a peice of my heart essays

a peice of my heart essays The "other" Vietnam Vets Everybody knows about the men who served in Vietnam. They have at least heard of the mentally trying conditions during the war and the resulting "post traumatic stress syndrome" (PTSD) so many veterans suffered from, or heard of the issues concerning negative public opinion of veterans for their role in a hated war. However, few are aware of the female role in the Vietnam War; women, the "other" veterans, shared in all of these problems and issues along with the gun-toting men. They were the nurses, and in A Piece of My Heart by Keith Walker the stories of many women are presented to better understand just how the Vietnam War affected women. Working in places like evacuation hospitals exposed women to the endless flow of casualties from the battlefield, and these experiences took major mental tolls upon the minds of the women who had to assist them, especially in their considerations for the value of human life. Women experienced other problems upon returning home such as the same PTSD and outlashes by anti-war protesters. Women were veterans of Vietnam just like the men, and they experienced many of the same problems as a result of their role there. Women were exposed to an enormous amount of pain while in Vietnam. As veteran Rose Sandecki said, "[The Vietnam] War really did a number on all of us, the women as well as the men" (20). Nurses in Vietnam were exposed to a nonstop flow of casualties from the field. The landing of a Chinook with mass casualties on board had become a standard to Christine Schneider, a nurse in Da Nang. Practically every nurses story described the hospital scenes in Vietnam as "busy." Jill Mishkel explained that she experienced a minimum of at least one death per day. As Ms. Schneider described, "There was just too much death" (46). Ms. Schneider also mentioned, "Everybody was bad" (45); nurses only saw the bad because they were surrounded by it, day in and day out. Charlotte Mi...

Elena Ceausescu, Wife of Romanian Dictator

Elena Ceausescu, Wife of Romanian Dictator Known for: role of influence and power in her husbands dictatorship in Romania Occupation: politician, scientistDates: January 7, 1919 - December 25, 1989Also known as: Elena Petruscu; nickname Lenuta Elena Ceausescu Biography Elena Ceausescu came from a small village where her father was a farmer who also sold goods out of the home. Elena was failing in school and left after the fourth grade; according to some sources, she was expelled for cheating. She worked in a lab then in a textile factory. She became active in the Union Communist Youth and then in the Romanian Communist Party. Marriage Elena met Nicolai Ceausescu in 1939 and married him in 1946. He was a staff member with the army at the time. She worked as a secretary in a government office as her husband rose to power. Nicolai Ceausescu became first secretary of the party in March 1965 and president of the State Council (head of state) in 1967. Elena Ceausescu began to be held up as a model for women in Romania. She was officially given the title The Best Mother Romania Could Have.  From 1970 to 1989, her image was carefully created, and a cult of personality was encouraged around both Elena and Nicolai Ceausescu. Given Recognition Elena Ceausescu was given many honors for work in polymer chemistry, claiming education from the College of Industrial Chemistry and the Polytechnic Institute, Bucharest. She was made chairman of Romanias main chemistry research lab. Her name was put on academic papers actually written by Romanian scientists. She was chairman of the National Council of Science and Technology. In 1990, Elena Ceausescu was named deputy premier.  The power wielded by the Ceausescus led  the  University of Bucharest to grant her a Ph.D. in chemistry Elena Ceausescu's Policies Elena Ceausescu is usually assumed to be responsible for two policies which in the 1970s and 1980s, coupled with some of her husbands policies, were disastrous. Romania under the Ceausescu regime outlawed both abortion  and birth control, with Elena Ceausescus urging. Women under the age of 40 were required to have at least four children, later five Nikolai Ceausescus policies, including that of exporting much of the agricultural and industrial output of the country, caused extreme poverty and hardship for most citizens. Families could not support so many children. Women sought illegal abortions or gave children up to state-run orphanages. Eventually, parents were paid to give children to the orphanages; Nikolai Ceausescu planned to create a Romanian Workers Army from these orphans. However, the orphanages had few nurses and had food shortages, causing emotional and physical problems for the children. The Ceausescus endorsed a medical answer to the weakness of many children: blood transfusions. The poor conditions in orphanages meant that these transfusions were often done with shared needles, resulting, predictably and sadly, in AIDS being widespread among the orphans. Elena Ceausescu was head of the state health commission which concluded that AIDS could not exist in Romania. Collapse of the Regime Anti-government demonstrations in 1989 led to a sudden collapse of the Ceausescu regime, and Nikolai and Elena were tried on December 25 by a military tribunal and executed later that day by a firing squad.