When I Die I'm Going to Heaven 'Cause I've Spent My Time in Hell: A Memoir of My Year As an Army Nurse in Vietnam

This is a first-hand account of the author's time served as a nurse in the 24th Evac Hospital unit in Long Binh during 1970/71. Half of her tour was spent in ward 5 which attended to soldiers with brain or spinal injuries; many were in comas and those awake required constant attention. Her shifts were 12 hour days and six days a week...rotating shifts between days and nights after a "catch-up" day. The stories within the book tend to rotate between her care of specific patients (American, VC, and civilians), her coworkers, and her off-time where she sometimes breaks the rules. After six months, she tranfers to a different part of the hospital where the work is less stressful.I thoroughly enjoyed this story by Barbara Kautz - as I learned more about what nurses had to endure during their one-year tour of duty. While in Vietnam during the same time, I spent time in the 93rd Evac as a patient which was nearby and could relate to much of what she talked about in her book. Barbara does offer an update on her coworkers at the end of the book and talks about a couple of the recent reunions.Thank you Barbara for your sevice, sacrifice and Welcome Home! As a "round eye" nurse in Vietnam, your presence alone brightened many a soldiers' day. Hightly recommended.

I liked this book. It was interesting and she opening to read about a nurse's life in Vietnam, during the war. The only reason I didn't give it give stars is because of the F-word. I don't think this is appropriate, and it is not evidence of intelligence, which the author clearly is. Leaving this out would not have detracted from the story. In fact, It would have certainly made it better, in my opinion. Anyone interested in Vietnam or the life of medical personnel will find a good read in this story.

It was a great read,my husband did two tours i Vietnam. He was injured twice and was taken to your hospital! Thank you for your service and thank you for taking care of my husband,you really may not have been the one,but he came home to me,and I am very grateful,God bless!

I was an Army medic from 71-73. I did not go to Nam but i came close. This is a very very well written account of a young Army nurse and her experiences in Vietnam. She comes across as very committed and caring which she was. Working in the wards she did takes a toll on a person. She seems to have endured and thrived in spite of this. The health toll from agent orange on nurses was surprising. That part was very sad. God bless the author and buy this book!

I wanted to read this because my mother was a army nurse in world war 2. Stationed in England, North Africa and then Italy. She also wrote about her time but many things to difficult to keep as a memory. I admire and respect all the work done by the medical Corp. Yes, they have experienced a time in hell.

This was an honest, first hand look at what women (young kids) went through that you dont hear much about. My cousin was a medic and doesnt say much. My good friend who did two tours, first as a grunt, then with the First Cav. Air Mobile, has talked about agent orange. I was just a kid when this was going on and we never learned a thing in school. So I would like to thank you for letting me learn more. You all are also The Next Greatest Generation in my book! A Big Thank You!!

I enjoyed this memoir but it was predominantly a chronology of events NOT a chronology of the author’s emotional maturation and growth. I would have liked to have read more about how these experiences shaped her. For example, what was it like being the foreigner in a foreign land? I would have liked more detail regarding how the horrors of war changed her emotionally in that environment. What did she think about at that time while some of her peers were at home protesting the war? What was it like to know that as an American she had to put her life on the line for an education? Thank you for your incredible service.

Loved it loved it loved it. Finally a good book about nurses in Vietnam. I read this whole book in one sitting.

I don't do book reviews........ I read the book and if I liked it I give it up to 5 stars, if I didn't then it gets a 2, if I didn't finish then it's a 1, that's it I'm afraid.I read it, I like it, I want more from the author.I don't write reviews that describe the content of the book as I don't see the point of telling everyone the storyline, plot or subject as I feel it spoils the book if you already know what it's about or what's going to happen.As with a vast number of Kindle books there might be the odd spelling and punctuation errors.After reading hundreds of Kindle books of all types and subjects you get use to them and they become less noticeable, unless there is an effect on the storyline.The more these errors effect the reading of the book the less stars I give it even if the story is a good one.Some of the books I read have been gifted to me by its author for review and my reviews and ratings are not biased in anyway.

A memoir of the Vietnam War, the reader sees that conflict with all its horrors through the eyes of a member of the medical staff tending soldiers who have sustained injuries in combat. The psychological and emotional stress placed on doctors and nurses cannot be imagined by outsiders and it is to this writer’s credit that she helps us see and hear and understand some of what she and her former colleagues endured. Through reading this memoir the reader can begin to grasp the scale and scope of the debt that is owed to the dead, the wounded and the survivors. In particular, we can understand the debt those soldiers owe to those who unflinchingly endangered their own lives in order to care for them at a time of great need. This excellent account should be required reading, especially for those whose role in society calls for them to send the military into harm’s way.

I found this an interesting read but not at all heavy going. More of a personal diary, few of the people mentioned in it are developed at all. It is the day by day actions of a young nurse in a war zone and what affects her. Her appreciations of those working around her and the people in her care. When I completed the book I felt as though it had gone in a flash.

A factual account of nursing in EVAC - medically attending to the war torn and dying. Quite a sanitised account really and I think the reader has been spared a lot of gory detail. You can only have total admiration for the staff working in a war zone. A brilliant account. Highly recommended.

I looked forward to reading this, interested in the topic, but little of any depth in it.I expected it to be written chronologically but it seemed to jump backwards and forwards in time without clarification or explanation.And really frustrated about the sheer quantity of typos, missing words, wrong words etc. This needed to be thoroughly proofread and properly edited before publication but obviously wasn't.Such a shame, when it promised so much more than it actually gave.