Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation EssayContestwithTravelPrize

TellingaStoryoftheVietnamWarThroughtheVoiceofOneHeroicWomanIntroductionandBackground

TheVietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundationestimatesthatsome265,000womenvolunteeredtoserveintheU.S.MilitaryduringtheVietnamEraandthatapproximately11,000militarywomenserved“incountry”duringtheconflict.Whileabout90percentoftheseservedasnurses,theyalsoservedinVietnamasphysicians,airtrafficcontrollers,intelligenceofficers,clerksandotherspecialtiesinthevariousbranchesoftheU.S.military.Additionally,anunknownnumberofwomenservedinciviliancapacitiesinVietnamintheRedCross,theUSO,andmanycivicorganizations,inadditionwomenservedascorrespondentsforvariousnewsorganizations.

SevenfemaleArmynursesandonefemaleAirForceNursepaidtheultimate

sacrificeduringthecourseoftheirserviceinVietnam.IncludedamongthesewasLieutenantColonelAnnieRuthGraham,whodiedofasubarachnoidhemorrhagewhileservingatahospitalinTuyHoain1968andwhoseservicecareerspannedWWIIandKoreapriortoVietnam.AnothercasualtythefollowingyearwasFirstLieutenantSharonAnnLane,whodiedofashrapnelwoundreceivedJune8,1969whileservingatthe312thEvacuationHospitalatChuLai.InrecognitionofherserviceLt.LanewasawardedthePurpleHeart,theBronzeStarwith“V”device,thenationalDefenseServiceMedal,theVietnamServiceMedal,theNationalOrderofVietnamMedal,andtheVietnameseGallantryCross,withPalm.Inall,theVietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundationhasidentified67totalfemaledeathsstemmingfromtheconflict:59civilianand8military.20thAnniversaryEssayContest

TheVietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundation(VWMF)EssayContestinvitesstudentsenrolledinUnitedStateshighschoolstowriteanessayabouttheroleofwomenservingduringtheVietnamEra.Becausewomenwerenotsubjecttothedraft,theirinvolvementwiththeVietnamconflictwasstrictlyvoluntary,asitistoday.DuringtheeraoftheVietnamWar,newspapersregularlyprintedjoblistingsseparatelybygenderandwomenearnedabout60centsforeverydollarearnedbyamalecounterpart.Thiswasaninterestingtimetobeawomanwhovolunteeredtoserveinawar.

AnessayinthiscontesthostedbytheVWMFmustaddressaparticularwomanwho

servedduringtheVietnamera(1964‐1975).Theessaymustbebasedonapersonalinterviewthatlinkstheessaywriterwithhis/hersubject.Theauthoroftheessayisnotrequiredtohaveapersonalrelationshipwiththesubjectoftheresearch.Itmaybeagrandmotherorgreat‐auntwhoservedasamilitarynurseorRedCrossWorker.But,italsomaybeaneighbororsomeonetheinterviewerconnectswiththroughthelocalVeteranServiceOrganizations(e.g.theVeteransofForeignWars,AmericanLegion).Eachsubjectof

anessayshouldbeawomanwhoexhibitedthevaluesofpatrioticservice,perseverance,compassionandcommitmenttodutyexemplifiedbythe67womenwhopaidtheultimatesacrificeandtheir265,000sisterswhoengagedinactiveservicetotheircountryduringtheVietnamEra.Theessaymustnotstopwithmererecitationoftheselectedwoman’slifebutmustadditionallyreflectonthemeaningofthatlifeasamodelforsocialinfluenceandfurtheringtheprogressofAmericanideals.Theessaymaydetailtherelationshipthewriterhastothesubject,butitisnotnecessary.EssayContestPrizeInformation

Thewinnerofthecompetitiveessaycontestwillbeawardedthefollowing:• Roundtripcoachairlineticketsforthestudent,ateacher,andaparent/guardian

toWashingtonD.C.forthe20thAnniversaryoftheVietnamWomen’sMemorialinNovember2013.TravelarrangementswillbecoordinatedthroughtheVietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundation.

• TworoomsattheEmbassySuitesHotelon22ndStreet,NW(TheVWMFheadquartershotel)inWashingtonD.C.fortwonightsduringtheweekendofNovember9‐11,2013.

• A$250stipendfortheessaywinner.• Theessaywinnerwillbeinvitedtoreadhis/heressayatthe20thAnniversary

“StorytellingattheVietnamWomen’sMemorial:InTheirOwnWords”onNovember11,2013.Thisreadingwillbevideorecordedforpossiblefuturepublication.

• PortionsofthewinningessaywillbepublishedintheVietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundationNewsletterandtheentireessaywillappearontheVWMFwebsite.

EssayRequirementsandJudgingCriteria

• Theessaymustbenolongerthan1000words.

• TheessaymustbetheoriginalworkofthesubmittingauthorandmustcontainMLAstylefootnotedattributionforanynon‐originalmaterial.Itisunderstoodthatthesubmittingauthormayneedtoperformresearch;however,citingfromWikipediaorotherwebsiteslackingscholarlyinstitutionalaffiliationandpeerreviewshouldbestrictlyavoided.

• Theessaymustnotonlypresentthefactsidentifyingtheindividualanddescribing

hercharacteristicsbutmustalsoprovidetheanalysisandargumentforhowthefactsdemonstratesocialinfluenceandfurtheranceofAmericanideals.

• Essaysmustresultfrominterviewsorfirst‐handdiscussionwiththesubject.

• Theessaymustdemonstratestrongwritingskills,especiallyin–

Organization,exhibitinginterestingintroductionandconsistentthematicflowthroughout;

Grammar,exhibitinghighlyaccurateandeffectivesyntax,wordusage,punctuationandspellingconventions;

StrongWordChoice,exhibitingprecisebutengaginglanguage;and SentenceFluency,exhibitingvariedandcraftedclauseandsentence

structures.

• Essaysmustbetyped.DeadlineforSubmissionandJudgingAllessaysmustbereceivedbySeptember10,2013.Essaysshouldbesubmittedbymailto: Dr.MarshaGuenzler‐Stevens VicePresidentoftheBoard–VietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundation 3100StampStudentUnion UniversityofMaryland CollegePark,Maryland20742Onaseparatesheetofpaperfromtheessay,pleaseincludethenameofthestudent,homeaddress,telephonenumber,emailaddress,andnameofschoolandgradeinschool.Thisinformationshouldnotappearontheessay.EssayswillbereviewedandjudgedbymembersoftheVietnamWomen’sMemorialFoundationBoardandthewinningessaywillbeannouncedonOctober1,2013.Travelarrangementsfortheauthorofthewinningessayandhis/herteacherwillbemadeatthattimefortheNovember11,2013VeteransDaycelebrationinWashingtonD.C.TheVWMFretainsthefirstNorthAmericanpublishingrightstothisessay.Theessayauthorandhis/herteachermaybeinvitedtoparticipateininterviewswithmembersofthemediaateventsinconjunctionwiththe20thAnniversaryoftheVietnamWomen’sMemorial.