Lt. Col. Janis Nark, USA (Ret.) enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps while in nursing school and shipped off to boot camp in the spring of 1970. Her first duty station was at Madigan General Hospital in Washington state. Her ward was a medical one, all Vietnam Vets with overlapping diseases and toxic exposures. “All 18 or 19 years old; they weren’t just sick; they were dying.”  Fortunately, after a short time there she was transferred to Orthopedics.  Busloads of air evacs from Vietnam arrived daily with gunshot wounds, frag wounds and amputations, many were multiple amputees.  The nurses would check each out while they were still on the litters, often their patients last memory was of being wounded . She said they would always look to our eyes.  It was our eyes and our touch as much as our voice that told them  “You’re with us now. You’re home. It’s going to be OK.”  Many of the injured called them angels.  With only six months of nursing experience, the 2LT was sent to Vietnam at the age of 21.

She served one year in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971, where she was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay. Nark, like her fellow nurses, went to her job and faced the perils of enemy fire, horrific heat and humidity, insects, monsoons, long work hours and sleepless nights. She took care of the sick, the wounded and those that would die.

After returning home, Nark believed that there was no one with whom she could share the experiences of that year.  She decided to just get on with her life and “not think about it.”  Living an active life of working as a civilian nurse and teaching skiing in the winter and then for the Army Reserves in the “off season”  she felt her life was full and exciting.

She stayed in the Army Reserves for 20 years, serving on active duty for Operation Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991. It was then that PTSD “came crashing down on my head.” She learned the hard way that not thinking about war traumas and not crying about anything for 20 years takes a toll. She began writing down her memories, and finally, she started to cry. Eventually she began to talk to other Vietnam Vet nurses and then to speak publicly about her war.  “It’s a process” she says, “and the only way out, is through.”

Her time in the Army Reserves was spent mostly in education and training, including 20 summers teaching AMEDD Reserve Officers at The Academy of Health Sciences at Ft. Sam Houston, TX.

Nark is a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College and retired from the military in 1995 as a Lieutenant Colonel, with 26 years of service behind her.  She is a highly sought after motivational speaker and a prolific writer, having been  published in over a dozen books including four editions of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

When asked how she thought women’s service in Vietnam impacted or inspired women serving today, she said, “We all stand on the shoulders of those who went before us.  Lessons learned should be lessons taught and remembered.”

Today, she serves on many boards of organizations helping veterans, speaking to Veterans Groups across the country and volunteering through her Elks Lodge in Aspen, CO every winter for the Disabled Americans Veterans Winter Sports Clinic held there.

Colonel Nark has served on the Board of Directors for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) for over twenty years. She is a Lifetime Member of multiple service organizations including the Disabled American Veterans.

There are eight women, all nurses, whose names appear on The Wall. Of the 265,000 women who served during Vietnam, nearly 10,000 military women served in-country during the conflict. Barred from combat, these women served in health care, communications, intelligence, and administrative positions. Civilian women served as foreign correspondents for news agencies, worked for organizations such as the American Red Cross and the USO, or served in other government agencies, such as USAID or at the embassy.

In late 1983, Diane Carlson Evans, a nurse who served in the Army in Vietnam, conceived of the idea to add a statue to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site to honor the women who served. She incorporated the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project (VWMP) in 1984. In 2002, the group changed its name to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation (VWMF).

The memorial was established not only to honor those women who served, but also for the families who lost loved ones in the war, so they would know about the women who provided comfort, care, and a human touch for those who were suffering and dying.

The 2,000 pound, 6-foot 8-inch sculpture portrays three women, one of whom is caring for a wounded male soldier. In the surrounding site, eight yellowwood trees were planted to symbolize the eight women whose names are on The Wall. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated on November 11, 1993.

Civilian women also volunteered and served as foreign news correspondents, worked for organizations such as the American Red Cross, Army Special Services, United Service Organizations (USO), Peace Corps, and various religious groups such as Catholic Relief Services, or served in other government agencies.

As many as 11,000 women served in Vietnam during the war and close to 90% were nurses. A few of these nurses recount their most vivid memories caring for the horribly wounded. They also discuss how they helped their patients die with dignity.

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The names of eight women are inscribed on The Wall, but the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and honors the women. The 2,000 pound, 6-foot 8-inch sculpture portrays three women and remembers all who served in a variety of capacities. Hear why it’s so meaningful to so many women.

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