Chapter Fifteen
Contains spoilersOverview
During Tet, the 71st Evac Hospital is hit by a massive rocket attack, plunging Frankie McGrath into the bloodiest push she has faced. She performs a tracheotomy in chaos, steadies a new surgeon, and comforts a mortally wounded soldier she knows. After Tet’s aftermath and letters home and from friends, Frankie decides to extend her tour for another year, despite her parents’ objections, and is ordered to take overdue R&R in Hawaii.
Summary
Barb Johnson writes from home describing alienation, lack of respect for women veterans, and domestic unrest, while mentioning that Coyote carried a torch for Frankie on their Freedom Bird. Frankie receives her DEROS and marks March 15 on her wall, officially a short-timer, when the Tet Offensive strikes on January 31 with rockets hitting the 71st.
Under continuous shelling, Frankie drags her green hooch mate Margie Sloan toward duty, then readies the OR amid power outages and overload. With casualties flooding in, including civilians, she performs an emergency tracheotomy herself when no doctor answers, then brings the new surgeon, Captain Mark Morse, into action by focusing him on the patient, Specialist Glenn Short, and keeping the surgeries moving through the night.
As the attack tapers, a medic summons Frankie to the compound where Rye Walsh finds her, blood-covered but uninjured, and briefly embraces her before leading her outside. Passing the morgue overflow, Frankie discovers Private Albert Brown gravely mutilated and beyond help; she sits with him, speaks to him by name, and holds him as he dies, promising to write his mother and later recalling her name was Shirley. Exhausted, she lets Rye carry her to her hooch and falls asleep; when she wakes, he is gone.
News identifies the assault as the Tet Offensive, with public doubt rising and official casualty figures that Frankie distrusts based on what she witnessed. The next morning, she tends a severely burned South Vietnamese woman whose newborn has died, confronting unbearable grief and the ongoing human cost.
Frankie questions going home as Margie notes her approaching rotation, recognizing the shortage of experienced staff. She writes to her parents announcing she will extend for another year because the men need her and there is too little experienced help; her mother replies furiously, urging her to return, while Ethel Flint writes supportively from veterinary school, inviting Frankie to visit after the war.
In early March, downtime leaves Frankie edgy and short-tempered as staffing remains thin. Captain Miniver, the new chief nurse, orders Frankie to take her long-delayed R&R, booking her to a beach hotel on Kauai and warning that rest may save her, acknowledging that even the strongest can break.
Who Appears
- Frances “Frankie” McGrath
Army nurse protagonist; leads in OR during Tet attack, performs a tracheotomy, steadies Dr. Morse, comforts dying Private Albert Brown, decides to extend for another year, ordered to take R&R.
- Barb Johnson
friend and former 71st nurse; writes from home about difficulties reintegrating and mentions Coyote’s crush.
- Rye Walsh
Seawolves pilot and Finley’s friend; arrives to check on Frankie during/after attack, comforts her, carries her to her hooch.
- Margie Sloan
new hooch mate and inexperienced nurse; panics during attack, later expresses reliance on Frankie.
- Captain Mark Morse
new surgeon (new); initially frozen during mass-casualty push, then completes surgeries under Frankie’s guidance.
- Private Albert Brown
previously flirtatious patient; found catastrophically wounded, dies with Frankie at his side.
- Captain Miniver
new chief nurse of the 71st (new); orders Frankie to take R&R and notes her burnout.
- Ethel Flint
former colleague; writes from veterinary school with support and an invitation to visit postwar.
- Frankie’s mother and father
parents; mother writes insisting Frankie return home and notes father’s disapproval.
- Unidentified South Vietnamese woman
civilian patient; severely burned, loses newborn.
- Specialist Glenn Short
surgical patient named by Frankie to focus Dr. Morse (new); treated during the push.