Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. New arrivals quickly noticed that military buses had black chicken wire over the windows to keep out grenades and shrapnel. 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. The hospital was then reorganized and re-designated as the 95th Evacuation Hospital 14 August 1942. The Army Nurse Corps had accepted men since 1955, while the Navy Nurse Corps commissioned its first male nurses in 1965. Fellow Vietnam combat medic Roger Buchta said medics also learned how to treat shock and administer an IV, as well as basic anatomy. Specializing in the field of her choice.. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Virginia, and arrived with the 17th Field Hospital, Saigon, in March 1966. ft. and 1,654 rolls of microfilm. After completing basic training in bases around the U.S., some were assigned as combat medics and transferred for ten weeks of medical training, often to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. The tenseness of the situation is evident in the manner in which the medical team rushes about as each one does their duty. Vietnam combat medic Rafael Matos wrote in The New York Times that they didn't have to worry about their appearance, and they didn't have to take orders that conflicted with lifesaving care. And I had no idea this might bother her. 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. Re: Field Hospitals Vietnam 1966 Rebecca Collier Aug 14, 2019 2:50 PM ( in response to John Church ) Dear Mr. Church, Thank you for posting your follow-up request on History Hub! 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. I felt the same way as I left my fellow infantrymen when my tour in Vietnam was over. Medical evacuation missions carried out by UH-1 Iroquois helicopters ("Hueys")became known as Dustoffs, after a call sign used by the first iteration of this type of helicopter in the 57th Medical Detachment. Unlike in other wars, Vietnam medics carried weapons. There were so many traumatic things that happened. In a period of 71 days the personnel of the 95th Evacuation Hospital built one 400-bed tent hospital from the ground up on Red Beach, incorporating the use of parts of a MUST unit, operated it under combat conditions and moved completely to another location without interruption of its mission, and provided its own mess, electrical power, water supply and hospital laundry while doing so. As early as 1962, the buildup in Vietnam highlighted the urgent need for more military nurses. Many others, however, were like Susan ONeill, who was misled by military recruiters. 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. Some women met and married their husbands in Vietnam, while others enjoyed having their pick of available men in a freewheeling environment. 7 (Oct./Dec. The assignment was simply the luck or bad luck of the draw. ", Through therapy, new jobs, veteran centers, and moresurprising sources, former medical staff of the Vietnam War found their way back to civilian life. They arrived in Vietnam with various levels of nursing experience, from newcomers to the field with barley six months of Nursing under their belts to experienced veterans of twenty plus years. 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. I'm trying to take the pain away just enough where you are not going to be screaming or moving around or jerking," he said. CU of oxygen mask. She was promoted to captain late in 1970 according to letter from Lieutenant Cheri Hawes. (Some Vietnam combat medics arguably still haven't.) A few male nurses who served in Vietnam were draftees, part of a mostly unsuccessful effort to fill ongoing shortages. The6th Convalescent Center was established at Cam Ranh Bay. U.S. Army nurse takes blood pressure of patient in bed. The CSH capabilities include triage and emergency care, outpatient services, inpatient care, pharmacy, clinical laboratory, blood banking, radiology, physical therapy, medical logistics,. After their tours, many nurses like many medics and soldiers struggled to readjust to life in the U.S. Prev Next ANCA's Vietnam Veterans. 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. Fortunately not every day as a medic in Vietnam meant running into battles and treating grievously injured soldiers. Many films and TV programs about U.S. involvement in Vietnam do not depict a single American nurse. Sometimes when the medevac copter took off carrying a soldier with a minor wound you wished it was you. During 1966 and 1967, four surgical hospitals, six evacuationhospitals, and another hospital unit of a field hospital arrived in-country. By Aaron Severson and Lorilea Johnson, RN, MSN, FNP-BCOctober 5, 2020. According to NPR, this scarcity of supplies led Vietnam medics to resort to using M&Ms as a placebo. It used UH-1 "Huey" helicopters. 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. Intravenous procedures and oxygen are administered. The 91st EVAC. Nursesworked 12 hours a day, six days a week, caring for soldiers with horrifying injuries. 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 . During World War 2, military regulations had expressly forbidden nurses to marry while in service. Nurses sometimes found novel ways of blowing off steam between shifts. The military hospital at Netley, near Southhampton, the final destination of many of the hospital ships from the Boer War, First World War and Second World War. CU image of blood pressure measuring device on patient's arm. This claim is repeated in Vietnam veteran Tim O'Brien's semi-autobiographical short story collection,The Things They Carried. 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. Despite the long hours and sometimes horrifying wounds these women had to face, many nurses found their service rewarding. He told the Army's website, "Your job, as a medic, is to maintain the person's life. Chief of Surgical Service Lt. Col. Grantley W. Taylor, Chief of Medical Service Col. William Comess, Laboratory and Pharmacy Officer Capt. Physical Description .JPG, 1 Photograph Recommended Citation Cayetano E. Barrera's Vietnam War Photograph Collection, UTRGV Digital Library, The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley. By conserving construction resources, the unit was able to construct a tropical structure suitable for air-conditioning. 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. The nurses served in the hospital ships of the Navy, the airlift helicopters and airplanes of the Air Force and the hospitals and field hospitals of the Army. In addition to dealing with repressed emotional trauma, they found civilian nursing frustratingly unchallenging, hampered by regulations that prevented them from performing basic tasks they'd done every day in the field. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. 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 candy had been popular with soldiers since World War II. During my final 30 days, I was promoted to sergeant, which made me a squad leader. 472.3.1 Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Joint Staff. Today, the statue is a popular tourist destination and a reminder of these often-forgotten veterans. 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 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. Why I ever thought that I would be able to have any impact on the war that way was way out in left field. Factored into the initial construction was the directive to ensure proper surgical conditions in the tropics for patients with traumatic injuries. So troops could be injured during fighting one hour and in surgery the next. [37], Air Force "Outstanding Unit Award with Valor" Vietnam 1972-1973, Medical Unit, Self-contained, Transportable, List of former United States Army medical units, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=95th_Evacuation_Hospital&oldid=1088499841, August 14, 1942 Fort Warren, Wyoming, 74th Surgical Hospital re-designated 95th Evacuation Hospital, September 19, 1942 Camp Breckinridge, Morganfield, Kentucky, April 2, 1943 Camp Shanks, Orangeburg, New York, April 15, 1943 Departed New York Harbor for North Africa aboard the USS Mariposa, July 8, 1943 Ain el Turck, Algeria in support of Operation Husky (Sicily), September 5, 1943 Departed Oran, Algeria, aboard the Dutch ship Marnix, September 9, 1943 Landed Paestum, Italy, Operation Avalanche, D-day +H-11, January 8, 1944 Departed Capua for Caserta, in preparation for Operation Shingle, January 23, 1944 Boarded LST #163, for Anzio, Italy, Green Beach, D-day +1, February 7, 1944 Bombing killed 26, wounded 60, rendered hospital nonfunctional, February 11, 1944 Riardo (Cassino), Italy, June 13, 1944 Montalto di Castro, Italy, July 1618, 1944 Sparanise, Italy, Operation Dragoon, August 12, 1944 Departed Pozzuoli, Italy, aboard 2 LCIs (#188 and an unknown), August 15, 1944 Cavalaire, France, D-Day H-8, August 17, 1944 Cogolin, France, not in operation, August 2831, 1944 Closed, awaiting movement orders and transportation, September 3, 1944 Beaumont (Beaumont-de-Aspre), October 9, 1944 Epinal (Renauvoid), France, January 3, 1945 Epinal (Golbey), France, January 8, 1945 Departed for Sarrebourg, France, Late MayJune (possibly after May 21) Bretton, Germany, This page was last edited on 18 May 2022, at 11:13. 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. hbbd``b`]@*lZA"k V`biX@; 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 . Nurses were noncombatants, but that didnt necessarily mean they were safe. When she saw me, I went to greet her and I had this leg under my arm. As the recruiting ads had said, women in uniform seldom lacked for male attention, whether welcome or not. One nurse said a seriously wounded soldier asked her to call his mother. The goodwill didn't always work. Medical researchers in Vietnam also experimented with adding small amounts of adenine, an amino acid, which extended blood's viability to 40 days. She collapsed on the ground in a dead faint. After training in Texas to be a field paramedic or hospital assistant, I treated clinic patients for a week. The Vietnam War produced a number of important advances in medical practice. 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. Following American soldiers into the line of fire, hoping to prevent them from becoming yet more casualties, were their medics. The range of professional capabilities available (including four full-time dispensaries and Neurology, Dermatology, Special Radiologic Procedures, Oral Surgery, Psychiatric Consultations, Orthopedic Surgery, NeuroSurgery, General Surgery Services) made the 95th Evacuation Hospital a referral center for difficult and sophisticated cases in Northern Military Region I. A soldier would step on it: instant injury and certain infection.. by a nurse at an Army hospital on the South Vietnamese coast in February 1965. Photo by SP5 Logan McMinn, USA Sp Photo Det, Pac, fn, Nurse Corps formed up in ranks for an inspection. Claire Starnes Collection (Vietnam Women Veterans Association) [VA053676], Vietnam Center 6th Triennial Symposium Session - Saving Lives in Vietnam: Nurses, Aidmen, and Dustoff Pilots, William Foulke Collection (Department of the Army Special Photographic Office (DASPO)) [va035970], Frances T. Shea Buckley Collection [va045054], Frances T. Shea Buckley Collection [va044489], Frances T. Shea Buckley Collection [va044893], Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, 2023 Texas Tech University, 2023 Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive. [4] Among the dead were two officers, three nurses, 16 enlisted men, a Red Cross worker, and two other personnel. Like the infantrymen, they didn't have body armor or bulletproof helmets. The 95th Evacuation Hospital originally constituted as the 74th Surgical Hospital 21 December 1928. Search this record. History is not a fixed set of facts. After all she had seen in Vietnam, those concerns seemed so trivial to her. This is a story I needed to tell, and I am only 50 years too late. Some nurses missed the strong bond theyd formed with their comrades, which they rarely found again. A soldier wounded during a battle with the Viet Cong in the Central Highlands is treated Some were nationally recognized for their heroism. The Americal Division was based at Chu Lai on the northern coast of South Vietnam. Feel inspired by your work. Top 10 Vietnam War Telefilms/TV Shows. Eight of these medals were awarded posthumously. To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org As today, some nurses joined for financial reasons. Unfortunately, that autonomy and responsibility didnt erase gendered expectations. I can suddenly imagine the stench of gunpowder and cordite in the air. 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. It was wonderful. Cogan eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His fellow combat medic veteran James Cruz was sent to a refugee camp in the mountains. 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. In terms of medical treatment, the response needed to be fast. 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. Active on the job training in all specialties of medicine was performed by medical corps officers and Vietnamese physicians as well. 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. (AP) The nurses in Vietnam were among the most heroic Americans there. My unit was in one of the tougher areas of the warthe Central Highlands, near Laos. We were their mother, their wife, their girlfriend.. 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. 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 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. In this Article: Historical Nurses, Nurses at War, Vietnam War. True HD Direct Film Transfers - Full ProRes HQ Downloads.http://www.buyoutfootage.com/pages/titles/pd_dc_532.htmlVietnam 1969 Surgical Field Hospital MUSTU.S. 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. Published & distributed by 1st (Aust) Field Hospital Association Inc. ABN 42 805 791 858. 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. Although most infantry guys greatly appreciated and respected the nurses, not everyone showed those good angels the same respect. The Army Nurse in Vietnam. . We transferred patients from field hospitals to the 3rd field hospital. Doctor, nurse and medics administer emergency treatment to a seriously wounded soldier in Vietnam. But, I knew I couldmake a difference nursing-wise, and so I volunteered to go.. 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. Many never spoke of their experiences in Vietnam, which deepened their postwar stress and depression. The soldier was one of more than 100 who were wounded during Viet Cong attacks on two U.S. military compounds at Pleiku, 240 miles north of Saigon. The hootches also had rats, bugs and frequent problems with mold and mildew. Because of this phenomenon, Vietnam nurses were faced with more patients and more severely wounded men than they had seen in previous conflicts. ANCA Service. From there, the worst cases would be flown on to a more remote and better equipped hospital, for example in Saigon, or even to a ship hospital like the U.S.S. I dont think I ever slept in Vietnam, Evans says. Troops in military hospitals received the same help from the Red Cross as those in the field, as well as access to recreational activities. This was especially true during the brutal and deadly Tet Offensive. US Army 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam 1968 This is the 3rd Field Hospital located in Saigon. 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. Vets make up 9.7% of their generation. Harry J. Schneider, X-ray Officer Capt. 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. Vietnam was the first major conflict to use helicopters to get injured soldiers out of combat zones quickly and deliver them to military hospitals. Army nurse in Vietnam checking medical charts at desk in holding area. The total number of casualties from that one battle was 160,000. 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. d"@(#/Hqv^0 The 95th Evacuation Hospital was a U.S military hospital during World War II, the Vietnam War, and in Germany. Many wounded soldiers became amputees and some were left paralyzed. These are some of their photos of the experience. 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. I was a totally, totally green nurse. Even when the guns were silent, medics were in charge of soldiers' general health, treating them for diseases from malaria to foot rot and unwelcome souvenirs picked up at brothels. Sanctuary, anchored mainly in Da Nang. By the time that the USNSGeiger arrived with the unit's equipment and the majority of its personnel six days later, the members of this advance team had completed a design plan for the site and begun construction of an access road with assistance from the Seabees. The Army apparently already misinformed the woman that her son had died from his wounds. She is currently completing her doctorate in nursing at Missouri State University. Others found themselves missing the intensity of their wartime experience. The wounded personnel are already aboard the Air Force C-141 which will take them on a direct flight from Vietnam to bases in the United States near specialized military medical facilities. 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