cover image A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of 26 American Women Who Served in Vietnam

A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of 26 American Women Who Served in Vietnam

. Presidio Press, $17.95 (350pp) ISBN 978-0-89141-241-0

Some 15,000 American women served in Vietnam during the war. As one of them remarks in this collection of extended monologues, ""The war really did a number on all of us, the women as well as the men.'' Despite sexual harassment, ambiguous feelings about the Vietnamese and traumatic combat-zone experiences, the women whose voices are heard here recall their wartime service in a generally positive light. Most of them were military nurses and WACs, but there are also Red Cross and USO volunteers, as well as a civilian flight attendant and a radio personality named Chris Noel, whose voice was familiar to thousands of homesick GIs. No great revelations or insights here; despite the book's twist of focusing on servicewomen, it's all rather predictable. Photos. (April)