Matt Crosson
“A Piece of My Heart,” portrays the experiences of female nurses in Vietnam, a roundtable discussion will immediately follow the Saturday matinee performance featuring Vietnam veterans.
The discussion is free and open to the public and hopes to answer questions people may have about what life was like in war-torn Vietnam.
The Vietnam War is a very sensitive subject and because of this it is not known exactly who is going to show up to share their experiences.
Many Vietnam veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome which makes it hard to discuss what they’ve been through.
“A show like this can bring on stress in having to relive the experiences,” said RoZsa Horvath, the play’s director.
Many of them experienced flashbacks and extreme stress while watching.
The director drew parallels to today as well as the past. She explained it is important to do a play like this now because of the current conflict in Iraq.
One of the prospective panel members is a Pierce student who served in Afghanistan.
“This play has made a real resurgence since 2001,” said Horvath.
Another reason why Horvath chose this play was to make people aware of the thousands of women who served in Vietnam as nurses and intelligence officers.
From 1964 to 1975 alone about 20,000 women served in Vietnam. Most people know about the over 58,000 men who died and 300,000 wounded in the conflict, but they are unaware of all the women who served as well.
“The women who served were not taken seriously by the American government,” said Horvath.
The roundtable discussion will take place in the Performing Arts Arena Theater on, Saturday at 4:30 p.m., following the 2 p.m. matinee performance.