Patricia L. Walsh grew up the eighth of fifteen children in a poor Minnesota farm family, working her way through nursing school and anesthesia training. In 1967, she volunteered to go to Vietnam to care for civilians caught in the crossfire. She injured her back in the Tet Offensive and returned home in denial of the severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) she had developed. Paramount Pictures optioned her story for Cher the year she won Best Actress, but the project went into turnaround when they couldn't get a good script. RIVER CITY chronicles the dedication, self sacrifice, trials and triumphs of practicing combat medicine.
“Pat Walsh had a unique experience for a young woman. She volunteered to go to Vietnam and work as a nurse at a hospital in Danang. She spent more than a year witnessing the dehumanizing chaos that war creates. She experienced not only the horror of war for the victims of injury and death, but the psychological impact on human beings. Her story is a fascinating insight into what war does to people through the eyes of a woman.†Charlie Rose
Pat Walsh also produced, wrote, directed and narrated The Other Angels, a documentary about her Vietnam medical team. It won the People’s Choice Award at the Denver International Film Festival, aired across the country on PBS, was named Booklist Editors’ Choice by the American Library Association, and won a Gracie and the Grand Award from American Women in Radio and Television.