A veteran of distinction

Diane Carlson Evans came home from serving as a combat nurse in Vietnam and never shed a tear. Her default format was: "Tell nobody. Feel nothing. Risk nothing." Then she went to Washington, D.C. for the dedication of the Wall in 1982.

As she read the names on the Wall, thinking "Who of you died on my watch? I'm sorry we couldn't save you," she heard, "Ma'am, were you a nurse in Vietnam? The man gulped and looked nervous before saying in a quivering voice, "I've waited 14 years to say this to a nurse, but I never came across one. Until now. I can't never thank you nurses enough. I love you." He then buried her in a smoldering hug. That's when she began healing.

The Wall & the Three Soldiers Statue

Carlson Evans says in her book "Healing Wounds" that the Wall had many critics, and that none of the senior administrators of the federal government attended the dedication. Six months after the Wall was dedicated, Three Soldiers, a bronze statue of three men who served in Vietnam was placed opposite the Wall. Its creation was spearheaded by the secretary of the Interior. President Ronald Reagan spoke at that dedication. Carlson Evans says the president did not mention anything about the 10,000 women who served in Vietnam, 80% of whom were nurses.

An Idea for a Monument

Other than the eight names of women who died in Vietnam listed on the Wall, there was no indication that women also served during the war. In addition to the 10,000 women who served in country, women served in an array of capacities around the world during the Vietnam War: doctors, intelligence officers, burial officers, WACs who counted caskets when they arrived in San Francisco, medics who unloaded the caskets and Red Cross volunteers. About 265,000 women served during the Vietnam era. Carlson Evans pondered the idea of a monument for those women.

Carlson Evans contacted Jan Scruggs, a Vietnam veteran and one of three founders of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, which financed and selected the design for the Wall. She told Scruggs she was starting an effort to have a sculpture honoring the women who served, and hoped to have it placed close to the Wall, adding "We'd love your support." There was silence on the line. When he spoke, he said, "Well, that will never happen," and hung up on her.

The Beginning

Shocked but undaunted, Carlson Evans pushed ahead. She named the endeavor the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, VWMP. Its motto was, "A Legacy of Healing and Hope."

Carlson Evans explained to Military.com that her memories of the war had started haunting her. She said when she saw the Three Soldiers statute, she thought, "But they've forgotten the women." She wanted a place of peace and healing for the women who served.

The goal of VWMP was to collect $1.3 million for the project, none of it from the government. Carlson Evans' four kids stuffed envelopes and licked stamps.

The first groups she addressed were in River Falls, Wisconsin, where she was living. The American Legion Post cheered and applauded her idea, and the Lions Club gave her a standing ovation. In 1984, VWMP held a special event in St. Paul, Minnesota. Carlson Evans didn't know whether three dozen or three hundred people would show up. More than a thousand did, including the press and scores of women vets.

Along with donations, VWMP received many notes. "For the nurse on the air evac flights who helped me get home. I still love her." From a woman in Michigan who said she was part of the Silent Majority: "I didn't stand up and stand behind you when you needed me most. Thanks for the second chance." From a veteran in New Jersey: "Thank God for you." An Illinois veteran wrote that two clerks were betting on how long he would live as the medical team worked on him and a priest administered Last Rites. He said he never saw the nurse, but felt her cradle his left hand in hers when she said, "You'll be all right, you'll be all right." A small girl who sent $2 wrote: "This is all I have, but I want you to have it because if it wasn't for you, my Daddy wouldn't be here."

The American Nurses Association donated a small space in its Washington, DC headquarters.

Some Reactions Were Nasty

But her home voice mail contained such words as: "This message is for Diane Evans, the [fill in the blank] woman who thinks women deserve a statue. You'd better watch out." A leading critic of the Wall and proponent of the Three Soldiers statue: "Who do you think you are? Forget about adding a statue to women. One statue is enough." Click.

At a copy store where Carlson Evans was having some VWMP literature copied, the clerk asked: "You one of them feminazis?" She says some powerful people in Washington, D.C. were dead set against the project. At times, she was described as a radical feminist, and accused of climbing on the backs of dead soldiers to reach her moment in the sun. Hate mail, angry phone calls and threats were common. She was described by a Washington insider as "that woman coming in out of the cornfields."

Going National

Carlson Evans received a huge win with the American Legion, getting the support of the local post, then the district, then the state and ended up at the national convention in New Orleans. The American Legion, with its nearly 3,000,000 members, resolved to call upon the Department of the Interior, Commission of Fine Arts, National Capitol Planning Commission to dedicate an area near the Wall "to erect a statue honoring the women who have served during the Vietnam War."

With the Veterans of Foreign Wars, she had a much different experience. Carlson Evans took the same ladder approach until she was at the VFW national convention in Dallas in 1985. Its members made such remarks as: "You Vietnam vets are all alike ... you lost your war. You shamed America." Another said: "If we honor the nurses at the Vietnam Wall, then helicopter pilots will want a statue, and bomber pilots, and pretty soon we'll have a tank at the Wall." Carlson Evans responded: "We are not tanks. We are women." The VFW rejected her request for backing.

A North Carolina member encouraged Carlson Evans to attend some events that evening and try to get her resolution back on the agenda the next day. That evening, she witnessed some real old-fashioned backroom politics. The next day, when the subject was brought up again, the crowd booed. The National Commander stepped up to the microphone: "I am speaking to you as a veteran of a foreign war. If it wasn't for Vietnam, I would not be here on this stage; that's the war that qualified me to be part of this outstanding organization." He paused and then continued: "I was seriously wounded in that war. And, frankly, I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for those nurses. They saved my life. And they deserve our support, as do all the non-nurses who were part of the Vietnam effort and who will be represented by the statue."

The motion passed. The VFW would support the women's statue. As Carlson Evans was leaving the room, a member fighting back tears told her he voted for her both days, and added: "I can only hope that you were the nurse who was with my son when he died."

In 1986, a fundraiser was held by the Lincoln Memorial. Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry spoke. Kerry said to the crowd: "Our mission is to remember. No one can remember in the way we ought to remember until there's a statue that reflects the service of women in Vietnam." General William Westmoreland, commander of United States Forces during the Vietnam War, agreed to serve as a VWMP honorary member.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, the group responsible for the Wall, gave its official blessing to VWMP. Its endorsement and issuance of a Memorandum of Conveyance was necessary to proceed. Even the prickly founder who hung up on Carlson Evans two years earlier gave his tepid approval.

Roadblocks Set by an Act of Congress

Just as matters in the federal arena were progressing nicely, Congress passed a law. Apparently there were so many requests for various works to be installed in the National Mall, Congress decided to create a process for approving them. The Commemorative Works Act of 1986, 40 U.S.C. 8902, et seq., created considerable procedural roadblocks to the creation of new memorials. The act barred construction of commemorative works on the National Mall and the National Capital Area unless they are approved by the secretary of the Interior, the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Capital Memorial Commission.

Plowing forward, Carlson Evans was able to obtain approval after approval. Only one federal agency remained.

The Commission of Fine Arts

In late 1987, on the day three nurses were scheduled to appear before the Commission of Fine Arts, the Washington Post's art critic wrote a column criticizing the intended design. He also said there were enough monuments to the Vietnam War and another "would create a serious symbolic imbalance." He thought the Three Soldiers statue represented women as well as men.

Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb, a Vietnam veteran, had written to the commission: "There will never be an addition of another statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. All these special-interest groups want statues, including the K-9 Corps."

The New York Times and the Boston Globe said the Vietnam Memorial, consisting of the Wall and the Three Soldiers statue, should be left alone. The Indianapolis News wrote that adding a women's memorial was like "painting the Statue of Liberty in Day-Glo pink" or "adding Elvis Presley's visage to Mount Rushmore."

The criticisms were confusing. There already existed legislation setting aside that ground for the men and women who served in the Armed Forces in the Vietnam War. But some people simply did not want a statue exclusively commemorating the service of women during the war.

Four out of five members of the Commission of Fine Arts voted against the statue. To continue, VWMP needed another $2 million.

"60 Minutes"

"I'm calling on behalf of Morley Safer ... we're exploring the possibility of doing a segment on nurses and their fight to get a memorial."

"The Forgotten Veterans" ran in 1989. Afterwards, Americans around the country wrote letters and sent donations. Families of women who had committed suicide after serving in Vietnam wrote to encourage Carlson Evans. Her mailman complained he had to get a bigger mail bag.

Apparently Washington Watches "60 Minutes"

In November 1989, President George H.W. Bush signed legislation specifically authorizing the placement of a memorial to honor women of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era.

In 1990 and 1991, VWMP opened a design competition since the Commission on Fine Arts did not like the original design. Renowned Santa Fe sculptor Glenna Goodacre was the artist selected.

Dedication

After 10 years, the day finally arrived. At the dedication ceremony on November 11, 1993, Carlson Evans was asked where Vice President Al Gore, members of Congress and other dignitaries should sit. She responded: "Simple. There will be two kinds of seating: VIP and non-VIP. The VIP area is for all women veterans. The non-VIP area is for everyone else."

The crowd cheered as Carlson Evans removed the red, white and blue covering from the statue depicting three uniformed women surrounding a wounded soldier. Carlson Evans said: "Welcome home daughters of America. Welcome home my sister veterans. Let no one ever forget you again and what you did for this nation."

Diane Carlson Evans is a veteran of distinction and a champion for all women veterans. 