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Memories of the Vietnam War Experience and Its ‘Meaning’- Focusing on the Oral Life History of a Nurse Officer Who Served in the War

  • 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities
  • 2024, 17(2), pp.107-132
  • DOI : 10.22901/trans.2024.17.2.107
  • Publisher : Ewha Institute for the Humanities: EIH
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : September 14, 2024
  • Accepted : October 11, 2024
  • Published : October 31, 2024

Soo Ja Kim 1

1이화여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Korea intervened in the Vietnam War by sending non-combat troops in 1964. By the end of the war in 1973, a total of 320,000 soldiers had experienced the Vietnam War, of which 559 were nursing officers. The Vietnam War was initially viewed as the ‘first overseas deployment’ and ‘aid to prevent communism in Vietnam.’ However, negative connotations such as ‘contracted war,’ ‘war in the mud,’ and ‘war without a justification’ gradually spread. In this atmosphere, the nursing officers who participated in the war did not actively express their experiences after returning home. However, ‘now,’ 60 years later, they understand their role in the Vietnam War in relation to ‘economic development.’ They recognize that the driving force behind Korea’s economic development, such as highway construction, is closely linked to their participation in the Vietnam War.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.