Dare To Dream

Vietnam Women’s Memorial

At long last, on Veterans Day 1993, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated in a grove of trees just 300 feet from the Wall of names on the National Mall, bringing honor, healing and hope to the otherwise forgotten women who served during the Vietnam War.

How proud I was of those many women I served with! Yet, as the nation dedicated memorials to Vietnam veterans across the country, very few recognized the vast and essential role of women.  I knew that the nation could not forget them and began to dream of adding a statue portraying women’s strength, compassion, courage, and service on the hallowed ground of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Many others agreed, and together we founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project in 1984.

The ensuing years to achieve the Project’s mission were a formidable journey for hundreds of our dedicated volunteers who faced enormous barriers. Many critics opposed an addition to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Others criticized women’s military and wartime service. Government and civilian agencies rejected the proposed site and design. We were tested. But hadn’t we been tested once before? We were used to fighting for each other and for our country. We succeeded because those who brought their skills, fortitude, and love to the Project’s mission helped turn obstacles into stepping stones.  We didn’t give up.

As I expressed during a Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C.: “Women didn’t have to enter military service, but we stepped up to serve believing we belonged with our brothers-in-arms and now we belong with them at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  If they belong there, we belong there. We served beside them. We mattered.”

In 2015, The Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation (formerly “Project”) selected Eastern National, with the National Park Service, to assume its operating mission. Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day, women veterans bring the bronze sculpture to life by sharing their stories and uniting generations of women who have served their nation.

Diane Carlson Evans, RN

Founder and President Emeritus of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation

Army Nurse Corps, 1966-72

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