Diane Carlson EvansSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

Upon graduation she joined the Army Nurse Corps and served in Vietnam at age 21 in 1968-1969. She served in the burn unit of the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau and at Pleiku in the 71st Evacuation Hospital 30 miles from the Cambodian border in the Central Highlands just 10 to 20 minutes by helicopter from the field.

Including her one year in Vietnam Carlson Evans completed a total of 6 years in the Army Nurse Corps.Carlson Evans attended the dedication of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial (the wall) in 1982.

Following the dedication of the statue of three soldiers at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in 1984 Carlson Evans co-founded the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to honor the service of American military women who served during the Vietnam War era.

She worked from 1984 through 1993 to establish the Vietnam Women's Memorial lobbying federal authorities for permission to build a memorial to the 11000 military women who served in Vietnam and the 265000 who served around the world during the Vietnam era.

Carlson Evans and thousands of volunteers in 50 states raised money and public support for the cause including from leading veteran's organizations including the Veterans of Foreign Wars Vietnam Veterans of America Disabled American Veterans and the American Legion.

At the time of dedication the VWMP was about $600000--$700000 short of required funds and the corporation which underwrote the amount provided the needed last-minute cash.