The Women: Chapter 35 Summary & Analysis

In September 1982, Frankie receives an invitation to the 36th Evac Hospital staff reunion in honor of the new Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Frankie is angry that the veterans’ sacrifices are just now being recognized, especially given the war’s ongoing harmful effects. The herbicide used to kill jungle vegetation has been discovered to cause cancer and miscarriages. Even now, the government remains indifferent: veterans built this memorial. Donna appears. She’s another Vietnam nurse, and she’s lived on the ranch with Frankie for seven years. The women met through the VA. After Frankie’s nursing license was reinstated, she and Donna both earned degrees in clinical psychology. Donna and Frankie’s other friends and family have helped her fix up the ranch.

After earning their counseling degrees, Frankie and Donna posted signs at the VA inviting other women who served in Vietnam to join them. The ranch, called the “Last Best Place,” has become a temporary home for many women veterans. The work reignites Frankie’s passion. She and Donna run rap sessions (group therapy) to help women cope. Now, Donna tells Frankie the current group is ready. There is much talk of the memorial. Frankie admires her home, which features its own heroes’ wall filled with photos and is titled “THE WOMEN.” The ranch’s bunkhouses act as dorms for the women, and there are seven horses in the barn, which is where she is heading now.

Four women wait for Frankie in the barn, seated in a semicircle. Frankie opens the session by telling them about her reunion invitation. Some of them have received similar notes. One woman angrily insists she doesn’t want to remember Vietnam, while one who is crying insists they should go to pay their respects. Frankie validates their sense of being forgotten as Vietnam vets and women. Despite her suffering, Frankie still considers her years in Vietnam some of the “best of my life.” One woman remarks that the memorial will only honor the men. Frankie understands and affirms this pain. She believes they can get better by reminding one another they aren’t alone.

In November, Frankie wakes in D.C., having traveled there for the memorial’s dedication. She’s brought many mementoes from Vietnam, including her hat, fatigues, and ANC pin. She is determined to remember instead of forget. Some years ago, Mom finally asked to see Frankie’s photographs and hear her stories. Now, Frankie journals about Finley, whose name will be on the memorial, and speculates if any generation after hers will believe in “the American myth of equality and justice and honor.” Barb and Ethel arrive at Frankie’s motel room. They, too, are plagued by old memories. The women wonder whether or not the dedication will be crowded. Frankie says it’s enough that the three of them are here.

The morning of the ceremony, Frankie dresses in her fatigues and finds Barb and Ethel, whose families will meet them at the memorial. Thousands of veterans line the streets, greeting one another with joyful camaraderie. Everyone falls silent when the parade reaches the National Mall, where a crowd of supporters are waiting. Frankie sends Barb and Ethel to find their families and approaches the black granite wall bearing over 58,000 names of those killed in Vietnam. A speaker notes the sacrifice of the fallen and the shameful welcome the veterans received. Now, he welcomes them home. As Frankie approaches the wall, Mom and Dad appear, surprising her. Together, they find Finley’s name. Frankie feels a sense of closure.

Another veteran taps Frankie on the shoulder and asks if she was a nurse. Seeming to remember her, he holds her hand and thanks her. Seeing tears in Dad’s eyes, Frankie reassures him that Finley loved his service, and he shouldn’t feel guilty. But Dad feels greater guilt for how he treated Frankie when she came home. Finally, he recognizes her heroism and apologizes. Frankie says she is proud of her service, even if the war was wrong. She senses Dad wants her forgiveness, but she delays that for now: this is her moment. Frankie leaves Mom and Dad, walking along the wall where people are leaving mementoes.

Frankie is looking for Jamie’s name when she hears someone say “McGrath.” The veteran is scarred and has a prosthetic leg—it’s Jamie. He embraces her, and Frankie remembers that first dance in the O Club. Jamie still has the stone Franke put in his bag telling him to fight. Remembering her got him through his injuries and the aftermath. Jamie is divorced and has a daughter named Frances. Frankie is glad they’re here together now, among other survivors, remembering what they went through. She knows she will find a way to tell the country about her sisters, how “We were there.”