Frankie McGrath

Frankie McGrath is the protagonist and the most dynamic character in the novel. When the book starts, she lives with her two parents and her brother, Finley, who is about to go off to war. She is inspired when her brother’s friend tells her that women can be heroes, and she signs up to go to Vietnam as an Army nurse. She prepares as best she can, but she is completely ignorant about the harsh conditions she will encounter while in Vietnam.

Frankie is unsure of herself when she first gets to Vietnam, and she is not prepared either psychologically or intellectually to meet the needs in front of her. Out of necessity, however, she learns quickly. She becomes a great nurse, and she is eventually asked to start to work in the operating room and then later in a part of the warzone called Rocket...