brought together sisters and brothers of the Vietnam War.

While military nurses made up the largest contingent of women in Vietnam, there were also a fair number of people in the Women’s Army Corps and American Red Cross, lovingly referred to as “Donut Dollies.” There are no accurate counts of how many women served, but estimates put the number at 12,000 to 20,000 women.

The WACs were volunteering for Vietnam service before the Pentagon requisitioned any. Women were not allowed during Vietnam to serve in combat roles, but often were serving in battle zones. In 1964, the first WAC officer, Major Kathleen Wilkes, and non-commissioned officer Sergeant Betty Adams, both trainers, were charged with organizing and training a Vietnamese Women’s Armed Forces Corps to assist the men’s force.

A request for 15 WAC stenographers to serve in Saigon was made in 1965. They also saw another 12 fill positions in headquarters. WACs often worked 12-hour days with no weekends off. Not all served in Saigon. 

A number of the women were posted to Long Binh, where they often were shelled at night by Viet Cong rocket attacks. At first, it was scary for the soldiers, but after a few weeks of nightly shelling they got used to the attacks. Not a single WAC asked to be transferred out of the area.  

Each woman who served in Vietnam has their own story to tell. 

Army Specialist 5, Susan Haack, who is a regular at the annual New Glarus Winterfest R&R, joined the Army and served in country from Jan. 4, 1969 to Jan. 5, 1970. 

“My brother called and said ‘Sis, I just got drafted. I’m going to Vietnam.’ I said, ‘I’ll be there.’ I got through my tests and they said, you passed everything, but you flunked mechanics,” Haack said. “I said, ‘good. Then I don’t have to get dirty nails.’” 

“Enlisted women couldn’t go unless they were E4 or above, so I put in for Vietnam as soon as I was a Specialist 4 in early 1968. In November 1969, General Burba called me into his office. ‘Sue sit down, you’re going to Vietnam.’ All I knew was that I was going to the US Army Vietnam Headquarters at Long Binh, and that I would be assigning privates through sergeants within Vietnam.”

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been waiting for you,” were among the first words Susan Haack heard when she arrived in Vietnam. “It was Sue Schungel, a good friend I worked with at the Pentagon. I told Sue, ‘I couldn’t get here any faster!’” 

“A guy named Gary and I were picked to do the processing of the KIAs and send the letters home. It sounded easy at first,” Haack said. “I used a form letter — just added a name to it on my typewriter. Mr. and Mrs. John Doe, you know. Then it was signed by the government. But it got harder and harder to do.”

Haack holds the distinction of being the first female commander of a Wisconsin VFW Post.

Master Sergeant Betty Lee Adams served in Vietnam in 1965. She was the first non-commissioned officer to serve as the advisor to the Vietnam Women’s Armed Forces Corps. She was transferred back to the United States on Dec. 3, 1965, her birthday. 

“It was longest birthday I ever had, 38 hours long,” she said. “I left Vietnam at 5 p.m. and arrived in San Francisco at 9 p.m.” 

She left San Francisco the following day for Kennedy International Airport. Just before they landed, her plane collided in midair with another plane. Her plane lost 30 feet of one wing, but they made a safe landing. 

“Believe me, I never had a moment in Vietnam as I did in the last five minutes of the flight into New York,” she said.

Chief Warrant Officer Ann McDonough was in the country from 1966 to 1968. She started her military career when she joined the WACs in 1949. She was the first woman to attend Polygraph School at Ft. Gordon, Georgia. She was inducted into the Military Hall of Fame in 1988. When the 902nd Military Intelligence Group dedicated their new headquarters and Army Counterintelligence Center at Fort Meade, Maryland it was named after McDonough. 

Staff Sgt. Marty Misiewicz volunteered for Vietnam and served in country from January 1968 to January 1970. 

“In my first year I was an administrative assistant,” she said. “The things I remember from Vietnam are the heat, the rain, more heat, more rain. The USO shows, celebrities such as Bob Hope, Ann Margaret and Rosie Greer, the bunkers and the hours and nights we spent hunkered down waiting for the all clear.”

Staff Sgt. Lucie Rivera, who served in country in 1970-71 said, “I volunteered five times to go to Vietnam,” Rivera said. “My first night in Vietnam, January 1969, was terrifying because we had to go to the bunkers. I did not know if I was more afraid of dying or being bitten by rats or roaches.”

Actress Chris Noel, aka America’s Hanoi Hannah and Saigon Sally, had an interesting start with the Vietnam War. Her boyfriend had returned from a trip to Vietnam with Bob Hope. She had the opportunity to tour a VA hospital with her boyfriend. There she saw many double and triple amputees and made a decision that she had to do something to make them happy. “My girlfriend and I sang, ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend,’ and we were terrible. Those moments changed my life and made me realize that I had to make a difference.”

Her boyfriend was working for Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. He got her a job at his workplace, where she did a radio program with a second person. One day Noel’s boss told her she was fired, but was being rehired to do her own radio program, A Date With Chris! in Vietnam.

During her time in Vietnam, Noel accompanied Bob Hope when he did his numerous Christmas tours. Noel, and her radio program, so upset the Viet Cong that they put a $10,000 bounty on her head. Despite being scared of heights, Noel often flew in military helicopters to outlying military posts and was shot down twice in helicopters.

But how did the Women’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial come into being? Diane Evans Carlson, who served as a nurse in Vietnam, went to her American Legion Post in River Falls to present the idea of a Women’s Memorial. Two members of the post, Louis Pogpishil of Mondovi and Adolph J. Halverson of River Falls joined in the dedication.

Both were very proud of the promise they made to Evans-Carlson in 1982. At the time Evans came to the Legion post seeking help, the post made a promise to Evans to attend the memorial dedication. It was a promise kept. Pogpishil and Halverson attended and brought with them 42 of their friends and neighbors.

“The Women’s Memorial was established not only to honor the women who served, but also for the families who lost loved ones in the war,” Evans-Carlson said. “So they would know about the women who provided comfort, care and a human touch for those who were suffering and dying.” 

— Kim Tschudy is a resident of New Glarus and a local historian. He is a freelance writer and has published several historical books.