In some cases, it took decades for these medics to receive recognition. She collapsed on the ground in a dead faint. 0 US Army experience in the Korean War, The Surgeon General, Department of the Army, A survey of evacuation, resuscitation and mortality in a foreword surgical hospital, The mobile army surgical hospital (MASH): a military and surgical legacy, Journal of the National Medical Association, Medical support of the US Army in Vietnam, War surgery in a forward surgical hospital in Vietnam: a continuing report, Time and its effects on casualties in World War II and Vietnam, Warfare injuries: history, triage, transport and field hospital setup in the armed forces, Early evacuation of patients from the battlefield after laparotomy: Experiences in Vietnam, Israel and the Falklands, Surgery in the field during the Lebanon War, 1982: doctrine, experience and prospects for future changes, Integration of military unit and civilian hospital during mass casualty situations: experience during the 1982 Lebanon War, Find out more about saving to your Kindle, Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316493489.001. Time and its effects on casualties in World War II and Vietnam. ANCA Service. Yet, the field hospital is a keystone of the chain of medical responsibility on the battlefield. If you served in 3rd Field Hospital, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. Vietnam combat medic Wayne Smith admitted that the heat of battle got to him. Also near Da Nangabout a three-hour drive by motorbikeis Sn M, location of the M Lai Massacre. 400,000 people were killed or maimed and 500,000 children were born with birth defects because of American bombings. 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon Cayetano E. Barrera Identifier r3-04235-0006_0068 Creation Date 1-1-1967 Description Color photograph. Despite supply shipping delays, construction of the first 100 beds was completed by 10 April. Beating the army to the punch and signing up instead of waiting to be drafted gave you more control over which area you worked in. 8th Field Hospital Moved from 43rd Medical Group to 68th Med. The total number of casualties from that one battle was 160,000. George Washington had complained vociferously about the flood of questionable foreign volunteers. It was not simply aboutpecking order; personnel who had been in Vietnam longer were better-adjusted to the environment and the stress and danger it entailed. Civilian Vietnamese women were hired to handle laundry and housekeeping. After training in Texas to be a field paramedic or hospital assistant, I treated clinic patients for a week. One nurse told me that although she wanted to leave Vietnam and return to the States, she felt guilty about leaving behind the wounded men and other nurses and doctors. As a way of getting into their good graces, the AMA and U.S. Agency for International Development collaborated on the Volunteer Physicians for Vietnam (VPVN) Program, recruiting American physicians to work in Vietnam's civilian hospitals. She said her friends in America were worried about minor things like something their boyfriend said or what pocketbook to buy or what to wear. 191 0 obj <>stream However, the injuries the nurses saw were if anything more horrible than ever, thanks to widespread use of weapons like assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. The nurse recruitment ads of this era were a world away from the images of chaos and brutality that would soon fill Americans evening news broadcasts, instead focusing on the opportunity, adventure and romance that supposedly awaited nurses in the U.S. Army. A few male nurses who served in Vietnam were draftees, part of a mostly unsuccessful effort to fill ongoing shortages. 472.2 RECORDS OF THE MILITARY ASSISTANCE ADVISORY GROUP (MAAG) VIETNAM 1950-64 154 lin. Twenty-one-year-old Steven A. Wowwk arrived as an infantryman in the Army's First Cavalry Division in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam in early January 1969 to fight in an escalating and . That is, to keep them out of shock, to stop the bleeding, and also as much as possible prevent infection if you could.". Vietnam Veterans represent the largest cohort of American Veterans in . Title: 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam (US Army Photo) [photograph] Journal: USARV Medical Bulletin, Vol. Background [ edit] The 95th Evacuation Hospital originally constituted as the 74th Surgical Hospital 21 December 1928. I didnt join for a noble cause or thinking I could change the world, I just wanted to see some of the world, like Germany, Japan or England, says former 1st Lt. Louise Lou Eisenbrand, RN, who was an ER nurse at the Armys 91st Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai in 196970. Lou Eisenbrand and her colleagues at Chu Lai took up waterskiing. The use of helicopters allowed wounded soldiers or Marines to reach hospitals much faster than in previous wars. On their days off, they returned to the hospital to hold the hands of dying men and comfort them as best they could. They would lace punji sticks with human feces. Topic: a journal of the liberal arts, Some remarks, by way of contrast, on war surgery, old and new, Journal of the Association of the Military Surgeons of the United States, The evolution of casualty evacuation in the British Army in the 20th century (Part II) 19181945, The contribution of the 2nd Auxiliary Surgical Group to military surgery during World War II with special references to thoracic surgery, The surgical management of the wounded in the Mediterranean theater at the time at the time of the fall of Rome, Battle casualties and medical statistics. The success of this approach has inspired emergency medical respondents around the world military and civilian to rely on helicopters as a fast mobile operating theater where the next stage of medical treatment can start even before reaching a hospital. 1st Lieutenant Cheri Hawes, US Army Nurse Corps, at desk for Emergency Room, 91st Evacuation Hospital, Chu Lai, Vietnam. Troops in military hospitals received the same help from the Red Cross as those in the field, as well as access to recreational activities. We were their mother, their wife, their girlfriend.. I can suddenly imagine the stench of gunpowder and cordite in the air. The unit's advance team arrived at the proposed site of the hospital at Red Beach Base Area near Danang on 20 March 1968. The idea of the field hospital was conceived independently in several armies, during different times, as a response to the medical needs of troops serving in remote areas. The 95th Evacuation Hospital achieved national recognition at Anzio when,[citation needed] on 7 February 1944, a German plane dropped a load of fragmentation bombs on the hospital in an effort to evade two British planes, rendering the hospital inoperable, killing 28 people, and wounding an additional 60. 7) from Jeff Quitney PRO . The goodwill didn't always work. THE 3RD FIELD HOSPITAL by Sterling B. Mutz, Maj., M.C. Moore recalls thinking, Im done with you, God. A soldier wounded during a battle with the Viet Cong in the Central Highlands is treated Built by the Colonial French government of Indochina in 1949, it became a training school for Vietnamese pilots. In the 1987 book Nurses in Vietnam: The Forgotten Veterans, former Army nurse Jacqueline Navarra Rhoads recalls this gruesome anecdote: I remember this nurse came in and she was scheduled to take the place of another nurse. The 91st EVAC. There was a large hospital at the base, and many of our men ended up in it, although I was fortunate not to be one of them. If your application was denied, and you still refused to fight, you could be sent to military prison, as Vietnam combat medic Ben Sherman found out. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. Many of the soldiers, Marines and sailors the nurses treated were very young: 18 to 22 years old, with a few as young as 17. Nha Trang Air Base. The long and storied history of this extraordinary hospital began on December 23, 1917, when it was first constituted as Evacuation Hospital Number 12 and organized at Fort Riley Kansas. Nursesworked 12 hours a day, six days a week, caring for soldiers with horrifying injuries. An aerial photograph of the Beau Desert Hospital Center in 1918 in Bazoilles-sur-Meuse . Hospital personnel adapted, finding that the combined operation of a tent evacuation hospital and a Medical Unit, Self-contained, Transportable (MUST) operating room was feasible. It serves as the primary treatment facility for U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam until 1963, when the Navy establishes its own facility in Saigon. Today, the statue is a popular tourist destination and a reminder of these often-forgotten veterans. Feel inspired by your work. Most of the nurses werent much older than their patients, and few were prepared for what they witnessed. More scenes of seriously wounded patients being treated and prepared for surgery. Facing a shortfall of more than 2,000 nurses, the Army launched an ambitious recruitment campaign called Operation Nightingale. They made great sacrifices yet have not received the recognition and respect they deserve. U.S. Army nurse takes blood pressure of patient in bed. Then enter the name part In The New York Times, Vietnam combat medic Rafael Matos recalls mundane tasks like administering tetanus shots and treatments for head lice. In reality, it is a collection of ideas, images, and information that enough people have chosen to preserve and disseminate. The Americal Division was based at Chu Lai on the northern coast of South Vietnam. When the 95th Evacuation Hospital landed in Italy 9 September 1943, it was the first U.S. hospital established on the European continent in World War II. During the early years of the Vietnam War, the Air Force used cargo planes to evacuate patients to hospitals in the rear. The use of medevac helicopters to provide in-transport medical care in the Vietnam War saved countless lives. While many who served in Vietnam longed for home, the return wasnt always easy. These men earned his respect and the respect of the nation. By the end of June, the hospital had experienced an additional 1215 admissions and 1188 outpatients for a total of 2476 admissions in the first 63 days of operation. 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam (US Army Photo) [photograph] 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam (US Army Photo) [photograph] Search this record. This claim is repeated in Vietnam veteran Tim O'Brien's semi-autobiographical short story collection,The Things They Carried. I think I was always on the verge of sleeping, waiting for that call and choppers overhead.. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive. Such speedy medical evacuation significantly improved the odds of surviving even severe wounds. The units, nicknamed hootches, each had a shower, a small kitchen and just enough room for nurses to have a few shelves as well as their footlockers. The successes of the MASH and aeromedical evacuation system in Korea were a watershed for military medical care, and the lessons learned, later applied and refined during the Vietnam War, have proved just as applicable today as they were in the 1950s. Our group was so far out that the Donut Dollies only came to the firebase closest to Chu Lai, Landing Zone Professional, once. The hospital had its own pier for disembarkation. endstream endobj startxref Course: US Since 1945, Juniata College. So troops could be injured during fighting one hour and in surgery the next. Why I ever thought that I would be able to have any impact on the war that way was way out in left field. Some didnt make it home alive, and many others were changed forever. Medics were also distinct from infantrymen in some ways. View Count 21580. @kindle.com emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply. } Many were haunted by nightmares, memories of specific incidents or soldiers they'd lost, and suicidal thoughts. According to federal law, the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War began in February 1961 and lasted until May 1975. CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed. There was some uncertainty. The 95th Evacuation Hospital was a U.S military hospital during World War II, the Vietnam War, and in Germany. For female nurses, being constantly surrounded by men could also be both a blessing and a curse. A vigorous advocacy campaign led by nurses and former nurses eventually brought about some much-need improvements. Chief of Surgical Service Lt. Col. Grantley W. Taylor, Chief of Medical Service Col. William Comess, Laboratory and Pharmacy Officer Capt. Arriving at a military base located near Qui Nhona coastal city in central Vietnamduring the second week of October 1967, Buchta wrote home to his family in Lohman, Missouri, the following month describing his assignment to a U.S. Army ambulance company that supported a military hospital. For example, according to Forbes, Vietnam combat medic and retired Lt. Col. Alfred Rascon finally received the Medal of Honor he'd been nominated for in 1966 in 2000. Although there were proposals to draft female nurses, they were never implemented. The war in Vietnam has always been a source of controversy and anger to Americans--both for the reasons it was fought, and its outcome and consequences. Not only was it necessary for the staff to build and run this tent hospital, they were also required to use their spare time to visit a new site under construction on My Khe Beach between Camp Tien Sha and Marble Mountain Air Facility. After all she had seen in Vietnam, those concerns seemed so trivial to her. Some also witnessed atrocities carried out by their own side, as Rafael Matos wrote in The New York Times. ", What It Was Really Like As A Medic In The Vietnam War, Congressional Committee on Veteran Affairs. Known as U. S. Army Hospital Ryukyu Islands, the hospital provided medical treatment for U. S. forces operating throughout the Pacific. The 95th Evacuation Hospital was a U.S military hospital during World War II, the Vietnam War, and in Germany. During the Gulf War, in October 1990 the 5th MASH, 44th Medical Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, deployed to Saudi Arabia and was the first fully functional Army Hospital in country. Some women met and married their husbands in Vietnam, while others enjoyed having their pick of available men in a freewheeling environment. The Vietnam War produced a number of important advances in medical practice. Some nurses were harassed by doctors and other members of the military. Although most infantry guys greatly appreciated and respected the nurses, not everyone showed those good angels the same respect. New arrivals quickly noticed that military buses had black chicken wire over the windows to keep out grenades and shrapnel. Vietnam Special Forces combat medic Gary Michael Rose told the Army website that under heavy fire, he could only give the wounded enough morphine to help them walk without assistance. Eight of these medals were awarded posthumously. I was drafted at age 19 and served in Vietnam from September 1969 to September 1970 with Company C, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment, 196th-198th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal). Loading January 15, 1964 Staff Sergeant Howard Stevens Tour of Duty (1987-1990) The trials of a U.S. Army platoon serving in the field during the Vietnam War. Other people who became medics volunteered. Because of this phenomenon, Vietnam nurses were faced with more patients and more severely wounded men than they had seen in previous conflicts. Combat nurses worked twelve hour shifts six days a week and when a mass casualty incident occurred, like a major battle, those twelve hour shifts could easily turn into twenty-four to thirty-six hour shifts. Becoming a medic was also an option for conscientious objectors who had been drafted. The Us americans' entry into the war place pressure on the German government. During 1966 and 1967, four surgical hospitals, six evacuationhospitals, and another hospital unit of a field hospital arrived in-country. f$@haio T;f"U -0K/hQ? South Vietnam-a minimum of 50,000. The history of the military field hospital is, to a large extent, the history of military medicine, reflecting the symbiosis between surgical treatment and medical evacuation. Donut Dollies also traveled to outlying bases and landing zones to talk with the GIs there and play games they had brought along. The number of American personnel wounded in combat during the Vietnam War outnumbered those killed in action by more than six to one. I dont think I ever slept in Vietnam, Evans says. Their lives were in my hands. Active on the job training in all specialties of medicine was performed by medical corps officers and Vietnamese physicians as well. Veterans organizations werent always welcoming of women whod served. This was the first time blood type O negative had been used for universal donations which it still is today. Many films and TV programs about U.S. involvement in Vietnam do not depict a single American nurse. A nurse attempts to comfort a wounded U.S. Army soldier in a ward of the 8th army hospital at Nha Trang in South Vietnam on February 7, 1965. To say challenging doesnt come close to the feelings that I had about being incompetent. 12 July 1971. ft. 472.3 RECORDS OF HEADQUARTERS OF THE U.S. MILITARY ASSISTANCE COMMAND VIETNAM (MACV) 1958-73 2,270 lin. Once the US started to escalate its presence in the area in the 1960's, the tunnels where expanded and the tunnel system covered a distance of over 250 kilometres, from the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh city . 472.3.2 Records of the Office of the Deputy Chief . An Army documentary filmed during the war (which you can find on YouTube) shows nurses shopping, reading, visiting the hair salon, writing letters, playing with civilian orphans and training the Vietnamese Womens Army Corps in their spare time. This new medevac system saved the lives of thousands of men who in previous conflicts would have died in the battlefield waiting for medical assistance. %%EOF Vietnam was miserably hot and humid, which made the nylon stockings required with the white nurses uniform very uncomfortable. We didnt just take care of their physical wounds, any nurse that has served in any war zone will tell you, says Grace Lilleg Moore, who was a second lieutenant at the Armys 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi in 196869. Has data issue: true 2. ", Through therapy, new jobs, veteran centers, and moresurprising sources, former medical staff of the Vietnam War found their way back to civilian life. Medical, surgical and consultative assistance was provided to the DuyTon and Provincial Hospital of Da Nang on a regular basis. Nurses generally saw many more dead bodies than infantry troops did. hbbd``b`]@*lZA"k V`biX@; Many wounded soldiers became amputees and some were left paralyzed. Soon, communist North Vietnam additionally the United States got included besides. Adding to the challenges, some of the makeshift hospitals had no running water or air conditioning. Flying into the middle of battles in the chaos of the jungle, the Dustoff crews were at a high risk of getting hit, either with a bullet or artillery. The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The first was Desmond Doss, who was honored for his actions at the battle of Hacksaw Ridge in World War II. While in nursing school she was told that if she enlisted the military would provide money that she could use to pay for her last year of school. is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings The enemy became very crafty, recalls Diane Carlson Evans, an Army Nurse Corps first lieutenant who remained with the Corps for five years after returning from Vietnam and later became a leading advocate for female Vietnam veterans. To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service. 126 0 obj <> endobj Usually the more confident and experienced the nurse, the better they were able to cope with the stress and the sheer number of casualties they treated on a daily basis. Then, parallel to various developments in medicine, especially surgery, its cardinal mission turned to saving lives and preventing disabilities in battle casualties. They made great sacrifices yet have not received the recognition and respect they deserve. They were assigned in the II, III, and IV combat tactical zones at the 8th (Nha Trang) and 3d and 17th (Saigon) Field Hospitals, the 12th (Cu Chi), 24th (Long Historical Archival Stock Footage in True HD. In fact, more than 6,000 U.S. nurses the large majority of them women served in Vietnam during the war. When she saw me, I went to greet her and I had this leg under my arm. Bennett has the distinction of being the second conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. During World War II the 95th Evacuation Hospital operated as a 400-bed mobile hospital. During World War 2, military regulations had expressly forbidden nurses to marry while in service. They even did much-needed but grizzly dental work. Sometimes 60 wounded or dead would arrive simultaneously, and about 15 nurses and doctors on duty had to make quick decisions about which of the wounded they could save and which they could not. Operating team of doctors, nurses and medics working on seriously wounded soldier.Doctor tries to revive patient with heart massage. by a nurse at an Army hospital on the South Vietnamese coast in February 1965. Patient is carried on litter from emergency room to operating room. 1880. Some of the U.S.S Repose's nurses on the Navy Nurse Corps birthday. After a battle, we would move wounded and dead from the field and onto a helicopter. According to the U.S. Army Medical Department, 19 medics who served in Vietnam have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor. The Vietnam War was the first major conflict to use the helicopter to transport wounded quickly to medical facilities; sometimes a man would be in the hospital receiving medical care barely half an hour after he had been wounded. Search this record. I had no experience in emergency room, no trauma or intensive care training, recalls Marsha Four, RN, a former ANC first lieutenant. Field Hospital for Vietnam War: "MUST - Medical Unit Self-Contained Transportable" 1966 US Army (Your Army Reports No. [1] It was activated at Fort Warren, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1 June 1941. Virtual Recruiter Meet and Greet Thursdays, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan ORourke, On the Case with a Health Facilities Evaluator Nurse, Spine Program Nursing, Stephanie Johnstone, Casa Colina, Aaron Severson and Lorilea Johnson, RN, MSN, FNP-BC. Improvised weapons and booby traps presented some unique hazards. Most Vietnam-era military nurses were in the Army, with smaller numbers serving in the Navy Nurse Corps and a handful in the Air Force. Recruiters targeted high schools, colleges and career fairs; ran newspaper articles; aired radio and television commercials; and assigned existing Army nurses to work as recruitment counselors. Writing in The New York Times, Vietnam combat medic Rafael Matos of the First Armored Division explained that during the Tet Offensive, he and his fellow three medics were constantly on duty. These Vietnam War photos taken by U.S. Army photographers reveal a side of the conflict that few people have ever seen. Kovic found himself being treated in unbearable conditions by nurses and doctors who were often being overworked and unsupported. ONeill used her experiences as the basis for a collection of short fiction stories, Dont Mean Nothing, published in 2001. They were able to serve their country and save and comfort the wounded men in their facilities. Every person who ever worked or lived on a medical base became conditioned to feel a rush of adrenaline at the distinctive whoop, whoop, whoop sound of an approaching helicopter. @free.kindle.com emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. In practice, Army nurses usually wore fatigues, despite frequent complaints that they werent feminine enough for women. In the jungle, that meant reminding soldiers to take their malaria tablets and stay hydrated. Nurses who went to work in civilian hospitals after the war were often frustrated by the limitations of their jobs. 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