American Civilian and Military Women
Who Died in the Vietnam War (1959-1975)
Military:
U.S. Army
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Colonel Graham, from Efland, NC, suffered a stroke in
August 1968 and
was evacuated to Japan where she died four days later. A veteran of
both
World War II and Korea, she was 52.
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Lieutenant Lane died from shrapnel wounds when the
312th Evacuation Hospital at
Chu Lai was hit by rockets on June 8, 1969. From Canton, OH, she was a
month short of her 26th birthday. She was posthumously awarded the
Vietnamese
Gallantry Cross with Palm and the Bronze Star for Heroism. In 1970, the
recovery room at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, where Lt. Lane
had
been assigned before going to Vietnam, was dedicated in her honor. In
1973,
Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH, where Lane had attended nursing school,
erected a bronze statue of Lane. The names of 110 local servicemen
killed
in Vietnam are on the base of the statue.
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Lieutenant Drazba and Lieutenant Jones were assigned to
the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon.
They died in a helicopter crash near Saigon, February 18, 1966. Drazba
was from Dunmore, PA., Jones from Allendale, SC. Both were 22 years old.
Lieutenant Jones is pictured here.
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Captain Alexander of Westwood, NJ and Lieutenant
Orlowski of Detroit, MI died November
30, 1967. Alexander, stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital and
Orlowski,
stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital, in Qui Nhon, had been sent
to
a hospital in Pleiku to help out during a push. With them when their
plane
crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon were two other nurses, Jerome E.
Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of
Owensboro,
KY. Alexander was 27, Orlowski 23. Both were posthumously awarded
Bronze
Stars.
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Captain Alexander of Westwood, NJ and Lieutenant
Orlowski of Detroit, MI died November
30, 1967. Alexander, stationed at the 85th Evacuation Hospital and
Orlowski,
stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital, in Qui Nhon, had been sent
to
a hospital in Pleiku to help out during a push. With them when their
plane
crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon were two other nurses, Jerome E.
Olmstead of Clintonville, WI and Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. of
Owensboro,
KY. Alexander was 27, Orlowski 23. Both were posthumously awarded
Bronze
Stars.
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Lieutenant Donovan, from Allston, MA, became seriously
ill and died on July 8,
1968. She was assigned to the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon. She
was 26 years old.
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U.S. Air Force
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Captain Klinker, a flight nurse assigned to Clark Air Base in
the
Philippines,
was on the C-5A Galaxy which crashed on April 4 outside Saigon while
evacuating
Vietnamese orphans under Operation
Babylift. From
Lafayette,
IN, Captain Klinker was 27. She was posthumously awarded the Airman's Medal for
Heroism
and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Civilian:
Hannah E. Crews
Died in a jeep accident, Bien Hoa, October 2, 1969.
Virginia E. Kirsch
Murdered by U.S. soldier in Cu Chi, August 16, 1970.
Lucinda J. Richter
Died of Guillain-Barre syndrome, Cam Ranh Bay, February 9,
1971.
Army Special Services
Rosalyn Muskat
Died in a jeep accident, Long Binh, 1968.
Dorothy Phillips
Died in a plane crash, Qui Nhon, 1967.
Catholic Relief
Services
Gloria Redlin
Shot in Pleiku, 1969.
Central Intelligence Agency
Betty Gebhardt
Died in Saigon, 1971.
Barbara Robbins
Died when a car bomb exploded outside the American Embassy,
Saigon,
March
30, 1965.
United States Agency for International Development
Dr. Breen Ratterman
Died in a fall from a balcony in Saigon, October 2, 1969.
Marilyn L. Allan
Murdered by a U.S. soldier in Nha Trang, August 16, 1967
United States Department of the Navy OICC (Officer in Charge
of Construction)
Regina "Reggie" Williams
Died of a heart attack in Saigon, 1964
Journalists
Georgette "Dickey" Chappelle
Killed by a mine on patrol with Marines outside Chu Lai,
November 4,
1965.
Phillipa Schuyler
Killed in a firefight, Da Nang, May 9, 1966.
Missionaries
Carolyn Griswald
Killed in a raid on the leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot during
Tet 1968.
Janie A. Makil
Shot in an ambush, Dalat, March 4, 1963. Janie was five
months old.
Ruth Thompson
Killed in a raid on the leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot, February
1, 1968.
Ruth Wilting
Killed in a raid on the leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot, February
1, 1968.
POW/MIA
Evelyn Anderson
Captured and burned to death in Kengkok, Laos, 1972.
Remains recovered and returned to U.S.
Beatrice Kosin
Captured and burned to death in Kengkok, Laos, 1972.
Remains recovered and returned to U.S.
Betty Ann Olsen
Captured during raid on the leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot
during Tet
1968.
Died in 1968 and was buried somewhere along the Ho Chi Minh Trail by
fellow
POW, Michael Benge. Remains not recovered.
Eleanor Ardel Vietti
Captured at the leprosarium in Ban Me Thuot, May 30, 1962.
Still listed
as a POW.
Operation Babylift
The following women were killed in the crash, outside Saigon,
of the
C5-A
Galaxy transporting Vietnamese children out of the country on April 4,
1975. All of the women were working for various U.S. government
agencies
in Saigon at the time of their deaths with the exception of Theresa
Drye
(a child), and Laurie Stark (a teacher). Sharon Wesley had previously
worked
for both the American Red Cross and Army Special Services. She chose to
stay on in Vietnam after the pullout of U.S. military forces in 1973.
Barbara Adams
Clara Bayot
Nova Bell
Arleta Bertwell
Helen Blackburn
Ann Bottorff
Celeste Brown
Vivienne Clark
Juanita Creel
Mary Ann Crouch
Dorothy Curtiss
Twila Donelson
Helen Drye
Theresa Drye
Mary Lyn Eichen
Elizabeth Fugino
Ruthanne Gasper
Beverly Herbert
Penelope Hindman
Vera Hollibaugh
Dorothy Howard
Barbara Kauvulia
Barbara Maier
Rebecca Martin
Sara Martini
Martha Middlebrook
Katherine Moore
Marta Moschkin
Marion Polgrean
June Poulton
Joan Pray
Sayonna Randall
Anne Reynolds
Marjorie Snow
Laurie Stark
Barbara Stout
Doris Jean Watkins
Sharon Wesley
59 civilians
8 military
--
67 total American women
Sources: Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation (Military)
A Circle of Sisters/A Circle of Friends (Civilian).
Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, 2001 S Street NW, Suite 302,
Washington, DC 20009 202-328-7253
A Circle of Sisters/A Circle of Friends is a coalition of
women who served
as civilians with various organizations in Vietnam during the Vietnam
War.
It is a private, nonprofit, educational organization founded to create
an archival collection documenting civilian service in war, and to
honor
the memory of the American civilian casualties of the Vietnam War. For
more information contact Circle Of Sisters, 1015 South
Gaylord,
Suite 190, Denver,CO. 80209, 303-575-1311.
Revised November, 1999. This list is subject to correction
and addition
as further information becomes known.
Listing provided by Ann Kelsey, Army Special Services,
Library Branch,
Cam Ranh Bay, 1969-70
Send comments and questions to Ann
Kelsey
Some other web page about Women in Vietnam:
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