Women In The Vietnam War Essay

In past wars, women were not a part of combat. Following historical wars, the combat percentage of women has almost quadrupled (Patten and Parker). Due to the fact that women were not able to participate in combat in the Vietnam War, I believe that the United States’ loss in the Vietnam War could have been obviated with the presence of women in combat rather than having them in aide occupations.

Women helped previous war efforts, such as in World War II, by working in factories that produced war supplies and also helped the economy. Now, it is a common occurence to see women in the military. They participate in combat and are on more equal stands than ever before. Many measures were taken over the past few decades to give women more opportunities that men already had. Some may think that women were needed at home and therefore should not have been able to fight in the war, but women and men could have switched positions at home. Some women could have gone to war while their husbands took care of the children and home tasks. The husbands could have worked in factories, just like women did in World War II. If they did not have a husband or children, women could have gone to war without having something to worry

. . 90 percent served as military nurses, though women also worked as physicians, air traffic controllers, intelligence officers, clerks and other positions in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps, U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marines and the Army Medical Specialist Corps” (History.com). This quote is a direct display of how women only served in assisting roles rather than in combat. While their service in the occupations mentioned above may have benefitted the war efforts, they were still not allowed to fight. This matters because additional forces in the Vietnam War could have allowed for successful plans that could have lead the United States to winning the