RIS ID
27130
Abstract
The impacts of the Vietnam War on many wives of Australian and South Vietnamese veterans are profound and permanent. Social histories have largely neglected these impacts on women, focussing instead on the impacts of the war on Australian male Vietnam veterans. This article argues that the impacts on wives of Australian and South Vietnamese veterans should be recognised as a cost of the war and that wives of veterans from both countries deserve a place in history. To support this argument, this article uses spoken and written narratives of wives of Australian and South Vietnamese veterans. The evidence from these narratives contributes to the existing body of knowledge about the impacts of the war and also gives a voice to wives of veterans from both countries. The article compares and contrasts the experiences described in the narratives of wives of Australian Vietnam veterans changed by war with the experiences of wives of South Vietnamese veterans affected by war and imprisonment.
Link to publisher version (URL)
When the Soldiers Return: November 2007 Conference Proceedings
Publication Details
Shoebridge, J. 2009, ''Women and war: impacts of the Vietnam War - Narratives of wives of Australian and South Vietnamese Veterans'', in M. Crotty (eds), When the Soldiers Return: November 2007 Conference Proceedings, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and classics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, pp. 144-151.