I was a totally, totally green nurse. Nha Trang Air Base is a military airfield in Vietnam, located 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northwest of Nha Trang in Khnh Ha Province. 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. Many nurses, usually women in their early 20s, volunteered to serve in Vietnam because they wanted to go where they believed they could accomplish the most good, even though they were heading into a war that was unpopular with much of the country. When she saw me, I went to greet her and I had this leg under my arm. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. The U.S. Army Support Command, Vietnam, reactivated the 3rd Field Hospital in May 1965 to provide the best medical facilities in the country for American Forces. Despite supply shipping delays, construction of the first 100 beds was completed by 10 April. Medics went into battle with very limited supplies as many bandages, gauze rolls, and morphine syringes as they could carry or persuade others to carry, and possibly an IV bag and a pair of scissors. Some volunteer medics saw the job as a way to serve their country, while others believed it would be an opportunity to get medical training they otherwise couldn't afford, as Vietnam combat medic Rafael Matos wrote in The New York Times. Lou Eisenbrand and her colleagues at Chu Lai took up waterskiing. 11/9/2016 12:00:46 AM. An individuals status depended on the amount of time spent in-country. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Some of the U.S.S Repose's nurses on the Navy Nurse Corps birthday. Background [ edit] The 95th Evacuation Hospital originally constituted as the 74th Surgical Hospital 21 December 1928. by a nurse at an Army hospital on the South Vietnamese coast in February 1965. For most of my tour, I was an assistant M60 machine gunner or the gunner. Vietnam War Tunnels Tour Chu Chi & Long Tan Battle Field. While soldiers could hunker down during bombardments, the medic ran towards the enemy to find the wounded, often with little more than a few bandages, some morphine, and a pair of blunt scissors, and little to no medical training. The Korean War led to even greater savings of lives by the use of helicopters for battlefield evacuations and much quicker removal to more capable medical facilities, such as MASH hospitals, well known to all of us. This is a story I needed to tell, and I am only 50 years too late. Offering advice, they helped plan the future move of their respective sections onto the new site (a move that was scheduled to start by 4 July). 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. There was also no guarantee that even a seemingly friendly and sympathetic local wasnt a Viet Cong agent or sympathizer. These men earned his respect and the respect of the nation. Troops in military hospitals received the same help from the Red Cross as those in the field, as well as access to recreational activities. The 3rd Field Hospital, with an illustrious history of service in the South Pacific during W.W.II and in Korea, was reactivated at Ft. Lewis, Washington on 11 March 1965 to provide medical support for a rapidly expanding US commitment in another fight for freedom. 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. Vietnam combat physician Dr. David Cromwell recalled that on one occasion, the building the villagers had given permission for his team to work from had been booby trapped with a tripwire. It provides both medical care and medical logistics. Those who recovered were often sent back out to fight again. China Beach (1988-1991) The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital. I thought, I have got to go over there and try to stop this war and stop the hurting, says Marj Graves, RN, who was stationed at the Armys 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh in 197172 and rose to the rank of captain. 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 Air Force then dedicated several C-118 airplanes for aeromedical evacuation. From 2001 to 2006 soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan sustained 3854 lower extremity and 3349 upper extremity injuries classified as serious by forward medical teams. Nurses witnessed some truly miraculous events such as men recovering from their wounds or acts of true selflessness that are common during combat situations, and many nurses made close friends with their fellow coworkers some of whom still keep in contact into the present day. 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. According to We Are the Mighty, most had an M16A1 rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, and grenades. My God wouldnt do this to these boys. Others found themselves becoming callous or just numb. 0 Comments. Nurses motivations for joining the military were as diverse as the nurses themselves. LORILEA JOHNSON, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner who has worked in urgent care for the past 20 years. By conserving construction resources, the unit was able to construct a tropical structure suitable for air-conditioning. This was especially true during the brutal and deadly Tet Offensive. Veterans organizations werent always welcoming of women whod served. We transferred patients from field hospitals to the 3rd field hospital. Bennett has the distinction of being the second conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. During the war, more than 58,000 servicemen and women lost their lives. Alongside professional nurses in the hospitals was a group of young Red Cross volunteers who had inherited the name Donut Dollies from World War II women who passed out coffee and doughnuts to the troops. 126 0 obj <> endobj NSA Hospital Danang Vietnam PJ Kelly 115 subscribers Subscribe 356 Save 92K views 12 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines) Almost yours: 2 weeks, on us 100+ live. 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. The 91st EVAC. MASH units continued to serve in various conflicts including the Vietnam War. [6], Commanding Officers: Col. Paul K. Sauer, Lt. Col. Hubert L. Binkley (commander after Sauer was wounded in the 7 February bombing.) They followed the soldiers into battle, fixed up the injured as much as possible, and tried to get them to safety. Theora L. Peyton (Arlington, VA), changes an intravenous saline bottle on a patient at the 3rd Field Hospital. is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings The Army apparently already misinformed the woman that her son had died from his wounds. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. The main virtues of the field hospital have always been its mobility and the ability of its team to resuscitate and operate on battle casualties, near the front line. Because of this phenomenon, Vietnam nurses were faced with more patients and more severely wounded men than they had seen in previous conflicts. Many wounded soldiers became amputees and some were left paralyzed. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Authors: Rodney Searle, Denise Bell, Paul Danaher, Gregory Anderson. Active on the job training in all specialties of medicine was performed by medical corps officers and Vietnamese physicians as well. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive. 1, no. Published & distributed by 1st (Aust) Field Hospital Association Inc. ABN 42 805 791 858. A soldier would step on it: instant injury and certain infection.. During the Vietnam War 98% of the men who were wounded and made it to the hospital survived. Katoch, R, Rajagopalan, S. Warfare injuries: history, triage, transport and field hospital setup in the armed forces. Called by many the turning point in the Vietnam War, the Tet offensive was a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and small towns in South Vietnam by North Vietnamese and . Nurses sometimes found novel ways of blowing off steam between shifts. It was wonderful. Cogan eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. f$@haio T;f"U -0K/hQ? Flip through the pages of the latest Working Nurse magazine on your device. ONeill said she once saw about 30 men severely burned from a helicopter crash and realized with horror that all were going to die from fatal injuries. 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. The nurses had to face pain and death day after day. In particular, medics may have used M&Ms when they had determined that someone probably wasn't going to survive, instead of wasting precious morphine. A dozen Army nurses typically shared each unit. Some developed symptoms of what is now identified as PTSD. Doctors and nurses treat wounded soldier.Seriously wounded U.S. soldier in Vietnam carried into hospital on stretcher (litter). According to official United States government statistics, 1,857,304 men were drafted through the Selective Service during the Vietnam War (specifically between August 1964 and February 1973.) During 1966 and 1967, four surgical hospitals, six evacuationhospitals, and another hospital unit of a field hospital arrived in-country. A helicopter was shot down on our side of firebase Landing Zone Judy the morning I left for home, and 30 men died that day too. In 1984, Carlson Evans launched a campaign for a memorial to the women who'd served in Vietnam, which was finally approved and unveiled near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in 1993. Nurses arriving in Vietnam quickly found that the climate didnt lend itself to the glamour the recruitment posters had promised. Many soldiers encountered one particular health issue while stationed on bases further out. 32. To save content items to your account, The remainder of the staff then moved approximately 60 patients. 1st Lieutenant Cheri Hawes, US Army Nurse Corps, at desk for Emergency Room, 91st Evacuation Hospital, Chu Lai, Vietnam. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. When they went to work in civilian hospitals, they were confined to more limited roles. Like other soldiers, combat medics were trained in fitness drills, firearms (unless they were conscientious objectors), and how not to get shot. The patient census was also reduced as low as the situation would allow. By March 11, 1968, Buchta and his fellow soldiers were at a military base a few miles south of the city of Quang Tri and making all the necessary preparations to get the hospitals up and running to receive the influx of casualties from the field. APS-71-796 Vietnam. Six months before I graduated, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, and they paid for my last year of school. One 1964 ad showed an attractive, well-scrubbed nurse at work and out on the town, emphasizing that modern nursings most stimulating jobs also included the fine social life that is part of being an Army officer., Another Army brochure actually declared, Dont be surprised if a diamond crops up on your left hand!, As the war escalated, some ads appealed to nurses patriotism, but glamour and empowerment remained central recruiting messages. At its peak in 1969, the Red Cross operated 67 field stations in Vietnam staffed by more than 200 field personnel. Medical researchers in Vietnam also experimented with adding small amounts of adenine, an amino acid, which extended blood's viability to 40 days. 2,000,000 Vietnamese civilians died. Some women met and married their husbands in Vietnam, while others enjoyed having their pick of available men in a freewheeling environment. Also near Da Nangabout a three-hour drive by motorbikeis Sn M, location of the M Lai Massacre. On the plus side, nurses enjoyed far greater authority and autonomy than in any civilian setting. 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. Yet, the field hospital is a keystone of the chain of medical responsibility on the battlefield. And I had no idea this might bother her. But as Vietnam nurse Joanie Moscatelli told Whyy, "I don't think the war ever ends. That was it. Improvised weapons and booby traps presented some unique hazards. Render date: 2023-03-01T19:35:57.926Z Nov 8, 2018. America- a minimum of 64,500. Combat medics in Vietnam often weren't able to carry enough morphine to relieve every injured soldier's pain. Many nurses were recruited directly out of nursing school. The rate of major amputations, 5.2% of all serious injuries and 7.4% of all major limb injuries, is similar to earlier conflicts, including Vietnam. The hospital also provided medical care to the Free World Military Assistance Forces and civilian war casualties. Returning nurses were treated at times as poorly as the troops who came back from Vietnam. 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 To maintain the supply, the U.S. Army Pacific and U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) built a donor and distribution system traversing the U.S., Japan, and South Vietnam. At home, nurses were expected to be subservient to physicians and were still often saddled with menial chores. Between 1966 and February 1973, 43 Army physical therapists, 33 of whom were women, served in South Vietnam. They made great sacrifices yet have not received the recognition and respect they deserve. Medical, surgical and consultative assistance was provided to the DuyTon and Provincial Hospital of Da Nang on a regular basis. The initial phase of construction included the preparation of defensive fortifications, perimeter wire and tentage for billets. ca. Many films and TV programs about U.S. involvement in Vietnam do not depict a single American nurse. 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. The hospital was used as the basis for the fictional 510th Evacuation Hospital in the American television series China Beach. Worse, some colleagues who opposed the war looked down on them. The CSH capabilities include triage and emergency care, outpatient services, inpatient care, pharmacy, clinical laboratory, blood banking, radiology, physical therapy, medical logistics,. (AP) The nurses in Vietnam were among the most heroic Americans there. 8th Field Hospital in Vietnam. Making her own decisions. Photo taken by Capt Auerback MC, provided by Dr Andy Auerback Error loading comments Retry 7,429 views 4 faves 3 comments Uploaded on June 24, 2015 All rights reserved Additional info } Item Description. By the last week of June, Red Beach personnel were reduced to a minimum. Military recruiters sometimes led nurses to believe that only those women who volunteered would be sent to Vietnam which made for a rude surprise upon receiving orders to ship out. Loading January 15, 1964 Staff Sergeant Howard Stevens Shows wounded soldiers in beds in the air inflatable ward element of the \"MUST hospital\". 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. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Chief of Surgical Service Lt. Col. Grantley W. Taylor, Chief of Medical Service Col. William Comess, Laboratory and Pharmacy Officer Capt. When those nurses returned to the United States, many often found that their vast medical experience gained in Vietnam was of no value. Photo of soldiers convalescing outside a hospital in Fredericksburg, VA in May 1864. For example, the AEF suffered 70,000 wounded, 19,000 gassed, 2,000 psychiatric casualties, and 69,000 sick and injured in the Meuse-Argonne fighting from 28 September to 11 November 1918. Yet the nurses had made an enormous difference in the lives of so many young GIs. She did and heard a scream on the other end of the line. Return. [1], The 95th Evacuation Hospital was activated in Heidelberg, Germany on 15 November 1994.[1]. 1880. Item Description "To say 'challenging' doesn't come close to the feelings that I had about being incompetent. It seemed that few people cared. It was a blessing to see them. 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. Total loading time: 0 This iswhat it was really like as a medic in the Vietnam War. After training in Texas to be a field paramedic or hospital assistant, I treated clinic patients for a week. N'T come close to the Free World military Assistance forces and civilian War casualties more severely wounded than. 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