Best-selling author to join combat nurse in special event
New York Times best-selling author Kristin Hannah, whose 2024 novel “The Women” has already topped 2 million in sales, speaks June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Helena, Mont., Civic Center. Joining her in the special event is Diane Carlson Evans, recipient of The American Legion’s Distinguished Service Medal, the combat nurse who led a 10-year fight to install the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Attendees of the event will have the opportunity to hear firsthand from Hannah the inspiration and research that went into “The Women,” which included close collaboration with Carlson Evans, author of “Healing Wounds: A Vietnam War Combat Nurse’s 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington, D.C.,” a detailed autobiography of her time as a Vietnam War combat nurse, the aftermath and the relentless effort to bring the Vietnam Women’s Memorial to life in 1993.
Premier admission, which includes a pre-signed copy of “The Women,” is $30 plus a $3 service fee, with seating to begin at 6 p.m. General admission is $10, with seating to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Carlson Evans, a past recipient of The American Legion’s Patriot Award and member of the former American Legion 100th Anniversary Honorary Committee, is a member of Lewis & Clark Post 2 in Helena, Mont. The American Legion is urging President Biden to present Carlson Evans with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.