Aiding Vietnam casualties, By JOSIE MCCORMICK

Aiding Vietnam casualties, By JOSIE MCCORMICK

(EXCERPT) Staff Writer

COSHOCTON -- Dr. Ernest Kundert of Coshocton, may have been in Japan
when the Tet Offensive took place, but he still saw firsthand its
destructive effects.

The Tet Offensive was launched Jan. 31, 1968, in Vietnam, when 70,000
North Vietnamese soldiers staged battles in more than 100 cities,
including Saigon.

North Vietnamese soldiers, caught American forces off-guard by
breaking a truce that they had sworn to observe during Tet, the lunar
New Year, and shifting the fighting from rural areas to urban settings
of South Vietnam., by early March the U.S. and South Vietnamese had
lost 6,000 men, several of whom were sent to Kundert's hospital in
Japan.

During the Tet Offensive, Kundert was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan as
a surgeon at a Naval Hospital.

"We would see 60 to 80 casualties on a weekend out of Vietnam," he
said. "Those that could go back to duty would stay a month or two and
then ship out. During Tet we saw a lot more casualties."

Most days Kundert would see at least 20 to 30 casualties.

"You got used to a lot of things," he said.

Kundert joined the Navy July 4, 1968, mainly because it was one of
three paths that he could take at that point in his life.

"Everybody was drafted in those days," he said. "I could either wait
and be drafted, volunteer or move to Canada."

Kundert chose to volunteer for the Navy, through which he continued
honing his skills as a surgeon. He...

U.S. and friendly nation laws prohibit fully reproducing
copyrighted material. In abidance with our laws this report
cannot be provided in its entirety. However, you can read it
in full today, 22 Dec 2003, at the following URL. (COMBINE
the following lines into your web browser.) The
subject/content of this report is not necessarily the
viewpoint of the distributing Library. This report is provided
for your information and discussion.

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/news...ews/86721.html

---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com