A VIETNAM WAR MEDIC - ME!

It was like predestination for me. Uncle Sam trained me in San Antonio, TX to take X-Rays.The work was clean and I went about my training. Then to Fort Dix for OJT. My Vietnam Orders arrived in Late January. I was surprised and amazed.


The war build-up was staggering. Oakland Army Base was rife with GIs. I arrived 2 days early and saw the night life of San Francisco and it Topless Bars. Going to Vietnam was uncertain. First Hawaii then to Okinawa. Still no definition to my life.


Upon landing in Vietnam my life began to take a definite course. Long Binh was my first stop then a flight across the jungles into VUNG TAU a tourist city on the South China Sea! I had little to fear. All of newbies were reassured of the safety Vung Tau offered.


The Air Field was distant from the Village Bars.The 36thEvac Hospital was recipient of war casualties. Doctors and nurses aided the wounded. I met an Army Nurse from Worcester, Sharon Werme. Our Chaplain was Worcester born Rev. Danny Doyle who delivered me a copy of THE WORCESTER TELEGRAM!


In the absence of any combat my daily work was routine. I took x-rays on a 60 MA machine. My lab was lined with sheets of lead and I hand-developed Kodak films in the chemicals and attendant rinse. I served 5 doctors and two dentists. I didn't have a clue what it was like to fight!


I can still hear the prop planes taking off each morning at 6:00 AM. Pallets of U.S. Mail and Black Label beer arrived daily!


I wore OD green fatigues and after work we were allowed to travel to the Vung Tau Village in the back of a Deuce and a Half. It was an amazing experience for me.WAR? I don't think so. Today, I have a Vietnamese Lacquer hanging on my office wall.


There weren't any telephones for us in Vung Tau just MARS.


As far as Demonstrations went back in the USA we knew little and were questioned by the friendly Australians.


Every Sunday we would go to Front Beach for our weekly 'beer-drinking' R & R. Some GI's even had surf-boards! A juke box blared from the stage. WAR?


The biggest problem seemed to be prostitution. It was epidemic and as a Medic we handled the brunt of it. For a while I was a spokesperson for the 345th Medical Detachment. Our doctors were so discouraged.


We received Combat Pay. I sent home a monthly allotment.


The bottom line to my year in Vietnam  was I was very, very lucky. No baggage, maturity, luck.