Home Before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: In spite of what some have said, this is the way it was
Review: After reading a number of unnecessarily harsh and, from my point of view, patently untrue "reviews" that disparage this book and its author, I feel obliged to weigh in. I am a Viet Nam nurse vet; when I first read this book several years ago, I was amazed by its honesty and heartened that a sister-in-arms had been brave enough to tell it like it was. I cannot speak to the precise details in Van Devanter's fine and harrowing account of her life before, during and after Viet Nam, but I can say that her experiences during her service ring entirely true to me. I have heard her reputation slandered before, and have wondered why the denegration was so vehement and so personal. Do those who defend their greatly-amended version of our reputation as Viet Nam nurses by tearing down this excellent book feel that we must, for some reason, be portrayed as angels to the world at large? Such a picture would be as false as denouncing us as [prostitute]. We were human beings, with all the fine and base characteristics that entailed. We were young women--most of us still in that amorphous hormonal classification of "late adolescence." We lived on adrenalin and bad food, experienced heartbreak daily, dealt with entirely too many males, and did a mind-boggling body of work to the best of our abilities in spite of the pain, frustration, sexism and distraction. "Home Before Morning" is the grandmother of female Viet Nam accounts, an important piece of literature, a first-of-its-kind window on the Viet Nam war. It is well-written and evocative, and its author--who certainly must now have earned the peace she found so elusive in this life--deserves our profound respect for publishing it at a time when she must have realized it would draw criticism from those who find such raw truths threatening.

As a writer of fiction that draws on my experiences in Viet Nam, I owe Lynda Van Devanter a great debt. The first among us, she whacked through the jungle of criticism, took the heat, and secured the road for the acceptance of a woman's unique view of what is, by nature, a testosterone-charged world. She deserves a medal, posthumous though it would now be, for grace under fire.

Susan O'Neill, Army nurse-vet and author: Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam.

Rating:
Summary: A Woman's Realistic View of Vietnam & its Aftermath
Review: Home Before Morning Is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. I bought the book when it was originally published back in 1983. At the time I was a young O.R. nurse and I was fascinated by the idea of nurses in Vietnam. Oh, if only I had been old enough to volunteer the way Lynda VanDevanter did. She quickly dashed the stars from my eyes with her descriptions of life in Pleiku. And if the horror of Vietnam wasn't bad enough, what she (and so many other returning vets) endured when she returned to the U.S. makes me ashamed, even today. That she emerged from the years of PTSD to help other women veterans is a testament to her courage and strength of character. My copy of Home Before Morning remains on my bookshelf, and always will. It has been passed around to many friends and co-workers. I think it should be required reading in every high school American History class.

Rating:
Summary: Moving story of a woman in vietnam
Review: I am a military nurse, and appoximately 13 years ago a co-worker brought this book to me on a slow Memorial Day 12-hour shift. I was done with it by the time I went home. I don't think I've ever devoured a book that fast! I had to buy my own copy afterwards, then made the mistake of forgetting who I loaned it out to.
Book with lots of impact at many levels. As a 40 year old, I was only a little kid when Viet Nam was going on, so I never really understood how military members were treated when they returned home. This book had a lot to offer from that aspect as well as from the nursing perspective.

Rating:
Summary: There but for the grace of God...
Review: I graduated from the same kind of Catholic Hospital School of Nursing, and was about the same age as Ms. Vandevanter. I could have been right there with her. Reading this book broke my heart, because I knew that it could have been me, I could empathize with her anguish, and I would not have known how to comfort her or myself. I think I identified TOO much with the author.
She makes a point of how little effort was made to help these VERY young nurses adjust to their situation both incountry and upon return home. It seems that every young woman who went to Vietnam was expected to spend a year watching young men be destroyed in front of their eyes, come home and forget about it.
To me, that is the real horror story. I hope it is a lesson learned, but who knows?

Rating:
Summary: To the Doubters
Review: I served with Lynda for a few months at the 67th Evac Hospital in Qui Hnon, RVN, although I don't remember her. I found her descriptions of the OR very accurate. If anything, she downplayed the horrors. Other reviewers doubt her account and one cites Lynda's supervisor at the 71st, Col. Mary Grace, as not remembering it that way. I don't know Col. Grace, but I knew the Nursing Supervisor at the 67th. I only saw her in an operating room once, when she mistakenly thought the Army Times was coming to take a picture and she walked out in the middle of the operation when she learned it wasn't going to happen. I think Lynda Van Devanter served her country twice, once in Vietnam and once when she wrote such a honest and painful book.

Rating:
Summary: Superior, Well Written..As Relevent As Ever!
Review: Needless to say, there are some who feel the horrors of this book are sensationalized. For a real and true statement about the "whys" of war, this book cannot be beat! And this book barely scratched the surface, since the author/nurse had only minimal experience with traumatic injuries of the other side. Also very sad to read that she died in 2003 at the age of 53, possibly from after affects of the weapons and traumas from the Vietnam War.

Rating:
Summary: Almost good, but . . .
Review: Newsweek mag. posted a sort notice of Linda Van Devanter's death.Upon reading "Home Before Morning" i wished i could perhaps tell her her work/life is and was not in vain. Her book in some ways was a parallel to many events in my life. Now i understand . Blessed be her memory. Blessings to those around her. "Welcome Home".

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary portarit of war from a woman's perspective
Review: Since its publication in1990, I have recommended "Home Before Morning" as necessary reading for anyone who has more than just a casual interest in the Vietnam War. This personal insight from a woman's point of view reminds us that the thousands of soldliers who fought in the war were not its only victims/casualties; as an Army nurse serving in a MASH unit, she was no less affect by the aftermath of combat than those who experienced it first hand. And upon returning to the States after her tour of duty, she was treated with the same indiginity and disrespect given any other Vietnam vet returning home. For many Vietnam vets, myself included, Lynda Van Devanter, and others like her, will always be heroes, in our hearts. When dealing with the harsh realities of war - as witnessed by one who served on the receiving end of its by-product, "Home Before Morning" is a must read. Once you read this book, you, too, will want to share it with others.

Rating:
Summary: heavy hearted
Review: This is a most fantastic book. My heart is heavy just thinking about it.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: While reading this book I found myself absolutely captivated. Ms. Van Devanter wrote from her heart. I was instantly drawn in and could not put her story down. I have great admiration for her and was very sorry to hear of her passing. She was indeed a brave and strong lady. I recommend this book highly as it portrays the emotions and horror of what one particular nurse in Vietnam went through, and what most likely all went through in varying ways. I have always been compelled to learn about Vietnam veterans, I am even more compelled now to learn of the women of that elite group.