While in nursing school she was told that if she enlisted the military would provide money that she could use to pay for her last year of school. Fortunately, his captain felt that having a soldier who refused to fight would not be ideal in a battle situation and persuaded the Pentagon to issue Sherman conscientious objector status and assign him as a medic. The actual move began with one third of the staff moving to the new site from 45 July. Flying into the middle of battles in the chaos of the jungle, the Dustoff crews were at a high risk of getting hit, either with a bullet or artillery. In 1861, there were two types of hospitals that surgeons operated in: field hospitals and general hospitals. When the 95th Evacuation Hospital landed in Italy 9 September 1943, it was the first U.S. hospital established on the European continent in World War II. This was especially true during the brutal and deadly Tet Offensive. [6], Commanding Officers: Col. Paul K. Sauer, Lt. Col. Hubert L. Binkley (commander after Sauer was wounded in the 7 February bombing.) 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. The hospital was used as the basis for the fictional 510th Evacuation Hospital in the American television series China Beach. Later in the war he was sent to the Ashah Valley, but for his first few months he ran a clinic at a base in Saigon, where the most common complaint was sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), often picked up from brothels. The Army apparently already misinformed the woman that her son had died from his wounds. ISBN: 978--646-83599-. 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. My unit was in one of the tougher areas of the warthe Central Highlands, near Laos. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. [1], The 95th Evacuation Hospital was activated in Heidelberg, Germany on 15 November 1994.[1]. When they landed, the medic and crew chief were responsible for loading the wounded into the back on litters, where they could administer further first aid, including blood transfusions and fluids via IVs. I thought, What could possibly be wrong with her? There I was trying to figure out whats wrong with her, not realizing that here I had this leg with a combat boot still on and half the mans combat fatigue still on, blood dripping over the exposed end. Becoming a medic was also an option for conscientious objectors who had been drafted. As nurse Diane Carlson Evans explained to The Washington Post, medical staff learned to repress their emotions at the time so they could do their jobs. 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. On February 28, 1977 the facility became the U.S. Navy Regional Medical Center Okinawa. Some of the U.S.S Repose's nurses on the Navy Nurse Corps birthday. I was also in the hospital for 3 days in fall of 66 with food poisoning. 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 If your application was denied, and you still refused to fight, you could be sent to military prison, as Vietnam combat medic Ben Sherman found out. Nurses were noncombatants, but that didnt necessarily mean they were safe. Search this record. The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH, concept was first deployed by the U.S. Army during World War II. 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. Published online by Cambridge University Press: The photographs in this collection were taken in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from 1966-1967. Marshall A. Bauer, Principal Chief Nurse Capt. As the recruiting ads had said, women in uniform seldom lacked for male attention, whether welcome or not. The Veterans of Foreign Wars didnt accept female veterans until 1978, Vietnam Veterans of America not until several years after that. Sometimes 60 wounded or dead would arrive simultaneously, and about 15 nurses and doctors on duty had to make quick decisions about which of the wounded they could save and which they could not. This was the first time blood type O negative had been used for universal donations which it still is today. Some nurses missed the strong bond theyd formed with their comrades, which they rarely found again. Nurses also treated prisoners of war and civilians, including women and children brought to American hospitals for treatment. In 1968,Dr. David Cromwell was a licensed doctor in Maryland, a qualification that allowed him to direct commission as an officer and physician. A soldier wounded during a battle with the Viet Cong in the Central Highlands is treated by a nurse at an Army hospital on the South Vietnamese coast in February 1965. It was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 3 December 1954. 1880. The 95th Evacuation Hospital was a U.S military hospital during World War II, the Vietnam War, and in Germany. 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. Medics weren't supposed to fight, although Matos says he was ordered to perform at least one infantry-related task. Photo by SP5 Logan McMinn, USA Sp Photo Det, Pac, fn, Nurse Corps formed up in ranks for an inspection. From the battlefield, the wounded would be medevaced to an aid station, which had more resources to deal with severe injuries. These are some of their photos of the experience. Military officials and many servicemembers expected female nurses to be attractive as well as nurturing, arguing that sex appeal and femininity were important for morale. endstream endobj startxref Army nurse in Vietnam checking medical charts at desk in holding area. The initial phase of construction included the preparation of defensive fortifications, perimeter wire and tentage for billets. A dozen Army nurses typically shared each unit. They had something called the Army Student Nurse Program, through which you could have your last year or two paid for, explains Phyllis Breen Cogan, who was stationed at Chu Lais 27th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital from 1969 to 1970. 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. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. I had no experience in emergency room, no trauma or intensive care training, recalls Marsha Four, RN, a former ANC first lieutenant. 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 most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Feel inspired by your work. I regularly walked point for the squad. Former U.S. Army nurses Diane Carlson Evans and Marsha Four, who both served in Vietnam, explained that part of their anxiety about being in the war zone was that their under-preparedness would result in soldiers' deaths. Soon, communist North Vietnam additionally the United States got included besides. The civilian healthcare sector was struggling with nationwide nursing shortages, and both the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) and Navy Nurse Corps had shrunk to a fraction of their World War 2 strength. According to Dr. David Cromwell, physicians didn't get more than a stethoscope. The 95th Evacuation Hospital was a U.S military hospital during World War II, the Vietnam War, and in Germany. Return. 7) from Jeff Quitney PRO . Bennett has the distinction of being the second conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox. 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. She collapsed on the ground in a dead faint. Many others, however, were like Susan ONeill, who was misled by military recruiters. Some drank or turned to drugs, problems that sometimes followed them home. In Vietnam, they visited with the wounded at hospitals and tried to comfort them. 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. That is, to keep them out of shock, to stop the bleeding, and also as much as possible prevent infection if you could.". The Cu Chi Tunnels first began to be dug by Communist forces in the late 1940's, during their war of independence with the French. When those nurses returned to the United States, many often found that their vast medical experience gained in Vietnam was of no value. "useRatesEcommerce": false Their lives were in my hands. When ONeill, who opposed the war, asked about Vietnam, the recruiter told her not to worry about Vietnam because there was long line of nurses waiting to go there. 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. Hostname: page-component-7f44ffd566-7cttp The nurse recruitment ads of this era were a world away from the images of chaos and brutality that would soon fill Americans evening news broadcasts, instead focusing on the opportunity, adventure and romance that supposedly awaited nurses in the U.S. Army. 5 Although the unit itself was not deployed to Vietnam, one of the student nurses subsequently served with distinction with the 7th Surgical Mash Unit and the 3rd Field Hospital. For female nurses, being constantly surrounded by men could also be both a blessing and a curse. Loading January 15, 1964 Staff Sergeant Howard Stevens ", As sentiment in the U.S. turned against the war, the hostile attitudes of American civilians towards veterans prevented many from finding an outlet once they were home. Troops in military hospitals received the same help from the Red Cross as those in the field, as well as access to recreational activities. Some nurses who saw active duty during the war were never stationed in Vietnam, serving instead aboard Navy hospital ships or at U.S. military bases elsewhere in Asia. At its peak in 1969, the Red Cross operated 67 field stations in Vietnam staffed by more than 200 field personnel. CU of plasma bottle with drip tube.Scene of \"dust-off helicopter\" as wounded soldier on litter (stretcher) is rushed from \"dustoff helicopter\" to emergency room. Built by the Colonial French government of Indochina in 1949, it became a training school for Vietnamese pilots. d"@(#/Hqv^0 Without body armor or even bulletproof helmets, medics were in as much danger as their comrades and sometimes more. Despite the long hours and sometimes horrifying wounds these women had to face, many nurses found their service rewarding. For most of my tour, I was an assistant M60 machine gunner or the gunner. At first, its goal was to care for sick soldiers. 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. Known as U. S. Army Hospital Ryukyu Islands, the hospital provided medical treatment for U. S. forces operating throughout the Pacific. Feature Flags: { 2,000,000 Vietnamese civilians died. That same nurse said that when she got to the States she stayed in the airport for many days, dreading to go home. Background [ edit] The 95th Evacuation Hospital originally constituted as the 74th Surgical Hospital 21 December 1928. Evelyn E. 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. 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