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Frances “Frankie” Grace McGrath
A determined and resilient young Army nurse. Frankie is the novel’s protagonist, whom the reader follows as she faces the challenges of both nursing in Vietnam, and coming home to a frosty reception afterward. Frankie is from the prestigious McGrath family of Coronado Island, California. She’s attractive and tenacious, and repeatedly proves herself to be a fast learner and a skilled, caring nurse. However, Frankie has a weakness for men who are already in long-term committed relationships, whom she seems to irresistibly attract. She is desperate to prove herself professionally in the field, and to win a place on her father’s "wall of heroes" at home in Coronado.
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Finley McGrath
Frankie’s older brother, Rye’s best friend, and a Navy sailor. He’s adored by his parents and the wealthy Republican community around him in Coronado, especially as he is Frankie’s parents’ contribution to the long line of McGrath heroes. Finley and Frankie are best friends, and she often hears him speaking to her in times of trouble.
Joseph "Rye" Ryerson Walsh
Finley's best friend, a Navy officer, and Frankie’s primary love interest. Rye is a handsome, successful Naval officer who doesn’t have a stellar relationship with the truth. He loves Frankie but is not strong enough to break off either his engagement or (later) his marriage on her behalf. Back in America—as was also the case in Vietnam—Rye is an endless source of hope for a better future in Frankie’s eyes. She idolizes him until she finally realizes what he’s taken from her.
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Barbara Sue Johnson (Barb)
A surgical nurse in Vietnam and the US, and Frankie’s best friend. Barb is a young Black woman from a small town in Georgia. She’s smart, funny, and a very talented medic who helps convince Frankie to become a surgical nurse. She and Ethel help Frankie get on her feet after she arrives in Asia, and the three remain lifelong friends. Barb provides stability and a pragmatic shoulder to cry on during their shared time in Vietnam.
Henry Acevedo
A psychiatrist, a surfer, and briefly Frankie’s fiancé. Henry is the opposite of many of the other men in Frankie’s life. He is stable and steady, and he always follows through on his commitments. He plays an important role in Frankie’s rehabilitation, as he is the person who eventually diagnoses her with PTSD.
Jamie Callahan
A talented doctor and field surgeon, and Frankie’s supervisor in her first role in Vietnam. Jamie is married, but he and Frankie fall in love during his time overseas with the Navy. His unexpected death is yet another loss for Frankie due to the war. Though it’s eventually revealed not to have been all it seemed, his shocking departure from her life leaves a ragged hole in Frankie’s psyche.
Bette McGrath
Frankie and Finley’s mother, and Connor’s wife. Bette struggles to accept the social stigma attached to Frankie’s wartime service. She’s bewildered by Frankie’s choice to join the military and worries that she has ruined her reputation. Bette is an intelligent person, but she sees women as having one defined role: as homemakers who support men. She has a stroke in late middle age, which causes Frankie to reconcile with both of her parents.
Connor McGrath
Frankie and Finley’s father, and Bette’s husband. Connor believes that service to the United States is the most important calling to the men of the McGrath family. He’s very ashamed of not having been allowed to serve himself, and he wants to do anything he can to contribute. That feeling does not extend to supporting the actions of his daughter Frankie in joining up. He feels embarrassed by Frankie’s military service, although he eventually comes to accept it and plays a role in her journey to recover from addiction.
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Ethel Flint
A combat nurse in Vietnam and one of Frankie’s original “hooch”-mates. Ethel quickly becomes one of Frankie’s best friends. When Frankie needs a place to stay after returning to the US, Frankie takes her in. Along with Bette, Ethel is a soft place to land for Frankie wherever they’re together.
Harry Dickerson (Hap)
A Lieutenant Colonel and surgeon, with whom Frankie performs surgeries at the hospital wards in Vietnam. Hap is an important mentor for Frankie. His no-nonsense attitude to surgery helps her through her initial shock and panic at the level of damage done to human bodies by mines and rocket attacks.
Patty Perkins
A surgical nurse and first lieutenant who works alongside Frankie during their time in Vietnam. She’s the first person to welcome Frankie to the Thirty-Sixth when she steps off the plane.
Francis McGrath
Frankie’s grandfather. A former soldier, a patriarch, and another link in the McGrath military dynasty.
Norm Bronson
An army Captain. Norm also travels on the plane to the Pleiku highlands with Frankie.
Captain Ted Smith
A Captain in the army. Smith leads Frankie on her first MEDCAP expedition
Major Wendy Goldstein
Frankie’s senior commanding officer when she arrives in Vietnam. Major Goldstein is a stiff, officious woman who berates Frankie for being late the first time they meet.
Margie Sloan
Frankie’s new hooch-mate after Barb leaves Vietnam, who wakes Frankie up by screaming in the middle of the night when a rocket attack begins
Captain Miniver
The chief nurse of the Seventy-First. She is extremely by-the-book, and tells Frankie off for failing to take R & R.
Dr. Morse
One of Frankie’s early supervisors during her time “in field.” Morse teaches Frankie about efficiency and the need to separate emotions from medical processes during triage.
Ryan Dardis (Hollywood)
A new surgeon in the Seventy-First. Dardis is so handsome that people call him “Hollywood.”
Mark Lundberg
An older surgeon with whom Frankie performs a pneumonectomy (the removal of a diseased lung).
Geneva Stone
Frankie’s boss. A shift coordinator at the hospital in California.
Dr. Durfee
A psychiatrist at the VA. Durfee dismisses Frankie’s PTSD and tells her he can’t treat her because there were no women in Vietnam.
Dr. Brenner
Bette’s friend, an elderly man who looks like a walrus. Frankie is rude to him at the McGrath’s country club.
Delores Smart
The Director of Nursing at St Barnaba. Delores Smart oversees Frankie as she begins work there. Whatever Mrs. Smart says goes, as Frankie quickly learns.
Mrs. Henderson
The night charge nurse at St Barnabas, who supervises the medical staff during evening shifts. She has a dog-like, whiskery face.
Rebecca (Becky) Gillihan
An old friend of Frankie’s who reappears at a wedding shower in Coronado.
Dana Johnson
Frankie’s college friend, whom she sees when attending a party for her after returning from Vietnam.
Dr. Massie
Frankie’s OBGYN in California.
Private Fournette
A young, dying soldier whom Frankie tends to in Vietnam and watches over as he dies.
Sarah Callahan
Jamie’s wife.
Sergeant Alvarez
An officer at Pleiku with Frankie, who gives her first on-the-ground instructions.
Melissa
Rye’s wife.
Joey
Rye’s infant son.
