From North Korea to America Through Three Wars - A Nurse's Journey

Stretching across eight decades, this memoir covers Sung C. Yoo's harrowing childhood escape from North Korea; her miseries of life as a refugee in South Korea as war followed her; her difficulty in finding dignity as a nurse; her pain in splitting her family during the Vietnam War; and her struggle to find language, stability, and purpose in the United States.
Although she grappled with survival at a very young age, she still managed to live a vibrant life. She experienced a personal and professional transformation within the nursing profession, ultimately leading to a whole new worldview. In this story of war, immigration, and nursing, Sung C. Yoo speaks to the contemporary world with a wealth of experience, the dignity of age, and the determination to continue to learn.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword: Sung C. Yoo and the Evolution of a Professional Identity

by Lynn Hamilton

Introduction: Sung C. Yoo's Place in History

by E. Taylor Atkins

Prologue: An Unexpected Moment

I-Leaving North Korea

II-The Forgotten War in South Korea

III-The Reluctant Nursing Student

IV-The Vietnam War

V-Seeking the American Dream

VI-Florence Nightingale

VII-Mother, Grandmother, Sister, Counselor, Teacher, Nurse

VIII-Final Reflections

Afterword: Navigating the Historical and Sociopolitical Intersection of Nurse Migration

by Heeyoung Choi

Chapter Notes

Index

About the author

Sung C. Yoo escaped with her family from North Korea shortly after the communist regime took power in 1948. She had a long career as a nurse in South Korea, Vietnam, and the United States. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Product details

• Authors: Sung C Yoo, Sung C Yoo
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.06.2025
• EAN: 9781476697925
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-9792-5
• No. of pages: 184
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; Korea, Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000, military history, Memoirs, Nursing, MEDICAL / Nursing / General, Military history: post-WW2 conflicts, C 1945 To C 1960, 1950–1953 (Korean War period), Korean War, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / Korean War, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs