![]() ![]() Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Historian Andre Sobocinski, more than 10,000 Navy hospital corpsmen served with Marines during Vietnam. Unable to walk, the powerful fireplug of a man (he was a former star guard on the Dallas Jesuit High School football team) pulled himself along with his elbows treating the wounded as he went, remembering all along the mantra of corpsmen and medics alike: ‘clear the airway, stop the bleeding, prevent or treat for shock.’Īccording to U.S. Three separate times he was hit, incurring wounds to both arms and both legs. Seventy percent of those in his unit were killed or wounded. “They pretty much wiped out our unit,” Kuklenski said. Instead of the usual 30 NVA, more than three times that many showed up. Unbeknownst to the Marines, the NVA saw this and countered with an ambush of their own. May 29, 1969: Alpha Company set an ambush for North Vietnamese Army regulars, 30 of whom had been using a trail on a regular basis. ![]() “I’m trying to save his life … and keep some composure.”Ī week later the conscientious objector corpsman’s composure would be put to the ultimate test. “He’s singing ‘Happy Birthday,” remembers Kuklenski, a VFW Department of Texas member and retired businessman in suburban Dallas. Suddenly the critically-wounded Marine broke into song. Goss and Kuklenski tied off what was left to stop the bleeding, then administered morphine. One of the surviving Marines, a former athlete, had lost both legs below the knees. Already there was the company’s senior corpsman, Jim Goss. ![]() Kuklenski started out across it to render aid. It was a boot, and in it part of a lower leg. Almost simultaneously, he saw something tumble over his head. May 21, 1969: 19-year-old Navy Hospital Corpsman Michael Kuklenski was three weeks deep into his Vietnam tour - on patrol with Alpha Co., 1st Bn., 7th Marines, 1st Marine Div., when he heard a land mine go off. ![]() The scene could have come from the movies. Here are the first-hand accounts of three decorated “Docs” who provided life-saving aid in Vietnam. Beloved by their fellow grunts, corpsmen and medics are the first responders for Marines and soldiers wounded on the battlefield. ![]()
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