War was not Hell, Hell was Hell and War was War

War was not Hell, Hell was Hell and War was War 

The Vietnam War has been called the forgotten war for many different reasons. One reason was the political aspect of its unpopularity and how we fought inside a country torn in Civil War. War was indeed hell for our fighting men giving their all for a cause that was so foggy and unclear to the many of us in battle – a medic – my dual role as a fighter and a healer was most difficult but events dictated whether I carried my M-16 or if I worked my magic out of my first aid bag to save my fellow soldier’s lives. Either way, it was a delicate balance. 

When not out in the field during search and destroy missions or in support of a large offensive force, the medic served multipurpose night and day and traveled often between the units, the first aid station and the surgical hospitals they were all assigned to, directly or indirectly. Their job was never done.  

The year, 1967 saw a high increase of civilian casualties and the military had prepared a larger civic action plan (CAP) to engage the South Vietnamese villagers or civilians with a strategy to interact with them and provide them additional healthcare and first aid due to illness, injuries or diseases incurred on a daily basis. 

Medical corpsmen were valuable commodities in war – they were essential for every mission planed or undertaken. There were no exceptions and when not active in the field, they were ordered to conduct regular MEDCAP (medical visits) to designated civilian populations to help create a better common bond between the military and civilians in the area.

It was a difficult task as we had many occasions where we had language barriers and if it were not for our interpreters, we could have never done the job so efficiently and thoroughly. The corpsmen, always known as Doc, provided medical care for the civilians as well as the soldiers’ fighting in the immediate area and assigned to protect us during such activities. Taking the time to carry and load bushels and bags of food, milk, water and other nutrients, the challenge was to make sure every kids was fed and every child was treated for illnesses, disease or wounds. 

MEDCAP was an entirely different task and duty for the medic – it involved a wide range of odd jobs that may entail digging for water wells, water purification methods, building schools or churches that could be made into make shift hospitals if the wounded became too much to handle at the usual places and much more.  It was a total departure of war, and the spirit was voluntarily brought to the front as nobody there objected to helping others get better or live longer. 

Medical supplies were scarce at times and under tight controls – syringes, inoculation vaccines, penicillin and other antibiotics, pain killers and other controlled substances were handled by medics only under the close eye of a sergeant or E-5 who was in charge of these details.  MEDCAP personnel dedicated their roles, expertise, energy and knowledge to save lives, to treat infant to elderly and to ensure disease and other communicable issues were controlled and life preserved. There were times when we treated animals as well ranging from dogs, pigs and water buffaloes.

It was rare such MEDCAP teams came under hostile fire but there were several occasions the treatment had to be stopped until the fighting was under control. The biggest fear were snipers and since the containment circle was a wide circle of the village, it was easy to penetrate the perimeter and find a target if one wanted to do so randomly or silently with their sniper rifles. 

In this war, soldiers were caretakers and caregivers to the civilians of the South Vietnamese Republic. Not much has ever been said about this role the United States took as part of the responsibility to interact with the locals and understand their customs, so that the job could be done safely and effectively.  Locally, it provided a sense of pride that medics were saving lives of infants and children, adults and elderly regardless whether they were friend or foe at the end of the night.