Doc. Fred,

No doubt in my mind that as a group we done very very good.
It has always bothered me though that I had and have very little on which to judge how well or poorly I did as an individual.I mostly worked field aid stations and as a 91C I was usually in charge from a medical standpoint unless the Bn. surgeon happened to be there and he was pretty fond of hanging out at the rear aid station.Serious/critical trauma cases we handled as well and as quickly as we could then stuck em on a bird and rarely ever heard about them again.Did they live?Did they die?Did we do good or did we screw up and if so how?Almost never knew and I still wonder.
Trying to conduct sick-call with no lab,X-ray,etc.,etc. was also an awful lot of fun.

Surely do hope we get a chance to meet up at the camp out and compare notes.

Be Well,

Hal

Was young and proud
 

I volunteered, RA all the way, Believed everything I was told, Knew I was going for God and Country. Stop the yellow menace, Pull the plug on the commie domino effect. When I got there I wanted to be the best, I was a hunter, had been since I was 5 years old. Was raised with the indians, The older guys that my grandfather hung around with taught Ray and I how to track and how to listen to the forest. My brother and I used to hunt together when we were 8 and 10. Found I had a knack for hunting bad guys and killing did not bother me at all, It was my job and my duty. Kept at it and enjoyed being able to play in their own back yard and get away with it. I loved war and I hated war.

Now I am basically against war unless we are directly threatened as a nation. I agreed with Afganistan did not with Iraq.

Doc,

We had a 95% survival rate. This was higher than at any time in the history of the world. The fruits of your labors are all around you.

All you Doc's were angels. Thank you.

I was told (at Ft. Sam I think) that the greatest advances in medicine were developed during wars. That's not hard to believe. I was not thrilled to be drafted, but I went. We had to stop the spread of Communism and who else could do it.

When I arrived at Ft. Sam, we were told the training was cut to 10 weeks, because they needed to get replacement medics to Viet Nam at a faster rate. I also heard stories of what short careers the medics had if assigned to the infantry. About a third of our class got orders for VN as our first assignment.

I was one of the lucky ones who who became a REMF. Primarily providing coverage at the airfield in case of a chopper crash. We did a lot of MedCAP clinics, which made me feel I was doing a good thing and helping to win their hearts and minds.

At first, I was glad we were there. We were doing the right thing. After the first chopper crash, I saw things a little different. After putting most of a pilot in a bag and cleaning myself up, I realized I was several years older than I had been that morning.

I guess my answer is mixed feelings.

Doc

Dick [Doc145thcab]
 

It's good to see you posting again. Did you get my email?

Steve,

Yes I got your message. Up to my butt in alligators at work, but I'll try to get back to you. I'm going to edit my profile for my new Comcast address and you can get to me at home.

Doc