Main description:

The book chronicles the Navy Medical Department's participation in Vietnam, beginning with the Navy's rescue of the French survivors of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and ending with the Navy's rescue of Vietnamese refugees fleeing the fall of South Vietnam in 1975. When American involvement reached its peak in 1968, the 750-bed Naval Support Activity Hospital Danang (NSAH) was in full operation, and two hospital ships-the USS Repose and the USS Sanctuary-cruised offshore. Whether the situation called for saving the lives of injured sailors aboard a burning aircraft carrier or treating a critically wounded Marine for shock in the rubble-strewn streets of Hue, Navy medical personnel were in Vietnam from the beginning of American involvement to the very end, saving thousands of lives. This book tells the story of the Navy Medical Department's involvement through stark and gripping first-person accounts by patients and the Navy physicians, dentists, nurses, and hospital corpsmen who treated them. More than 50 historic photos document their work.

Contents:

Preface 1
1. Passage to Freedom 3
2. An American War 25
3. Hearts and Minds 45
4. Medical Battalions in a Frontless War 68
5. Intrepid Surgeons 101
6. Corpsman Up! 108
7. Medal of Honor 150
8. Naval Support Activity Hospital Danang 155
9. Ships of Mercy 178
10. Holocaust on Yankee Station 200
11. Hue 211
12. Khe Sanh 230
13. Prisoner of War 251
14. Mending 269
15. Full Circle 289

Epilogue: The Journey Back 317
Appendix 1: The Cast 329
Appendix 2: Medal of Honor Citations 336
Appendix 3: Small Arms 339
Glossary 341
Chapter Notes 345
Bibliography 349
Index 353