HOLMDEL, NJ -  On Thursday, October 18, 2001, at 7:00 p.m., the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation will host an author lecture by Mary Reynolds Powell about her book, A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam, at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel.
 In 1970, twenty-three year-old Mary Reynolds boarded a plane to Vietnam.  There she began a one-year tour of duty as a U.S. Army nurse at the 24th Evacuation Hospital at Long Binh, South Vietnam.  Uncertain and alone, she had no idea what lay ahead.

 Almost thirty years later, Powell tells the story of that year in her life – a year of discomfort, fear and anger, as well as courage, hope and love.  She includes the stories of her friends – a dustoff helicopter pilot, an infantry captain, a Vietnamese aide, a drug counselor, and an emergency room nurse – who were with her in Vietnam.

A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam describes a war “winding down,” while thousands still died.  The survivors discovered that their perspectives about war, their country and themselves were forever changed.

Mary Reynolds Powell is a registered nurse and a graduate of Columbia University.  Since her return from Vietnam, she has worked in the health field and on community issues in four different states.  She received a Master of Arts in Urban Sociology from the University of Colorado.  Today, she lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with her husband Doug, whom she met in Vietnam, and their three children.

Lecture attendees are asked to RSVP one week prior to the event to (732) 335-0033.  A donation of $5.00 per person is suggested.  The Vietnam Era Educational Center is located adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial off the Garden State Parkway at exit 116.  The Educational Center open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  Regular admission is free for all veterans and active-duty military personnel.  Regular adult admission is $4.00; student and senior citizen admission is $2.00; and children under 10 are admitted free.