Credit of flag is to POW/MIA site
Song is: "Against All Odds" from Vietnam Jukebox My First Fire Fight and Aftermath I knew that I was finally accepted by my marines after my first fire fight in Hue. We had gone out on patrol looking for snipers. As Usual they found us first instead. Sarge had taken a burst of AK 47 rounds across his left shoulder and neck. I was about 1/3-1/2 the way back in the line when I heard “Corpsman up!” When I got up to near where Sarge was, one of the marines reminded me to stay low. (He didn’t have to remind me, I thought.) I crouched down and on a signal from him, I ran to where Sarge was, behind a 3 foot wall about 18” thick. I immediately checked him out and bandaged him up and immobilized his neck (thinking neck injury? Quad, Paraplegic, don’t make things worse.) After the rest of the marines had cleared the area and was in process of blowing up the building where the sniper had been (they had found a rifle there but no sniper and no one would say anything, made the marines mad and determined to stop this type of activity.), did we get a stretcher and moved him out on a mule (or a tank? can’t remember). I picked up his M-16 thinking to myself (Now I got myself a weapon that I can protect myself and my patients with instead of that lousy 45.) I went on to the next injured marine who caught a piece of schrapnel in his left hand. I treated his wound and tagged him as I had been taught back at Camp LeJeune in Field Medical School. After we got back to where we were going to spend the night, the marines started pounding me on the back congratulating me on a job well done. We heard then that even though I had done everything right for Sarge that he would be paralyzed from the neck down. (Took some of the excitement out of me knowing that, hurt, never got over that.) I told them that I had done nothing more than my job. “To knock it off, I was only doing my job as they were doing their’s.” They told me, “No Doc, You forgot why we were out there.” I told them “No, we were out there looking for snipers and I was there to treat the wounded. I was merely doing my job.” They really started whooping and laughing about my comments and insisted on giving me a blow by blow description of my running up, going over to Sarge and what was going on while I was treating Sarge. They told me that I forgot where I was while I was treating Sarge. They really started cracking up when I said “I had Sarge down behind the wall where the sniper couldn’t get either one of us.” Their next comments were “But Doc, as you were treating Sarge behind that wall of yours, your helmet was bopping up and down. The sniper was having target practice at your helmet. He was going across the top of the wall trying to nail you.” (I must confess I was so involved in treating Sarge that I never heard any rounds close by.) After they told me this, I sat, shook and chain smoked for about an hour and a half. I knew then that I had been accepted in place of that Corpsman that had let them down and that they had lost respect for. (I started talking with the radio man who had been an hospital orderly prior to enlisting with the marines. We had come to an mutual understanding that if either one of us got hit in the head that the other would make sure that he wouldn’t suffer long. I know that I was trained to save lives but after that incident, I didn’t want my family to see me as a vegetable. I wanted them to remember me as I was before I went over, fun loving, prankster, serious, etc.) ADDENUM: After this above incident occurred and while I was chain smoking, we got word that the Captain wanted to see that Green Corpsman that gave this marine (a black marine with the hand injury) his 4th Purple Heart. (Guess who went?) Anyway, when I arrived, this Captain started in trying to tell me how I was going to do my job under his command. That he did not want any marine with a sliver or knick getting a Purple Heart, etc. I calmly asked him, “With due respect Sir, let me get this straight. When I go out on patrol with you grunts, I am to follow the instructions given to me so that I don’t jeopardize the patrol?” He started nodding yes. (I thought to myself, he’s thinking I’m bowing down before him. That this Corpsman is going to do things my way. I could sense this is what he was wanting me to do, however.) “And when we come under fire and start getting wounded I’m to come running when I hear “Corpsman Up!” to start treating the wounded?” He was really nodding now. I told him then, “What am I suppose to do then, Sir, since you are trying to tell me how to do my job, you might as well tell me how to dress the wounds, etc.” I then told him “Sir I know what my job is but I’m afraid that you don’t know your job. I always do everything I’m suppose to do while out on patrol so as not to jeopardize the patrol because that is the marines job which they know very well. However when they get wounded, that falls under my field of expertise. They don’t move the wounded unless I say so.” “Why are you trying to tell me how to do my job since you are not a Medical Doctor under whom I fall for orders? If you’re unsure of your role , Sir, I’ll be glad to persue this up throughout the chain of command including the Pentagon as to “Why a Marine Captain is attempting to practice medicine without a license! How far am I going to have to go before you realize that you won’t move a marine until I say that he is ready?” He then told me “Aw, Doc, just leave it and me alone.” With that I went back to my squad. Word had gotten back to my squad about what the Captain tried to do and my response to him. They told me then “You got a lot of Brass, Doc.” They meant respect for me standing up to him like that. (I later thought to myself “ What could he have done with me, throw me into the brig? Send me home in disgrace? After what I had gone through gaining those marines respect, I wasn’t going to let no officer address me like that!) I realized very quickly over the next several days one thing about having an M16, you couldn't leave it laying around. Big responsibility making sure I didn't forget it. I decided that I couldn't wait till I could turn it in when we got to Phu Bai. That if we got to the point where I needed one that there would be more than one laying around. So I did turn Sarge's M16 in, clean and all the ammo. < This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page
Song is: "Against All Odds" from Vietnam Jukebox
My First Fire Fight and Aftermath
I knew that I was finally accepted by my marines after my first fire fight in Hue. We had gone out on patrol looking for snipers. As Usual they found us first instead. Sarge had taken a burst of AK 47 rounds across his left shoulder and neck. I was about 1/3-1/2 the way back in the line when I heard “Corpsman up!”
When I got up to near where Sarge was, one of the marines reminded me to stay low. (He didn’t have to remind me, I thought.) I crouched down and on a signal from him, I ran to where Sarge was, behind a 3 foot wall about 18” thick. I immediately checked him out and bandaged him up and immobilized his neck (thinking neck injury? Quad, Paraplegic, don’t make things worse.)
After the rest of the marines had cleared the area and was in process of blowing up the building where the sniper had been (they had found a rifle there but no sniper and no one would say anything, made the marines mad and determined to stop this type of activity.), did we get a stretcher and moved him out on a mule (or a tank? can’t remember). I picked up his M-16 thinking to myself (Now I got myself a weapon that I can protect myself and my patients with instead of that lousy 45.) I went on to the next injured marine who caught a piece of schrapnel in his left hand. I treated his wound and tagged him as I had been taught back at Camp LeJeune in Field Medical School.
After we got back to where we were going to spend the night, the marines started pounding me on the back congratulating me on a job well done. We heard then that even though I had done everything right for Sarge that he would be paralyzed from the neck down. (Took some of the excitement out of me knowing that, hurt, never got over that.) I told them that I had done nothing more than my job. “To knock it off, I was only doing my job as they were doing their’s.” They told me, “No Doc, You forgot why we were out there.” I told them “No, we were out there looking for snipers and I was there to treat the wounded. I was merely doing my job.”
They really started whooping and laughing about my comments and insisted on giving me a blow by blow description of my running up, going over to Sarge and what was going on while I was treating Sarge. They told me that I forgot where I was while I was treating Sarge. They really started cracking up when I said “I had Sarge down behind the wall where the sniper couldn’t get either one of us.” Their next comments were “But Doc, as you were treating Sarge behind that wall of yours, your helmet was bopping up and down. The sniper was having target practice at your helmet. He was going across the top of the wall trying to nail you.” (I must confess I was so involved in treating Sarge that I never heard any rounds close by.)
After they told me this, I sat, shook and chain smoked for about an hour and a half. I knew then that I had been accepted in place of that Corpsman that had let them down and that they had lost respect for. (I started talking with the radio man who had been an hospital orderly prior to enlisting with the marines. We had come to an mutual understanding that if either one of us got hit in the head that the other would make sure that he wouldn’t suffer long. I know that I was trained to save lives but after that incident, I didn’t want my family to see me as a vegetable. I wanted them to remember me as I was before I went over, fun loving, prankster, serious, etc.) ADDENUM:
After this above incident occurred and while I was chain smoking, we got word that the Captain wanted to see that Green Corpsman that gave this marine (a black marine with the hand injury) his 4th Purple Heart. (Guess who went?)
Anyway, when I arrived, this Captain started in trying to tell me how I was going to do my job under his command. That he did not want any marine with a sliver or knick getting a Purple Heart, etc. I calmly asked him, “With due respect Sir, let me get this straight. When I go out on patrol with you grunts, I am to follow the instructions given to me so that I don’t jeopardize the patrol?” He started nodding yes. (I thought to myself, he’s thinking I’m bowing down before him. That this Corpsman is going to do things my way. I could sense this is what he was wanting me to do, however.) “And when we come under fire and start getting wounded I’m to come running when I hear “Corpsman Up!” to start treating the wounded?” He was really nodding now.
I told him then, “What am I suppose to do then, Sir, since you are trying to tell me how to do my job, you might as well tell me how to dress the wounds, etc.” I then told him “Sir I know what my job is but I’m afraid that you don’t know your job. I always do everything I’m suppose to do while out on patrol so as not to jeopardize the patrol because that is the marines job which they know very well. However when they get wounded, that falls under my field of expertise. They don’t move the wounded unless I say so.”
“Why are you trying to tell me how to do my job since you are not a Medical Doctor under whom I fall for orders? If you’re unsure of your role , Sir, I’ll be glad to persue this up throughout the chain of command including the Pentagon as to “Why a Marine Captain is attempting to practice medicine without a license! How far am I going to have to go before you realize that you won’t move a marine until I say that he is ready?” He then told me “Aw, Doc, just leave it and me alone.” With that I went back to my squad. Word had gotten back to my squad about what the Captain tried to do and my response to him. They told me then “You got a lot of Brass, Doc.” They meant respect for me standing up to him like that. (I later thought to myself “ What could he have done with me, throw me into the brig? Send me home in disgrace? After what I had gone through gaining those marines respect, I wasn’t going to let no officer address me like that!)
I realized very quickly over the next several days one thing about having an M16, you couldn't leave it laying around. Big responsibility making sure I didn't forget it. I decided that I couldn't wait till I could turn it in when we got to Phu Bai. That if we got to the point where I needed one that there would be more than one laying around. So I did turn Sarge's M16 in, clean and all the ammo.
This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page
