(Major Rey Hypolito T.) Do you men remember the hospital condition in on the boats? Though I know few outside the Naval Services knew that the Marine Corps does not have its own medical branch. All medical, dental and religious care to Marines was provided by members of the US Navy assigned to the Marine Corps.
During World War II, Corpsmen were a wonderful group of men. They knew first aid, minor surgery, nursing care, dietetics, hygiene and sanitation, pharmacy, chemistry, nursing care, and anatomy and physiology. These people knew how to bandage and splint, and treat shock. In one Marine division there were about 1,000 sailors. Support units typically had a small medical cadre of 1-2 Corpsmen per each company-sized unit. In the infantry, each platoon was SUPPOSED to have one attached Corpsman… but there were never enough to go around. The infantry battalion consisted of a doctor and a small medical staff. But in combat, there were often not enough Docs to go around.
I remember it like it was yesterday…in combat, when Marines were wounded, the call for "Corpsman!" would sound like trumpets. No matter the location of the wounded Marine, Docs and stretcher bearers would race to the scene to stabilize and evacuate their comrade. I think if anyone deserves recognition for being patriotic in WW2 it should have been the Corpsmen whom thousands of Marines owed their lives to.
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Oh man, your story brings back more old memories. I agree; it is the doctors that should be remembered as much as, if not more than, the soldiers that fought in World War Two. In fact, I owe my life to a doctor who saved my life in Italy. It was the day after Rome was liberated and I was conducting a routine patrol in the surrounding hills when our squad was ambushed by a small force of German Panzer IVs. Those sneaky little Nazis aimed their 7.92mm MG 34 machine gun at me and sprayed a stream of bullets at me. As tank commander, I had my entire upper body exposed above the turret at the time and I got hit by three of those nasty 7.92mm rounds in the torso and one in the left arm. I fell unconscious but fortunately, my tank crew dragged me back into the tank and fended off the Panzers. After that, they took me to the portable hospital and had me checked by a doctor whose name I forgot to ask and I will never know. Now this doctor was very good at what he did and took out all four bullets in just half an hour, including two that were lodged deep in my lungs. If it wasn’t for his quick actions, I would have probably died from drowning in my own blood. I owe my life to this man.
ReplyDeleteYour injuries make my situation look bright, gentlemen. I was in Dieppe, fleeing with my men, and then we were met by a two FLAKs, ready to blast us into smithereens. we did our best to escape from their firing range, but some of us, including myself, were too slow, or were outsmarted. Luckily no one got hit directly (if we did, then we wouldn't even be recognizable. Still, four of my men, in addition to myself, were hit by debris flying everywhere from one of the FLAKs shots. The pain we felt was excruciating, as you can imagine. It was a wonder that we all survived the blast, considering it's amazing power. Our legs and arms had metal stick out of use in different directions, so we were brought to the medics, whom we owe dearly for helping us keep our limbs. If it was not for these skilled doctors, many that came with me would have actually died within 1 day of being shot in the chest by a German MP43. Then again, my troops and I were only a small portion of the large number of artillery victims that needed attention (47% of the patients treated had been hurt through artillery-related causes). Perhaps the medics knew what they were doing based on repetitiveness...
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with both of you in saying that the doctors and nurses should be remembered for their gracious efforts in the war because without them we would have lost many good men. I have an experience with these brave men and women. Once when I was delivering a shipment off the south coast of France my crew and I were jumped by a group of Nazis. A few of them were badly injured but we were lucky that some soldiers were there for our protection. The wounded men were quickly taken to a medical facility. Once there, I saw that even though the place was flooded with people, they maintained an environment that was organized, but not exactly clean as they are now. In the end, a few of them recovered but sadly we lost one lad. James Rizardon was his name, and he was 22. I will never forget his face and the sacrifices he made for us.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you guys were in rough shape. Yep, we have got to truly thank the doctors, nurses, medics and corpsmen for putting their lives in danger first for us. They have saved thousands of lives during the war... including mine! When one of the German Messerschidmts shot my plane, the controls also started to malfunction. It then started to create some heavy smoke and sparks. After a few seconds trying to calm it down, a fire burst right into my face. Luckily, my face was not burned but I could feel my arms and hands withstanding extreme pain. The last resort was to bail, and I did. As I reached toward the ground with my parachute, I slowly fainted. By the time I woke up, I was at a nearby hospital. I could hear the doctor saying that I was going to be alright and that the burns weren't fatal.I looked around the hospital to see 50-60 soldiers all wounded and only about 5-6 doctors. I was very thankful and surprised that they had to take care of so many people. I was amazed to see them so patient and generous toward everyone when the hospital was making a huge uproar. I will not forgot how much these guys have done for the entire war. They deserve more respect than the military.
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