By Randi Bjornstad
Often, when those of a certain age think back to the years of the Vietnam War, they remember the peak years of 1964 to 1975, when young people from the United States were most closely involved, with 2.2 million drafted into military serviced and service performed by a total of 2.6 million.
The vast majority were young men, but young women also did their part. More than 265,000 served in the U.S. military during that time — with 11,000 of them deploying to Vietnam, where most worked as volunteer nurses.
A play opening at the Cottage Theatre on Feb. 7, titled A Piece of My Heart, focuses on a realistic composite of six women who served, starting with the decision to enlist, undergoing training, experiencing the chaos and terror of the war front, and then facing the challenges of returning to a society that no longer seemed familiar after they completed their service.
The six characters presented in A Piece of My Heart are a composite of many women —here called Martha, Leeann, Sissy, Whitney, MaryJo, and Steele — as they experience their return to a place where many fellow citizens openly deplore their participation in the war. They experience the aftermath of the violence of war with mental and emotional scars such post-traumatic stress disorder, and find that the opportunities available to them are less than what they need or expected to find after returning as civilians. Their new battle is to find the strength and resilience to reclaim former lives or forge new ones.
The Cotttage Theatre production is directed by Janet Rust. The women are played by Maleia Gruber, Jodi Arend, Chrisi Morrison, Quinn Branstetter, Rachel Lewman, and Kaycee Taylor, and the cast also includes Dan Kupsick and Clarence “Clancy” Miller.
The production crew includes assistant director Seth Bailey, stage manager Bil Morrill, set designer Tony Rust, costume designer Chris Carter, propmaster Mark Allen, lighting designer Amanda Ferguson, and sound designer Jeffery Egbert.
