Women’s Experiences in the Military Essay Example for Free

Women’s Experiences in the Military Essay Women suffered a lot during the wars. Many were reported to have been physically tortured, for instance, they were hit with mortar rounds; making the whole building to shake. They spent nights out in the cold and the sleeping conditions were horrible. Some became paralyzed and lay on the ground for hours before receiving help. They fought for their lives on without protection since men were also in the fields. If women were discovered to be in possession of valuable positions such as diamond, it was taken away from them. (Taylor, p367) There were incidents when women came out of their homes to provide assistance if they saw their dwellings being set on fire. The women did not care about their personal safety and neither did they worry that their lives could end any time. They put their lives on line to save their people and families. For instance, they died from serious injuries and smoke from burning houses, falling debris and flames. (Chen, p389) There were women who provided assistance in saving or rescuing other children and adults who were caught up in burning structures. They did this without protective clothing and shoes. They kept on entering and re-entering the buildings in order to vacate their children to safety. Women continuously assisted the residents in Vietnam to relocate their personal properties as well as livestock. By this time there were no fire fighting equipment and personnel assistance. This reflected courage commitment and self-sacrifice on Vietnamese women. (Insun, p366) Their experiences made them emerge as heroes and they were awarded medals. However, their naivety did not make them realize that they deserved the medals. Coupled with that they were very young and hence had not received enough exposure. They could not make sense out of the problems they were having. (Insun, p254) During those times of war, despite women’s involvement in the military, they were still nursing young children at homes. They had to strike a balance between the time spent at the military and the time spent with their families. Their children were affected by diseases, while growing up. Women said that things appeared perfectly normal at birth of their children but as soon as they become toddlers something always went wrong. Mothers gave birth to children with cancer, especially of the kidney and other types of tumor, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder), teeth and bone deformities as well as fainting spells. Other children displayed symptoms of Grand Mal Epilepsy. Most of the conditions which affected these children were made worse by the negative effects of war. The health of the children was seriously affected. At night, women experienced mass attack which affected the entire corner within Long Binh. They had mortar attack which landed on their homes and killed some of them. At his time, all they had were prayers. (Taylor, p567) They prayed a lot when all failed. At around 1968, the military intelligence received a document which stated they were giving away approximately twenty five thousand dollars for every female who was a white American. The government gave women life insurance. The insurance was worth only ten thousand dollars. This was too little and they actually laughed at it because they were definitely worth much more. (Woodside, p56) The women most of the time ignored the problems that they had with men because they did not want those problems to take toll on their lives. Some other challenges that women faced were lack of audience. They had grievances amongst themselves and despite their efforts to air them, nobody could listen to them. The communications department was not effective and there was no order of the events taking place. In addition, the communication channels were not properly defined. They were random and did not consider the urgency of the information. (Insun, p89) The policies of children adopting were changed, and this affected parenting and especially women who were not able to give quality life to their children. The situation affected them psychologically and some women became hostile to the new policies. The children suffered emotional and psychological torture due to lack of parental love. The bonds that tied a child and his mother were no longer there. (Insun, p67)