Product Description

In 1970, twenty-three year-old Army nurse, Mary Reynolds boarded a plane bound for Vietnam. Uncertain and alone, Mary had no idea what lay ahead.

Almost thirty years later, Mary tells of that year in her life: a year of discomfort, fear and anger, as well as courage, hope and love. She includes the stories of seven of her friends, among them a dustoff helicopter pilot, an infantry captain, a Vietnamese aide, a drug counselor, and an emergency room nurse, who were with her in Vietnam.

A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam describes a war "winding down," while thousands still died. The survivors discovered that their perspectives about war, their country and themselves were forever changed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #455466 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 171 pages

Review
"Mary Reynolds Powell has been telling her story for many years in forums ranging from high school assemblies and churches to lunch meetings of the Junior League. Now, she shares with thousands of readers her journey of memory and inquiry into the meaning of the American experience in Vietnam. Twenty-five years after the final withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam, her powerful memoir serves to remind all of us the perils of repressed memories and unacknowledged responsibility. My students never fail to be deeply moved by Mary's passion and sincerity." -- Claudia Boatright, Department of History, Laurel School, Shaker Heights, OH

"Mary personifies the tender mercy of all nurses thrust into combat. Her book needs to be read by young America today, for it was yesterday's young America that gave the best they had in a troubled land in a troubled time." -- James Banks, Ph.D., Ohio Professor of the Year 1994, 1997, Professor Emeritus of History at Cuyahoga Community College

"This work is a gripping human story which reminds me of Paco's Story; Dispatches; A Rumor of War and Home Before Morning, all great contributions about the insanity of the Vietnam War. Powell's book is a passionate, moving and among the 'must' read of human tragedy, sorrow, and humor which are embedded in chaos and existential malaise of the 'heart of darkness' known some 35 years later as, the Vietnam War." -- John P. Wilson, Ph.D.

From the Publisher
Mary's wonderful book is a testament to her time spent in Vietnam, to her wonderful caring personality, and especially to her desire to help others. Congratulations on a spectacular book, Mary. We are all incredibly proud of you and the healing you have brought so many veterans.

About the Author
Mary Reynolds Powell, RN, a graduate of Columbia University, served as a U. S. Army nurse at the 24th Evacuation Hospital at Long Binh in 1970-1971. Since her return from Vietnam, she has worked in community health and on community issues in four different states. She received a Master of Arts Degree in Urban Sociology from the University of Colorado. Today, Mary and her husband Doug, whom she met in Vietnam, live in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where they have raised three children.

Customer Reviews

This should be required reading at all schools
Mary Reynolds Powell has written a wonderful book titled A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam. Some of what she has shared in this book is her own feelings while other parts are those from some of the people she came to know while stationed at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, Vietnam.

Mary interviewed seven other individuals for A World of Hurt besides including her own personal stories of what it was like for her in-country and upon her return to the states. Stephanie Genthon Kilpatrick, John Miller, Frank Chamberlin, Son Dinh Nguyen, Chris Slavsky, Terry Corneil, Doug Powell and Mary shared so much in this interesting perspective 171-page book.

These individuals shared a lot with Mary who has now shared it with her readers. Their stories will amaze you as they all came from different lives as well as parts of the country. They all had feelings about the war before and after they served their country.

Retired Army Colonel David Hackworth wrote in his Foreword "Mary Reynolds Powell's powerful book is the perfect antidote to blow the revisionists out of the water-with the facts eloquently presented....Frequently...I found tears running down my face." I could tell that he had read this book and was as deeply moved as I had been.

In 1965 Mary "marched in a New York City parade backing the war." By 1969 she "wore a black armband in support of the national peace moratorium." After being "a registered nurse for only twelve months" in 1970 Mary found herself in Vietnam at the 24th Evac with the US Army Nurse Corps.

Mary recalled her stopover in Hawaii enroute to Vietnam walking past a group of Marines headed stateside "staring into the oldest eyes we had ever seen....their eyes were ancient, their faces blank." She quickly realized what she was getting into. She described her first night in-country as "Artillery hammered in the distance, mosquitoes feasted on me, and diarrhea induced by the malaria pills...kept me running to the latrine all night. Sleep came in brief, restless spurts."

The hospital's chief nurse asked Mary where she would like to work. When Mary said that she had done most of her work in internal medicine the chief nurse said there was an opening there and she was to start right away. I think this is one of the first books I've read where the author then tells the reader everything you'd ever want to know about the 24th Evac including a map of the area. I found it most interesting.

One of the items she described was the amphitheater where shows were put on. She pointed out something I was well aware of already. The site was where the "annual Bob Hope Show" was put on every "Christmas afternoon....You want to know something? Bob Hope has never spent a night in Vietnam. He flies to Thailand after every show." I'm so glad I wasn't the only one to point this fact out.

Mary explained the first day at Wards 7 & 8. She wrote of her name being added to the DEROS chart "in Vietnam, Marines stayed for thirteen months while Army and Navy tours were twelve-`364 days and a wake-up.'" She now had "359 days left." Mary took the time to describe several patients who stuck in her brain all these years. She also remembered "running...smiles....olive drab fatigues....endless IVs....gecko lizards....the proud, smiling face of a young soldier as I pin on the Purple Heart medal he earned with his body."

Mary's wrote "As a nation, it is time for us to take the burden from the kids who fought our war. All of us were part of the lie that wasted an American generation and devastated an ancient culture half a world away. Until we acknowledge the wrong that we did in arrogance, we will not have learned. And if we have not learned, we will do it again." And sadly I see that happening as I write this with our invasion of Iraq. I only pray our troops will come home quicker than they did when they were sent to Vietnam a generation ago.

This is a book well worth investing in. Mary's interweaving of stories and memories from her friends make it special. It should get more attention than it does but then again it's about an unpopular war and the people who served during it.

Memories, nightmares, and remembrance
A World of Hurt by Mary Reynolds Powell helps ease the pain I have felt for the past 29 years. I served at the 24th Evac Hospital as an Internist on the medical wards (5-10)in 1971-72. I spent a total of 5 years in the army before I could face leaving the haunting memories of that "war" behind me. The book brings back so much to me and has helped me realize that I am not alone in these feelings. She writes from the heart and you feel what she felt, and you know the hurt that lasts a life time. I thank her for writing this book and recommend it to anyone who was in Vietnam and to all those who want to understand the horror of war and the helpless feeling and anguish of youthful death. This book is therapeutic to so many of us who served and have kept the pain internally and have cried in silence and in the darkness. I thank you for this book for it is a gift to all eho suffered. I can no longer remain anonymous.

A World of Hurt.....
I met Mary prior to my shipping out to the Gulf War, she told me that she was working on a book about her experiences in the Vietnam War, and also interviewing those that she served with. When the book finally came out I bought the book right away. Upon doing this, I could'nt put it down, I completed it in 2 days. The book had me laughing and on the verge of tears. Many books have been written from the eyes of a men serving in war, but too few have been written about a womens experience in that same war. I have to say her book was easy to read and understand, but at the same time conveys her feelings and alot of the frustration she felt durin her tour in Vietnam. I have to highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to see the war thru the eyes of a Vietnam nurse, or any women serving in a war zone. To all that served with honor in all wars including the one we are now engaged in, May God Bless you all and keep you safe, and also your loved ones.