Wabonga Press
  • WELCOME
  • OUR SERVICES
  • OUR PROJECTS
  • OUR CONTENT
  • CONTACT US

Our Vietnam Nurses

12/8/2016

 
Picture
​Annabelle Brayley: Penguin $34.99
 
AS THE civilian casualties kept coming, their bodies shredded, Janet Glasson remained on her feet – for up to 32 hours in a single shift at times. Theatre nurse Glasson was on duty at Long Xuyen hospital in January 1968 when the North Vietnamese launched one of the major campaigns of the Vietnam War, the Tet Offensive, against the South.
Yet, if not for an episode of Love Child on TV last month, few young Australians would realise this country had medical representation in Vietnam. In all, 300-odd Australian – some enlisted, some not – were involved between 1962 and 1973, complemented on the frontline by first-aid-trained soldiers known as medics.
Now, half a century later, Annabelle Brayley relates with sensitivity and careful detail the stories of 22 individuals who worked on the ground in Vietnam or on a fly-in fly-out basis from airforce bases in Malaysia and the Philippines.
She records Pam Bell’s acceptance of medivac pilots’ orders to execute nursing staff on their planes if shot down, the lack of essential medical supplies in chronically over-crowded wards with multiple patients in every bed and the unsuitability of stiff formal dress uniforms in the tropical heat.
She documents, too, the experiences of Australians receiving their first passports, the shocked reactions of those touching down at the airport in Saigon to find the tarmac blanketed by military aircraft and the disenchantment years later of nurses denied government recognition of their active service.
Brayley also describes heartwarming incidents: June Miinchow and Di Lawrence meeting their future husbands in Vietnam and former midwife Terri Roche discovering that her perfume offered reassurance to wounded soldiers unable to see.
With Vietnam Veterans Day to take place next Thursday – 50 years to the day since the Battle of Long Tan – this book acknowledges the extraordinary efforts of Australia’s wartime medical teams.


Comments are closed.
    ' Books are treasure for the spirit and ​the soul. '​
    — VB 2020

    ​​

    Book reviews

    WABONGA Press produces an original book review every Friday. Books are chosen from among the latest English-language fiction and non-fiction releases in Australia and internationally.
    Each 300-word review is accompanied by a high-resolution cover image.
    All are available for licensing to print media in selected regions.​For less than the cost of one takeaway cup of coffee each week, a publication can make use of this service to access a new review every seven days, backed by a written guarantee that the same content will not be licensed for use by any direct competitor.
    Please contact Wabonga's publisher, Rosalea Ryan, to discuss how this service can be tailored to your newspaper or magazine.​

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Adventure
    Africa
    Antarctica
    Arctic
    Asia
    Atlantic
    Australia
    Author – Australian
    Biography
    British Isles
    Caribbean
    Christmas
    Crime
    Easter
    Entertainment
    Europe
    Fiction
    Finance
    Food
    History
    Humour
    Journalism
    Maritime
    Middle East
    Nature
    New Year
    Non-fiction
    North America
    Pacific
    Pandemic
    Relationships
    Romance
    Scandinavia
    South America
    Sport
    Sub-continent
    Suspense
    Travel
    War

    Archive

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

Picture