Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1294870
Binge-Watching "China Beach" BY CHRISTINE CONTILLO eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Some nurses were driven by a desire to help, even if they disapproved of the war. "I thought, 'I have got to go over there and try to stop this war and stop the hurting,'" says Marj Graves, RN, who was stationed at the Army's 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh in 1971–72 and rose to the rank of captain. "Why I ever thought that I would be able to have any impact on the war that way was … way out in left field. But, I knew I could make a difference nursing-wise, and so I volunteered to go." Not all the nurses who joined expected to serve in a combat zone. Military recruiters sometimes led nurses to believe that only those women who volunteered would be sent to Vietnam — which made for a rude surprise upon receiving orders to ship out. Some nurses who saw active duty during the war were never sta- tioned in Vietnam, serving instead aboard Navy hospital ships or at U.S. military bases elsewhere in Asia. recuperation hospital where the injured were stabilized and if possible returned to action. NOT JUST A SOAP OPERA The only TV series to focus on military nurses in Vietnam, "China Beach" wasn't just a medical drama like "Grey's Anatomy." The setting allowed for a diverse array of other characters, includ- ing USO entertainers, a morgue atten- dant and a cynical businesswoman/sex ★ "China Beach" was a network television drama that ran on ABC for four seasons, l988–1991, decades after the Vietnam War during which the show is set. The series told the story of fictional characters at the real China Beach, an Army base near Da Nang, Vietnam, for soldiers on R&R (rest and recuperation). It had a beautiful beach (actually called My Khe — China Beach was an American nickname), a lifeguard, visiting entertainment and an Army IN COUNTRY U.S. Field Hospital, Vietnam, 1964–75. October 5–November 9, 2020 18 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com