Over six months, Frances "Frankie" McGrath wrote weekly letters to her brother, Finley McGrath, who described an appealing, upbeat view of Vietnam: parties, Saigon nightlife, and celebrities. During his absence, Frankie accelerated her studies, graduated early with honors, and began a night-shift nursing job at a small San Diego hospital, imagining a future apartment and independence.

On a quiet November night at work, Frankie endured condescension from the night charge nurse, who limited her to basic tasks despite her RN status. Near 3 a.m., Frankie entered Room 107 and met a young male patient, a Vietnam veteran who had lost a leg to a Bouncing Betty mine and had recently attempted suicide. He contrasted his girlfriend’s abandonment with the compassion of a nurse at the Twelfth Evac Hospital, crediting that nurse with getting him through his trauma, and asked Frankie to hold his hand until he slept.

Holding the veteran’s hand, Frankie confronted the gap between Finley’s cheerful letters and the war’s brutal reality: men were still being maimed and killed. Hearing about the Evac nurse made Frankie realize women were serving in Vietnam. Remembering Rye Walsh’s comment that women could be heroes, she felt a powerful call to serve as a nurse in the war, imagining telling her parents and Finley, and believing she could make her family proud while saving lives.

Frankie weighed the danger but convinced herself she would likely be on a hospital ship away from direct combat. By the time the veteran slept, she had decided to pursue military service. She kept her plan secret, prepared carefully for her day off, and dressed conservatively, anticipating no resistance at home because her parents were out.

Arriving at a Navy recruitment office, Frankie passed through a hostile group of antiwar protesters burning draft cards and shouting slogans. Inside, she declared she was a nurse who wanted to volunteer for Vietnam but learned the Navy required two years of stateside service first. The Air Force gave her the same restriction.

At the Army recruiting station, Frankie finally heard that the Army Nurse Corps could send her to Vietnam after Basic training. Without seeking counsel, she signed the enlistment paperwork and became Second Lieutenant Frances McGrath, committing herself to serve as a nurse in Vietnam.