Diane Carlson Evans: Former Army Nurse and Founder of the Vietnam Women's Memorial

Diane Carlson Evans was born and raised on a dairy farm in rural Minnesota and graduated from nursing school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon graduation, she joined the Army Nurse Corps and served in Vietnam from 1968-1969. She served in the burn unit of the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau and at Pleiku in the 71st Evacuation Hospital. Including her one year in Vietnam, she completed six years in the Army Nurse Corps.

Evans envisioned the idea for a memorial to honor over 265,000 women who served during the Vietnam war. A former Army combat nurse and Vietnam veteran she led the ten-year struggle to complete the circle of healing with the placement of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. Although the eloquent wall of names at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. lists the names of eight women nurses who died in Vietnam, Evans felt deeply that the memorial, with its statue of three fighting men, did not acknowledge adequately the women. In her words, “…women are also soldiers. Women also need to heal. Their service is worthy of honor and recognition.” That recognition took place on November 11, 1993 with the dedication of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.

Learn more about Diane Carlson Evans: https://www.vvmf.org/stories/Diane-Ca...

Learn more about the women who served in Vietnam: https://www.vvmf.org/topics/Women-in-...