![]() The battalion's five operating rooms were in use day and night. Since the 3 rd Med did not have space for recovering patients due to the constant arrival of more wounded, Naar explained, they operated and stabilized their patients for a day or two before transfer to Japan for definitive treatment. "Corpsmen were the infrastructure of the medical battalion," he said, noting that doctors and corpsmen worked side-by-side.ĭuring the summer of 1968, they moved north to be closer to combat operations because it had been taking too long for the wounded to get to the battalion for treatment. They were responsible for replenishing intravenous fluids, administering medication, X-raying patients, changing dressings on wounds, and more. The Navy corpsmen worked as a team to run all departments, including the operating rooms. This ensured that the wounded received care according to severity of injury. "There was nothing that could prepare you for what we were going to see in Vietnam."ĬH-46 and CH-47 helicopters brought the wounded to "3 rd Med," at which point the triage surgeon would evaluate all wounds. "I trained as a combat corpsman, but since I was an operating room technician, I worked in surgery," Naar said. He spent most of his 12-month tour of duty at Quang Tri Combat Base, but also served at Phu Bai. ![]() Naar arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam on and joined the 3 rd Medical Battalion, 3 rd Marine Division. Vietnam War Commemoration, instituted under the auspices of the Department of Defense. Vietnam War veteran Al Naar, a Navy corpsman, shared his personal reflections on caring for the wounded with the National Museum of Health and Medicine's (NMHM) Medical Museum Science Café audience on May 29, the 50-year anniversary of his deployment to Vietnam. Vietnam Veteran Corpsman Shares Wartime Medicine Memories on 50th Anniversary of Deployment
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