MN native awarded Presidential Citizens Medal for Vietnam War service, memorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota woman was honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal after volunteering to serve as a nurse in the Vietnam War and founding the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation. 

Diane Carlson Evans, from Buffalo, Minnesota, volunteered to serve as an army nurse.

Years later, she founded the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, which was instrumental in building the Vietnam Women's Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Washington, D.C. 1993, Eastern National, Sculpted by Glenna Goodacre. Photo taken by Greg Staley. (Supplied)

Presidential Citizens Medal award ceremony

What happened: Evans and 19 other Americans were honored at the White House with the Presidential Citizens Medal award.

"Well, I'm pretty overwhelmed," Diane said in an interview with FOX 9 following the ceremony. "I never expected it."

However, Diane was not able to make the trip from her current home in Montana. Instead, the award was received by Vietnam women veterans who accepted it in her honor.

"It took 10 years to put that memorial on the National Mall," Evans said. "It was the first and only national monument in Washington, D.C., on the Mall that honors women in military uniform."

White House officials say the Presidential Citizens Medal "is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens." 

It is the second-highest civilian award in the country, according to the Associated Press. 

Other recipients at the ceremony included Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, who led the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Vietnam War service

The backstory: Evans volunteered to become an army nurse in the Vietnam War.

Growing up on a farm in Buffalo, Minnesota, she saw the toll the war was taking on the country, and was compelled to do her part after two of her brothers enlisted.

She credits the influence of her mother, who was also a nurse, for her decision.

Evans was 21-years-old when she arrived in Vietnam, fresh out of nursing school.

She witnessed the horrors of war and the suffering that came with it.

"We were all they had during their moments of recovery and trauma and pain and anguish," Evans recalls. "I came home in 1969 to a country that was torn apart, the antiwar movement, the protests on the streets. And I came home to a nation that, unfortunately, wasn't separating the war from the warrior."

Healing Wounds

Why it matters: The sacrifice and service made by Evans was recognized at the highest level after decades of persistence.

Evans remains proud of her service, but is still recovering from the toll it has taken on her.

A cancer diagnosis prevented her from traveling to Washington, D.C. in order to accept the award in person. However, she said she is receiving the necessary care from Veteran's Affairs.

"It's thousands of men and women who have died of Agent Orange since our return, and I always wondered when it would catch up with me," Evans said. "So I'm very blessed to have had a long life."

More about Diane Carlson Evans' service can be found in her book, Healing Wounds.