In God We Trust
The medical personnel who tended the wounded in the Korean War are held in the highest regard by veterans. These heroic men—the Army medics and Navy corpsmen—thought nothing of risking their own lives to give aid to the men who were fighting on the front line. While burp guns were firing deadly bullets and mortars were exploding around them, the aid men and corpsmen were there on the spot—saving the lives of combatants. Most of the medical personnel in Korea had never before seen the kind of death and destruction they witnessed in Korea. Many were fresh out of medical school, and some reservists had little experience dealing with the sick and wounded beyond giving shots or administering medication. Civilian doctors--"retreads" from World War II--were pulled from their specialized field of medicine to become "general practitioners" in Korea. Whether they had medical degrees or not, the medics and corpsmen became "Doc" to the soldiers and Marines who depended on them on the front line. They were heroic and will forever be remembered with honor and respect by those who returned home from Korea. Very often Korean War veterans testify that they are living today because a nameless "Doc" saved their life in spite of poor odds for survival under combat conditions. This page of The Korean War Educator is dedicated to Korean War medical personnel whose devotion to duty saved so many lives. If any of our readers have photographs or information to add to this page in tribute to their own Korean War "Doc", please contact us.
[KWE Note: The information in this section was supplied by Harold Selley, Port Charlotte, Florida. He was a Korean War Collecting Station Medic in Korea July 1950-June 1951.]
Medical companies included commissioned officers, NCOs, medics, and litter bearers and ambulance drivers. (Litter bearers and ambulance drivers did not treat patients.) These personnel were then distributed to various regiments and then to companies within the regiments.
There were 3 regiments per division and three battalions in an infantry regiment. Each company in a regiment had 4 medics = 1 medic per 15-man platoon.
Both took place after Basics and offered the following courses that included classroom training and field training:
[KWE Note: The following article was written by Maj. Allan C. Bevilacqua, USMC (Ret.) and appeared in the October 2001 issue of Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines. According to the Leatherneck editor, Major Bevilacqua, a frequent contributor to Leatherneck, is a former enlisted Marine who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Later in his career, he was an instructor at Amphibious Warfare School and Command and Staff College, Quantico, Virginia. Major Bevilacqua's article below is reprinted on the Korean War Educator with permission from Leatherneck.]
Dedicated to the memory of the hospital corpsmen
of the United States Navy who fell while serving with
the First Marine Division in Korea, 1950-1953
"I salute our Corpsmen for their courage, valor, and willingness
to serve above and beyond the call of duty."
- Gen. Alfred M. Gray, 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps
Above and beyond the call of duty. It came down to that so very often, as it did when nightfall on 27 March 1953 found Captain Ralph E. Estey’s "Fox" Company, 2d Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment in a fierce battle to regain a combat outpost named Vegas on Korea’s Western Front. One of three outposts, Reno, Carson and Vegas, collectively known as the Nevada Outposts, Vegas, located some 1,300 yards forward of the Main Line of Resistance (MLR), had been overrun by Chinese attackers the previous day.
The Marines were determined to retake Vegas. The Chinese were equally determined to hold on to the shell-blasted hill. Fox Co advanced into a maelstrom, deluged by a shower of shells, 60 mm, 82 mm, 76 mm and 120 mm, all the while lashed by machine-gun fire. Despite the furious fires directed at them, Capt Estey’s Marines fought their way forward to shoot, blast and bludgeon the fiercely resisting Chinese from the eastern portions of the hill. Casualties in the ranks of Fox Co were heavy.
It was while attending one of those casualties that Hospital Corpsman Third Class William R. Charette saw a Chinese grenade land only a few feet away from the wounded Marine. Without a moment’s hesitation HM3 Charette threw himself over the helpless Marine, shielding him from the blast and absorbing its full force himself. Partially stunned, with his helmet and equipment torn from him by the force of the explosion, Charette resumed administering aid to the wounded man, then proceeded to another Marine in need of assistance.
With his medical supplies demolished by the bursting grenade, Charette tore his own clothing into bandages. Encountering a seriously wounded Marine whose armored vest had been blown from him, Charette, after tending to the Marine’s wounds, draped his own vest over the fallen man to protect him from further harm. Then, oblivious to his own safety, Charette stood upright, exposing himself to a hail of fire, in order to give more effective aid to a Marine whose leg had been ripped by mortar fragments.
Somehow managing to be everywhere at once, Charette moved through the firestorm, tending to fallen Marines in complete disregard for the danger all around him. Staff Sergeant Robert S. Steigerwald saw him. "Charette was everyplace seemingly at the same time, performing inexhaustibly," Steigerwald would later testify.
For his extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty HM3 William R. Charette would become one of five corpsmen to receive his country’s highest decoration for military valor, the Medal of Honor, during the Korean War. He alone would live to receive the award.
William Charette’s willingness to risk all in following the call of duty was not the isolated act of one man. Far from it, Charette’s courage and dedication to caring for the wounded were common coin among the corpsmen of the 1stMarDiv in those days a half-century ago. Certainly, courage and dedication were the qualities that motivated Hospitalman Dorrin Stafford on a frigid October night at the small seaport of Kojo on North Korea’s East Coast.
Kojo was where Lieutenant Colonel Jack Hawkins’ 1st Bn, 1st Marines found itself on the night of 27 Oct. 1950, following the 1stMarDiv’s landing at Wonsan. The South Korean forces the battalion had relieved departed with assurances that there were no organized enemy units in the area. Assurances aside, LtCol Hawkins deployed his rifle companies on full alert, prepared for any eventuality. It was a good thing he did.
Shortly after 2200 Colonel Cho II Kwon’s 10th Regiment of the North Korean 5th Division launched a well-coordinated attack on 1/1’s positions. Well planned and rehearsed, the assault slammed into the Marine lines, ranks of North Korean infantry quickly closing to hand-grenade range and by sheer weight of numbers forcing the defenders to give ground.
Particularly hard hit was Capt Wes Noren’s Baker Co. Waves of North Korean grenadiers, coming on despite heavy casualties, forced First Lieutenant George Belli’s 1st Platoon from its precarious grip on the slopes of Hill 109. The platoon’s withdrawal was made possible by the determined stand of Sergeant Clayton Roberts, who held back the attackers with machine-gun fire until he fell with wounds that would claim his life.
It was in the midst of this desperate fight, with more and more of the 1st Platoon’s Marines knocked to the ground by enemy fire, that HN Stafford answered the call of "Corpsman!" Armed with only his medical kit and pistol, Stafford dashed into the night to respond to the cry of the stricken Marine and directly into the path of the oncoming enemy. He didn’t stop to think about it; he just did it. Dorrin Stafford’s answer to the call of duty would prove costly. The courageous corpsman was never seen again.
The fight raged throughout the next day before the attackers were repelled with heavy losses, and the situation was stabilized. That afternoon a Baker Co patrol reached the site of SSgt Roberts’ stand to find the bodies of Roberts and 15 other Marines who died with him. Some of them had been treated for wounds before dying, evidence that Stafford indeed had reached them. But the body of HN Dorrin Stafford, who refused to abandon wounded Marines despite the great danger to himself, was not found, and his final resting place remains unknown.
If the saga of Dorrin Stafford ended in tragedy, the story of another 1st Marines’ corpsman, HN Joseph V. Churchill, played itself out to a better finale, although it took awhile. It began on 23 April 1951, on the fire-swept slopes of a Korean hill known as Horseshoe Ridge, where HN Churchill, a member of Capt Robert P. "Bob" Wray’s Charlie, 1/1 was himself seriously wounded while attempting to move a wounded Marine to a less exposed position.
As a pair of litter bearers were carrying Churchill from the field, he saw a Marine platoon leader struck in the throat by machine-gun fire and tumble to the ground, a fountain of blood spewing from a severed carotid artery. Churchill knew the officer would bleed to death in minutes if he were not tended to. It was then that both of Churchill’s litter bearers went down wounded.
Determining that neither man had suffered a life-threatening wound, Churchill, despite the great pain of his own wounds, called for two nearby Marines to carry him to the downed officer’s side. There he successfully clamped off the gouts of blood spurting from the torn gash in the man’s throat. That done he tended to the wounds of the pair of Marines who only minutes before had been carrying him to safety.
Safety was something that could wait. There were blood-soaked Marines in need of treatment. In the open, and exposed to continuous enemy fire, Churchill set about treating other casualties who were brought to his side, refusing evacuation himself while there were Marines in need of aid. No one would have faulted him for leaving the field, painfully wounded as he was. No one would have thought any the less of him. He stayed. Unable to walk or even crawl, Churchill dragged himself from man to man, oblivious to the enemy fire pouring in from the higher slopes of the ridge.
Finally evacuated himself, Churchill wasn’t quite done. When the truck he and other wounded were being carried in came under enemy machine-gun fire, Churchill went into action again. Dragging himself painfully about in the bed of the truck, he piled cases of C-rations as a barricade to protect his charges from further harm, risking additional wounds himself.
In August of 1986 there was a reunion of Charlie Co veterans in San Francisco. There, before the men he had fought beside, Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Joseph V. Churchill, USN (Ret), a circuit court judge for the state of Washington, received the Navy Cross from his old company commander, Col Bob Wray, USMC (Ret).
HM3 Lynn C. Blethan checked his medical equipment. During the fighting around the Naktong River, he aided the wounded amid a concentration of enemy machine-gun fire. [Photo by Sgt. Frank C. Kerr]
Call him William Charette, call him Dorrin Stafford, call him Joseph Churchill. To the Marines he served with he was simply "Doc." He was Doc, who lived with them, who shared their cold C-rations while he squatted next to them in the mud, battling flies for each bite spooned from a can. He was Doc, as dirty as they were, as smelly as they were, one of them in every way, identifiable only by the medical kit he carried and the insignia of rank he wore. He was Doc, the man they called for in their time of need.
For the most part Doc was a product of Field Medical School, where he had learned the advanced medical techniques he would need in order to function on his own without a doctor’s supervision. It was also at Field Medical School that Doc learned to be a Marine in all but name, and … not of some small importance … where he received his first experience of living in the boondocks.
In the early days of the Korean War, though, not all corpsmen were products of Field Medical School. Some, like Hospital Apprentice Bill Davis, arrived in Korea by less conventional routes. An undersized teenager barely out of high school at the outbreak of war in Korea in the summer of 1950, Davis found himself whisked from the diet kitchen of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., almost before he knew how it happened. Deposited in the ranks of Capt Myron Wilcox’s newly formed Baker, 1/7 at Camp Pendleton, Calif., he would learn field medicine through the on-the-job school of application.
Some of Davis’ instructors would be nontraditional, such as another Davis, LtCol Raymond G. Davis, his battalion commander. It was outside of Seoul that September, where young Bill Davis was treating his first combat casualty, a Marine with a shell-torn leg and arm and suffering severe blood loss, that the veteran battalion commander taught the young corpsman how to tag the casualty and mark him for evacuation.
"Do it like this, son," said the colonel, thrusting the Marine’s bayoneted rifle into the ground and placing the man’s helmet atop it. "Now call for stretcher bearers and catch up with your platoon. That’s where you’re needed now." Turning to leave, the colonel stopped. "What’s your name, son?" "Davis, sir. Hospital Apprentice Third Class William Davis, sir." "My name’s Davis, too," the colonel replied with a grin. "You just stay close to our platoon. You’ll make a good Marine, Corpsman Davis."
Bill Davis would make a better than good Marine. Side by side with his platoon mates, caring for them when they fell, always ready to respond to the call of "Corpsman!" Bill Davis learned his combat skills the only way possible, by experiencing war up close and personal. The trail led him through Seoul and Wonsan, to Sudong along the road to the Chosin Reservoir and into the frigid mountains of North Korea, until a shell fragment tore through his mouth and took him out of the war. Out of the war, but not out of the Navy. Eventually commissioned with a specialty in hospital administration, Bill Davis, the one-time "kid corpsman," would leave the Navy after 30 years as a lieutenant commander.
If the savage battling for Seoul was all new to Bill Davis, it was all in a day’s work for Chief Hospital Corpsman Douglas Austin, the senior petty officer with 1/5’s Battalion Aid Station on 22 Sept. 1950. It was late in the day that a volley of incoming mortar rounds struck the aid station area, wounding both Chief Austin and the battalion surgeon, Lieutenant Junior Grade "Hogan" H’Doubler. No sooner had the dust cleared than another flight of incoming rounds splattered Lt H’Doubler again, sending him to the ground to be evacuated.
Bleeding from shell fragments in his face and hobbled by wounds to his leg, but refusing evacuation, Chief Austin took over the operation of 1/5’s aid station. Aided by two additional corpsmen, Boyle and Thronal, Austin functioned as the battalion’s de facto surgeon, treating, stabilizing and evacuating more than 50 wounded Marines. Only after another surgeon was sent forward from division would Chief Austin permit his own wounds to be tended.
Whether he was a youngster not long out of boot camp or an old-timer in his second war, doc was a handy man to have around. More than a few Marines would live to be eternally grateful for Doc’s presence.
Certainly, Second Lieutenant Joe Owen would have cause to be thankful for that presence. That was on a bitterly cold day in November 1950, when what was left of Baker, 1/7 was battling its way through a mass of Chinese blocking the road from the Chosin Reservoir. At the head of his small platoon, Owen felt a volley of slugs from a submachine gun slam into his right arm and shoulder, piercing his chest and lancing into his right lung. With blood gushing from his mouth, Joe Owen was spun to the snow-covered ground.
Sprinting to his aid with sheets of bullets flying through the air was a young corpsman, a replacement who had arrived only the day before. Frightened and fumbling, inexperienced in the near-arctic conditions, the corpsman hastily popped a morphine syrette into his mouth to thaw it before injecting Owen with the painkiller and getting to work on his wounds.
"You’re a good lad," Owen mumbled as the corpsman cut away his clothing to put a battle dressing over the sucking wound in his chest. Then, unknowingly echoing the words of his battalion commander to another Baker Co corpsman, Owen grasped the corpsman’s hand, telling him, "You’ll be a good Marine." Owen continued, "Here, take these," taking the pictures of his wife and children from his helmet. "That’s my wife and kids. Don’t let the gooks get them." "I won’t sir," replied the corpsman who had risked his life to go to Owen’s aid. Joe Owen never knew the corpsman’s name. He was simply Doc.
Corporal John M. "Duke" Alston did know the name of the corpsman who went to his aid. The thing was, Duke Alston and his platoon corpsman, Doc Allen, both members of the 2d Plt of Easy 2/5, didn’t much care for each other. There didn’t seem to be any particular reason for it, just a case of two pretty good men who rubbed each other the wrong way. Sometimes the rubbing got a bit intense, to the point of Alston and Allen rolling around in the dirt and pounding on each other.
That was before a North Korean mortar gunner—the North Koreans were very good with mortars—put an 82mm round close enough to Duke Alston to literally rip his legs out from under him one day in February of 1952. Stunned, disoriented and in shock though he was, Alston knew he was in trouble. The bursting shell had all but torn both of his legs from him. They hung by shreds of flesh, the left leg above the knee, the right leg just below the knee. Bright red jets of blood pulsated from the severed subfemoral artery in his left leg, as his pounding heart pumped his life’s blood out onto the ground. More blood ran in a steady flow from his mangled right leg. Without immediate aid Duke Alston was going to die in only minutes.
Suddenly, there was aid. Oblivious to the danger to himself, giving no thought to the fact that the stricken Marine on the ground was a man he held in less than warm regard, Doc Allen sprinted forward to kneel at Alston’s side. With tourniquet and clamps he halted the life-threatening flow of blood that was soaking the ground beneath the fallen Alston, got a unit of plasma flowing and worked feverishly to keep Alston from slipping so deeply into shock that he could never come back. Close by Allen’s side was the battalion’s chaplain, Father Joseph Gallagher, unhesitatingly risking his own life to be at the side of a Marine in need.
Helicopter evacuation, so common in another war 15 years later, was somewhat of a rarity in Korea during 1952, something reserved for only the most critically wounded, those who required immediate major surgery. Duke Alston qualified. Whisked aboard a helicopter, he was flown directly to a hospital ship and rushed into the operating room. He would live to serve as an example of a man’s ability to triumph over adversity for the generations of high school students who knew him as Mr. Alston, thanks to a man called Doc.
Duke Alston never saw Doc Allen again, but he still thinks of him. How many other Marines who fought in Korea know the same emotions? More than 26,000 Marines were wounded in action during the three years of the Korean War. Many of them, like Joe Owen and Duke Alston, owe their very lives to prompt treatment by a corpsman. Perhaps that is why anyone seeking the unsung hero of that war in Korea 50 years ago need not look too far. That unsung hero is close at hand. His name was Doc.
So here’s to you, Doc. It is fitting and appropriate that during this month that marks the anniversary of the birth of your service, Navy Day, that we, your brothers in arms, stand and salute you. You were right there with us every step of the way. You were one of us, Doc. You shared our discomforts and privations, not to mention those gastronomic atrocities known as C-rations. You stood beside us in deadly danger. When faced with perils that made common sense cry out to turn and run, you went forward shoulder to shoulder with us. And when in our times of need we called out to you, you never failed to come.
Thanks, Doc, thanks. And God bless you.
© 2001 Marine Corps Association. All rights reserved.
The presence of Army aid stations, MASH units, and hospitals located near the front line saved countless American lives during the Korean War. Taking care of the wounded and dying was far more serious business than what the average American perceives that it was. This is because of three things: (1) The Korean War receives very little mention in school textbooks and history books; (2) Korean War medics and physicians rarely discuss the war with those who did not participate in it; and (3) The movie and television series "M*A*S*H cast a comical light on a decidedly not-comical aspect of the Korean War.
A Korean War veteran from Bremen, Maine, was the originator of the famous M*A*S*H series that eventually became a hit movie and long-running, popular television series. Basing his fictional books on his real-life experience as a doctor at the 8055 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea, Hornberger wrote under the pseudonym Richard Hooker. Ingo Preminger bought the rights to Hornberger's book for $100,000, and the movie M*A*S*H was released in the fall of 1970. It was an instant hit. The movie won an Oscar for Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Movie. The actor who played "Hot Lips" also received a nomination as Best Actress. William Self, president of Twentieth Century Fox, turned the movie into a television series that lasted 11 years (1972-1983) with 251 episodes. The former MASH surgeon worked 12 years on his first M*A*S*H book. It was rejected seventeen times before publisher William Morrow agreed to issue the book in 1968.
H. Richard Hornberger was born February 1, 1924, in Trenton, New Jersey. A graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine and Cornell University Medical School, he spent most of his life as a thoracic surgeon in small towns on the coast of Maine. He was a captain in the Army Medical Corps in Korea, after which he worked briefly in a veterans' hospital before opening a surgical practice in Waterville, Maine, which he maintained until retirement in 1988. He died of leukemia in Portland, Maine, on November 4, 1997.
Some Korean War veterans praise Hornberger's book. Others do not. One veteran wrote,
"M*A*S*H satirized the U.S. military in Vietnam under the guise of a Korean War setting. "Apocalypse Now" turned Vietnam into a surreal zone of madness and bestiality. "platoon" depicted U.S. soldiers as drug abusers, back-stabbers and butchers of the innocent in a scene reminiscent of the My Lai massacre. The movie took every bad instance that occurred in the Vietnam War, officers smoking dope with their men, sergeants killing each other, soldiers burning buildings and put it all in one movie. I have a friend who thinks that M*A*S*H was a great movie, as well as the TV series, and believes that even though it was satirical it at least brought attention to the Korean War. I take the opposite view and believe it did a great disservice.
That same veteran, who actually did meet Hornberger in person, also said, "Over the years, I met up with some of the doctors who had been in Korea during the way. I mentioned to them that I thought it was kind of strange that Doctor Hornberger would write that way about his Korean War medical unit. I was told by his colleagues that if he ever knew that the story would be turned into a vehicle to spout liberal antiwar propaganda during the Vietnam War years, he would never have condoned the movie, etc."
M*A*S*H Books (among the many M*A*S*H books that Hornberger wrote):
The book M*A*S*H was written in 1968 with the assistance of sports-writer Wilfred C. Heinz. All of the M*A*S*H books written from 1974 through 1997 were co-authored by William E. Butterworth (military novelist W.E.B. Griffin).
William Edmund Butterworth was born November 10, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey, the son of William Edmund and Gladys Schnable Butterworth. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1946. After basics, he received counter-intelligence training at Ft. Holabird. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, serving under Maj. Gen. I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary. During the Korean War, he was recalled. He served again under General White, both at Ft. Knox and in Korea. He served as a combat information officer and as acting X Corps Information Officer.
Thousands of wounded Americans were treated in hospital ships during the Korean War. The fate of the hospital ship USS Benevolence can be found on the KWE's Homefront pages, while memoirs of veterans who served as staff on the ships can be found in the Memoirs of the KWE.
Hospital ships serving our wounded in the Korean War:
Included in the many memoirs found on the KWE are those of two Korean War veterans of Army medical teams. Harold Selley served in the medical company of the 7th Cavalry Regiment during the battles of the Pusan Perimeter and beyond. Carl Nussmeyer began his service in Korea as a medic in the 7th Infantry Division's 17th Infantry Division and then became a litter Jeep driver at the battalion aid station. Both memoirs give insight into the medical treatment of the wounded during the Korean War in two different time frames.
The following Navy veteran's interviews were conducted by the Korean War Educator and most are active on the KWE website. Marines and Navy personnel worked hand in hand to save the lives of those serving in combat during the Korean War:
Don was born in Ottawa, Illinois, on May 6, 1927. He attended grade school and high school in Minnesota. At the age of 16, he enlisted in the US Navy in July of 1942. He attended Navy boot camp, and was then sent to Hospital Marine Corps School in San Diego, CA. Don volunteered to serve with the Marines as a Corpsman, and was sent to Field Medical School at Camp Pendleton, California. During World War II, he participated in campaigns in the Marianna’s and was wounded on Iwo Jima. After spending five months in the Naval Hospital, his wounds were healed and he was assigned to the 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in North China. On the island of Okinawa, his true age was discovered, and he was informed that he would have to be discharged, which he was.
However, at age 18 he could and did re-enlist. He was sworn once more into the United States Navy, and served as a Corpsman caring for veterans of the United States Marine Corps. He returned to the United States in 1946 and served on an LST until his discharge from the Navy in September of 1947. He then joined the Reserve 105 Artillery Unit at Portland, Oregon. Don also studied medicine at Portland State University and the College of Southern Utah.
In August of 1950, Don was recalled to active duty with his reserve unit for the Korean War. After administering his final shots to the Reserve Marines at Swan Island, he was flown to Korea. There, he joined Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade at the Pusan Perimeter, just as it was to engage the North Koreans at the battle of the Naktong River. While in Korea, he also served in the battles of Inchon, Seoul, Chosin Reservoir, and the 1951 spring and summer campaigns. He was wounded in May of 1951, and again in the summer of 1951. Don was a patient in the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
When he was again discharged from active duty in the Navy in October of 1951, he returned to his Reserve Unit in Portland, Oregon. He also returned to college and earned his Doctorate in Medicine at the University of Utah. He set up practice in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he stayed for 24 years. Don met and married his wife Maxine in November of 1963, and they have one son, Donavon Hampton III. After retiring in 1984, Don and Maxine moved to Eagle Creek, Oregon, where he spent his time operating his Christmas tree farm.
Don’s decorations include the following: Bronze Star with V, Navy Commendation with V, three Purple Hearts, Combat Action Ribbon, four Presidential Unit Citations, Navy Unit Citation, Asiatic Pacific Medal with three stars, Korean Service Medal with six battle stars, United Nations Medal, and three Korean Presidential Unit Citations. He passed away on November 17, 1993.
Army and Navy nurses devoted their military careers to helping wounded Korean War veterans. Under the Topics page "Women in the Korean War" our readers will find information about their recollections of wartime service, photographs, facts about award recipients, and details about fatalities. No American female died in combat in the Korean War, but several females lost their lives while serving in and out of the war zone.
Dr. Philip Deaver was a medical doctor who lived in Tuscola, Illinois [host city of the Korean War Educator] during the 1950s. He was one of the most respected physicians in the community. Everyone loved him. Dr. Deaver sent a message to Tuscola’s citizens via the December 6, 1951 issue of the Tuscola Review newspaper. His message is reprinted below. In addition, KWE readers can view Dr. Deaver's photo album on the Korean War Educator. They were sent to the KWE courtesy of Dr. Deaver's daughter, Maureen Deaver Purcell (a life member of the Korean War Educator).
The Review is seeking used clothing for the Korean kiddies on Dr. Philip F. Deaver’s island—the kiddies ‘who wander around naked from the waist down and blue with cold.’ The decision to appeal to the public for assistance was reached late last week when a letter to the editor arrived from Dr. Deaver, a Tuscola physician who enlisted in the Army Medical Corps last Summer and has since been stationed on an island near Pusan, Korea, with the 64th Field Hospital. A portion of Dr. Deaver’s letter is quoted below:
The Innocent Victim
Winter is on and though the soldiers are well equipped now, the Korean people, particularly the children who are the real innocent victims—and the most pathetic victims—of this war are going to suffer terribly. The children on this island wander around naked from the waist down and blue with cold. They eat from garbage cans if they get there first. Many are no older than my children. Some are master beggars and thieves at six years old, because they have had no recourse. It occurred to me several days ago that you would perhaps know an agency or group that collects old clothes. And that perhaps some could be shipped here to me and I could handle the distribution of them. What Americans often throw away would be a real luxury to these little gooks….
There is no charitable agency that collects clothing for shipment to individuals. Therefore, the Review has decided to undertake the collection and mailing of clothing to Dr. Deaver, who practiced here for several years before entering the Medical Corps, and is widely known throughout the area. Shipments will be made to Dr. Deaver by parcel post at the rate of $14.52 per hundred pounds, with the Review paying the postage. It is hoped that at least 500 pounds of clothing suitable for children—sweaters, coats, trousers, underwear, caps, etc.—can be sent by December 15, which will be the deadline for shipments. Postmaster Wayne Neal estimates that it will take about three weeks for the clothing to reach the island. The Review has attempted to arrange for shipment by air transport, but without success.
Individuals who desire to make shipments direct to Dr. Deaver may do so at this address: Captain P.F. Deaver, MC01921410, APO 59, 64th Field Hospital, c/o Postmaster, San Francisco, California. Otherwise, garments for the Korean youngsters should be brought to the Review office. Because of the press of business, the staff will not be able to make individual collections except in extreme cases. All clothing will be packed for shipment, with the bundles weighing 70 pounds or less.
The Forty Martyrs Catholic church, which annually collects used clothing for charitable agencies, has just completed a drive and has offered the choice of the garments in the warehouse. It is hoped that other churches will also assist in this attempt to ease the suffering of children who had no part in starting the Korean War, but who are, as Dr. Deaver says in his letter, ‘the most pathetic victims’ of the conflict. In the event anyone cares to donate money for postage, the Review will accept it with thanks. We are prepared, however, to spend whatever is necessary to help Dr. Deaver make life a little easier for the children on his island.
The Army's Mobile Army Surgical Hospital units in Korea went a long way toward saving the lives of thousands of American military personnel in the Korean War. Below is information associated with the 8076th MASH, as well as the 45th Surgical Hospital
History of the 8076th Army Unit Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (19 July 1950 - 31 January 1953) & 45th Surgical Hospital, Mobile Army (1 February 1953 - July 1953)
Headquarters
45th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
APO 301
12 March 1953
General Order No. 162, dated 19 July 1950, Headquarters, Eighth United States Army activated the unit as a 60 bed MASH. Personnel including twelve (12) Nurses and eighty-nine (89) Enlisted Men were drawn from hospitals all over Japan. One (1) MSC and one (1) Warrant Officer transferred out of hospitals in Japan. Ten (10) Medical Officers and other MSC Officers were flown from the states. Organization was assisted in equipping itself at 155th Station Hospital in Yokohama. Personnel originally were assigned to 155th and thus from there to 8076th MASH, APO 707 which was later changed to APO 301.
Personnel for Unit D, 8076th MASH, began arriving at 155th on 17th and were processed and equipment issued through period of 19 July. On 19th of July equipment was loaded on trucks and pulled over to Pier 2, Yokohama for combat loading on Sgt. USNS George D. Keathley for shipment to Japan.
Major Kryder E. Van Buskirk – Commanding Officer
Captain George O’Day – Chief Surgery & Ex.
Captain Elizabeth Johnson – Chief Nurse
Lt. Richard E. Eddleman – Supply Officer
Lt. Octavian Buta – Detachment Commander
Boarded the USNS George D. Keathley on the 20th of July. Personnel all in excellent physical condition. Trucks and equipment were loaded on board. Sailed at 0800 on the morning of the 21st. During the following days of 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th the personnel were briefed by the Commanding Officer on what to expect. Daily inspections of the ship were made, and a tentative plan on the job assignment was made. All personnel were screened and interviewed. SOP’s set up, and a general overall plan for operations and movement was established. During this time the overall administration operations of the hospital were taking place.
We arrived in Pusan on the 25th of July under the command of Major Kryder E. VanBuskirk. At midnight that night they departed by train for Kumchon and arrived there on the morning of the second day. They remained there only a few hours and departed for Taegu, only to stay there for only five days. At 0330 hours on the 1st of August they left Taegu for Miryang to the south. They began setting up at 1730 and worked all night getting tents etc, ready. Guerilla attacked the supply truck that night. The hospital had no operation tables and many other essential items had to be improvised, however the hospital became first time operational that day with Sgt. Reed (Mess Sgt) as the first patient.
They remained in Miryang for two months until the 4th of October, during which time they were the main hospital of the MASH category which was supporting the Pusan Perimeter, furnishing forward hospital support for every division in Korea with the exception of the 25th division. During this period of time, 5,674 patients were admitted to this hospital and in one instance 608 patients were admitted in one (24) hour period. Again at this time the supply truck was attacked by guerilla.
It was during this period that the amphibious landing was made at Inchon and accordingly the tide of battle was turned and the Eighth Army troops began to advance north and the MASH moved north to Taegu on 4 October, and remained there for one week before moving to Taejon on 11 October. It remained in Taejon only two days and moved north to Suwon on the 12th of October where it remained for only eight days, when it moved to Kumchon on the 21st of October. It remained in Kumchon for only a week and moved on the 28th of October to Haeju and there again for only eight days until 5 November.
From the time after Hiryang when the landing was made at Inchon until Haeju things seemed to be going quite well for the U.N. troops and it was about this time that the famous statement that the boys would be home for Christmas was made. This was made without considering that the Chinese would enter, which they did on 27 November (Major Van Buskirk was promoted to LtCol 5 November 1950). About this time the hospital began to work in earnest again and the hospital moved again to Kumchon on 7 November staying two weeks until 22 November when it moved to Kunuri for perhaps what was the most tragic episode in its history.
It was then that the coldest weather ever encountered in Korea was met with temperatures as low as 23 and 30 degrees below zero with copious amount of snow. Because of the complete surprise of the Chinese intervention, and the unusually cold weather, there were men who were fighting in nothing more than fatigues and field jackets, so along with numerous battle casualties there were literally hundreds of men froze to death. During the six days they were in Kunuri there were 1,836 admissions to the hospital and on one day 661 admitted. At this time there were only 12 Medical Officers and 120 Enlisted Men. There were no such things as blowers for heating, and the entire hospital was in tents. Routinely there were 13 and 14 persons in each squad tent.
The patients were arriving in such a large number that literally there was no place to put them inside the hospital tents, and when the ambulances would arrive they would just have to leave the patients lying in the snow, where unfortunately some froze to death before they could even be brought into the hospital tents. However being brought inside was no assurance against freezing because the temperature in the tents was so low that patients froze there, their resistance being lowered as a result of injuries.
It was at this time that one of the most difficult decisions any Medical Officer ever had to make was made. The influx of casualties was such that the unit was unable to care for all of them. Therefor some of the more seriously injured patients were given sufficient medication to prevent suffering and then they were put aside to die while the hospital’s attention was focused on those casualties who could be saved.
After being in Kunuri for only six days, the order to "bug out" was given on the 28th of November, and accordingly the hospital loaded up and moved out at 1600 hours. Because of the pressing nature of the tactical situation then, not all of the patients were able to be evacuated simply because there were not enough ambulances to carry them out, and as a result about 40 of the patients, one of the doctors and several of the corpsmen were left behind to somewhat uncertain fate since the Chinese were advancing with such speed that all of the roads and highways were clogged with retreating U.N. personnel and equipment. Fortunately, help was gotten to rescue the stranded patients with the doctor and corpsmen, so none of the personnel were killed or taken prisoners.
It was on the "bug out" from Kunuri (four hours before CCF) that the MASH experienced its nearest disaster. Orders had been given Lt. Col. VanBuskirk to withdraw to Pyong-yang, the north Korean Capitol by a certain route. However on reaching the fork in the road where the convoy was supposed to go left, Col. VanBuskirk decided that the route was unsafe and instead took the right fork, which is quite fortunate because all the troops and convoys which took the left fork were trapped in a road block with almost 100% of them either being killed or taken prisoners.
The unit arrived at Pyong-yang at 0200 and took over 1,000 patients from the 171 evacuation hospital which had been forced to retreat. It continued to treat casualties plus take care of the evacuation of all those casualties left by that unit. Most of those evacuations were by air and the situation was so acute that planes that normally carried 35 or 40 patients were taking loads of 50 and 60. The hospital remained at Pyong-yang for four days only before it was again forced to retreat southward to Kaesong, the old site of the truce talks. At Kaesong they stayed only a week leaving there at 1530 on the 10th of December, again "bugging out", this time to Suwon for the second time. At this time the retreat of the U.N. forces was so rushed that the roads were lined actually bumper to bumper with vehicles and the orders were that if any vehicle broke down, it was to be pulled to the side of the road, the motor destroyed, and the vehicle burned.
The tales of personal bravery, heroism, self-preservation and sheer guts at that time, are a true credit to the Army. There was one soldier who was captured by Chinese, who did nothing more than take his boots and later released him in his bare feet. The weather at that time was sub zero and the ground covered with snow. This soldier walked barefooted trying to reach our lines until his feet froze so that he was unable to walk further. He was forced to sit out in the open for three weeks with no food, no shelter except for his uniform and no water except for what he could obtain from eating snow. He was found at the end of this three week period weighing approximately 65 pound and with both feet gangrenous and black, necessitating amputation of both legs. He was one of many who passed through this hospital.
The first Christmas and New Years Day were spent in Suwon while the front stabilized a bit, but again the U.N. forces were forced to retreat and this time the hospital withdraw still further south to Taejon, setting up only to have a breakdown again for a few hours and go to Sanju on an overnight move arriving 6 January.
At present most of you have no comprehension of what a move is like because we are so well established here that it seems inconceivable that the hospital could actually move, but at that time the hospital was set up to break down the tents, pack up the supplies, load them on trucks and be ready to pull out within six hours. There were no chances for each man to build up a little empire such as we have now, because there was no place to carry the excess gear. Between 4 October and 31 January the hospital moved on an average of once a week, and on one move the hospital was broken down and ready to pull out in one hour and fifteen minutes. The corpsmen and officers who were not driving vehicles, rode on top of the trucks after the gear had been packed.
The month of January was spent in Sangju as U.N. regrouped its forces and began the long slow drive back up the peninsula. At Sangju, the hospital was pitched in the river bed and guarded by heavy tanks. On 1 February 1951 the hospital moved north to Chungju where it stayed for a month before moving to Wonju on 4 March. It was at Wonju that U.N. troops took over a Chinese aid station when the Chinese retreated, and found approximately 79 of our own UN soldiers that had been held at POWs. The unit moved to Hongchon 5 April. At this time the MASH was functioning as a truly Mobile Hospital and as a truly Surgical Hospital and as a result it was never more than 10 miles and often as close as five miles behind the front, and as the fighting moved forward the MASH was right behind it.
At Hongsh’on in the latter part of April the Communists began their second counter offensive, and again the MASH had to "bug out", this time on 25 April which happened to be the 9th month anniversary of the MASH’s arrival in Korea. At that time the hospital was only eight miles behind the MLR and knowing that the Communists were advancing we had been quite anxious about it and when we would have to move. However, we were assured by Army we would hold fast our positions on the evening of the 25th, and about 0100 of 26 April, Corps advised unit would have to "bug out." All personnel were assembled, the hospital taken down and patients evacuated. By 0730 the hospital was enroute to Chungju for the second time.
This organization was placed in reserve at this time some 60 or 75 miles behind the front and sat up in a school building in Chungju which was later occupied by the 11th Evacuation Hospital. Being in reserve was short lived though, and two weeks later the unit was moved forward to Suwon for the third time. During the history of the MASH all was not grim all the time but occasional humorous things happened which made life quite livable and did much to blend the MASH into a well-functioning integrated unit with one of the highest esprit de corps of any outfit in Korea. One of those incidents happened in Suwon, and although it was anything but funny at the time it later served as a wonderful basis for reminiscing. This was the night of the big rain, one night after several days of almost continuous rain when the mud was almost up to the top of your boots. In addition to the rain there was a terrific windstorm which effectively blew down almost every tent on the compound, pulling out the tent stakes as if they were matches. Everyone was routed out by the tents falling down on top of them and in the middle of the night with the rain pouring down in sheets everyone was outside trying to drive in new tent stakes; there was so much mud this was impossible so in the end all the trucks from the motor pool were called out and tents were held up by the trucks until the mud dried out sufficiently to permit tent stakes to be used again.
It was at Suwon that the 8076th was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation which reads as follows:
The MOBILE ARMY SURGICAL HOSPITAL, 8076th ARMY UNIT is cited for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in Korea in support of combat operations during the period from 25 July 1950 to 11 May 1951. During this period the MOBILE ARMY SURGICAL HOSPITAL, 8076TH ARMY UNIT functioned in close support of front line units rendering outstanding medical services. Its primary mission was to perform as a sixty-bed surgical hospital, however, in many instances the unit assumed the additional responsibilities of an evacuation hospital without loss of operational efficiency. Between 2 August and 5 October at Miryang, the unit furnished forward hospital support for all front line troops except the 25th Infantry Division, admitting 5,674 patients and in one twenty-four hour period handled 244 surgical procedures. On another occasion this unit processed 608 patients in one day. A total of 15,000 patients were cared for during the nine months this unit has been in operation, and the medical service rendered to the United Nations Forces was one of the highest caliber. Under all types of conditions, this hospital has displayed outstanding initiative and aggressive action in performing its many missions.
Although the hospital was required to operate in no less than thirteen different areas in close medical support of front line units, its effectiveness and efficiency has excelled the high standards set by the Army Medical Service. The MOBILE ARMY SURGICAL HOSPITAL, 8076th ARMY UNIT displayed such outstanding devotion and superior performance of exceptionally difficult tasks as to set it apart and above other units with similar missions. The efficiency, effectiveness, and versatility shown by the members of the unit in the performance of their assigned missions reflect great credit on themselves, the Army Medical Service, and the military service of the United States.
By command of Lieutenant General VanFleet
The Unit moved from Suwon north to Chunchon on 29 May 1951 and shortly after arriving there, Lt. Col. Van Buskirk rotated to the States and the new commanding officer was Major John Mothershead, later Lt. Col. Mothershead. At the time of arrival in Chunchon, there was only a small airstrip. There was no rail transportation available, and no bridges on the road between Chunchon and Seoul so after a heavy rain, supply trucks were frequently held up for several days until the streams went down enough to permit the trucks to ford them.
While at Chunchon the peace talks were started and accordingly the tactical situation diminished sufficiently that the unit had very few patients with the exception of one night when approximately 200 Chinese patients were sent within the period of about an hour, UN forces having overrun a Chinese clearing station. Among them was a Chinese Nurse who remained with the unit for approximately a month taking care of the numerous prisoner patients during that time.
On 17 September 1951 the unit moved forward to Hwachon. The stay at Chunchon was the longest which had been accomplished in any one location, and by that time all of the original members of the outfit had rotated to the states, so this move was accomplished with less finesse and ease than the other moves, and in fact had to be made in a period of two days.
During the last quarter of 1951 the unit remained at Hwachon and as described above continued to function in a most efficient manner. From the period of 17 September 1951 to 31 December 1951 the unit took care of 3,986 patients, 98% of them being battle casualties. Rotation and transfers to other areas in the Far East Command made heavy indentations on the experienced personnel. Adequate replacements commenced o arrive during the latter part of November and December to the extent that the enlisted strength went from a figure of 196 in November to 223 by the end of December. During the last quarter of 1951 the unit was in direct support of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Infantry Division until mid-November, when the front lines were moved north approximately nine miles and extended to our left and right flanks for an average of twenty miles. ROKA Divisions commenced to replace American Divisions which reflected in the patient status to the extent that about one half were ROKA patients for the last half of December.
Due to the peace negotiations the entire front was comparatively quiet with the start of the New Year which created a situation that found the unit for the first time in its history doing work comparable to that of an evacuation hospital. Which including running a rather large out-patient service, giving consultations, performing laboratory work for nearby units and in general rendering a more diversified medical service. However the primary mission as always was to give surgical support to combat divisions. During the month of January through April the hospital supported the 7th Division, 2nd, 3rd, and 25th and some elements of the II ROKA Corps who commenced to move in the area to the north. The unit participated in one campaign during this period, the second Korean winter, 28 November 1951 to 30 April 1952 inclusive. In January of 1952, 1,178 patients were processed with only 323 battle casualties. In February 1952, 1,132 patients were processed with 208 of them as battle casualties. In March, 986 patients were admitted and 239 of them were battle casualties. In April 963 patients were processed with 223 of those as battle casualties.
With the passing of winter and a comparative quiet front, a general improvement program was ordered by Lt. Col. Maurice R. Connolly that actually started in July 1952. For the first sustained period in the history of the unit personal conveniences and material comforts became of paramount importance. Prior to this everyone was too occupied in work, keeping warm and moving to be very concerned about the inadequacy of latrines and quarters, the suitability of the EM and Officers clubs etc. In conjunction with the improvement program a training program was also put into effect for the first time in the history of the unit. Even paper work, reports and red tape in general commenced to increase to an extent that at times even the expression "police action" seemed like a vague term as applied to the general situation where the 8076th was concerned. Rotation continued to have its effect as reflected in the decrease of EM strength of 223 in December to 194 in April. The Officers and Nurse strength remained constant the majority of the time.
During May and June American Divisions to the north w4ere shifted to other sections of the front and replaced entire with divisions of the II ROKA Corps which included the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th and Capital ROKA divisions. Other than receiving patients from American divisions in reserve and as a result of vehicle accidents most admissions were ROKA soldiers. In May 762 patients were admitted with 246 of them battle casualties. In June there were 846 with 229 as battle casualties. In July there were 642 patients with 149 battle casualties.
The summer was highlighted by a formal presentation, complete with band and formation on the 30th of July 1952, from General Paik Nam Kwon Commanding General of the II ROKA Corps commending the organization for its support of ROKA divisions. August 1952 was an uneventful month with a total admission of only 432 of which 214 were battle casualties. Such factors as R&R quotas, trips to Seoul, picnics and social activities gradually became of more importance, although dirt and generally undesirable living conditions were a constant problem.
Improvements of the area were expedited with the advent of winter which included new tentage and floors for the hospital proper and pre-fab wall lining. The EM mess tent was replaced, a complete new holding ward was framed and set up, the Officers and Nurses quarters were completely replaced, and EM quarters were replaced as required. Pre-fab structures replaced supply housing, Officers and EM club, theater and chapel, shower unit and motor pool. The PX, barbershop and post office were put into one tent with new floor, counters and shelves.
August and September found many older personnel leaving. By 15 September the enlisted strength had decreased to 129 and new personnel were commencing to arrive weekly. The training program was stepped to counteract this in the form of on the job training, classroom instruction and field training. September found admissions only 362 with 221 of these battle casualties. October admissions went to 486 with 284 battle casualties. In November only 322 patients were admitted of which 189 were battle casualties. December ended 1952 with 278 admissions of which 108 were battle casualties.
On the 4th of November Lt. Col. Maurice R. Connolly was evacuated with hemorrhagic fever to the ZI and Captain Charles E. Hannan assumed Command. Major Irvine O. Jordan was transferred from the 121st Evacuation Hospital on the 9th of November and assumed command on that date. Major Harry Grossman was transferred from the 8063rd MASH on the 2nd of December and relieved Major Jordan of command on that date.
On the 2nd of December the 8193rd AU, Helicopter Detachment was reorganized as the 50th Medical Detachment, Helicopter Ambulance with an authorized strength of 7 Officers and 21 EM. This change attached them to the hospital for administration and logistical support. Their strength to date was only 4 officers and 4 EM.
On 7 February 1953 Lt. Col. Charles F. Hollingsworth was assigned and assumed command. On 1 February the 8076th MASH AU was redesignated to the 4th MASHosp per General Order No. 69 Hdq. (EUSAK) dtd 10 Jan 1953 to operate under TO&E 8-571, which authorizes 16 male officers including 3 administrative officers, 12 female officers and 93 enlisted men. The redesignation entailed a considerable amount of administrative work which was effected completely by 20 February. On 24 February practice moves by all hospital sections were made a part of the regular training program. The results were most gratifying in that during the week ending 28 February the hospital proper had moves by sections and the longest time taken by any one department was an hour and fifteen minutes to completely load, unload and set up to receive patients. As a result of this it was estimated that in spite of the long stagnant period experienced, the hospital proper could set up and receive patients in five hours.
March 1953- The 45th Surgical Hospital was operational for the entire month of March. Our mission was to provide medical support for the divisions of the II ROK Corps. In addition, hospitalization and out-patient treatment was given to American divisions in reserve. Evacuation of patients and casualties was effected by units of the 584th Medical Ambulance Company and the 50th Medical Detachment, Helicopter Group.
April 1953 - On April 3, 1953 the hospital made its first move in several months from Hwachon to Munsan-Ni for the purpose of participating in Operation Little Switch, the first prisoner exchange. The function of the hospital was to receive and give first medical attention to the returned sick and wounded United Nations prisoners of war. By afternoon of April 4, 1953 the hospital was set up and ready to receive patients.
In an effort to provide a maximum comfort for the patients, metal folding type beds with mattresses were used and were made up with new linen and two new blankets. On each bedside stand were a set of new pajamas, a bathrobe, towel, and slippers. The patients were able to get a meal, a coke, coffee, malted milks, frappes, and cigarettes.
Since there were no cases requiring surgery among the 213 returned prisoners, the average time spent in the hospital was relatively short… only forty minutes. The medical operations for the rest of the month consisted of sick call for our own and adjacent units.
May 1953 - After Operation Little Switch was carried out, the physical plan of the hospital had to be altered in order to carry out the needs of an efficient Surgical Hospital. The ease with which the succeeding great number of casualti4es was handled proved the change to be adequate and practical. Many of the casualties were Turkish Armed Forces Personnel and there was some difficulty overcoming the language barrier.
June 1953 - The hospital continued operations at Munsan-ni until June 21, 1953 when it moved to a new area at P’Aiu-Ri, Korea. At no time during the move was the hospital non-operational. Casualties for the period from American Divisions, the Turkish Army Brigade, and other United Nations troops.
July 1953 - During the initial days of the month much time was spent in adding conveniences and luxuries to the area. A shower unit and laundry were set up. The EM club and Red Cross tent provided recreational facilities during off-duty hours.
On July 9, 1953 we were alerted to move and on July 10 the move was effected. The hospital was operational near Toknon-Ni, North Korea from July 10, 1953 thru July 27 supporting 7th Infantry Division troops during the pushes against Pork Chop Hill. On July 34 this unit received a letter of commendation (dated 18 July 1953) from Major General Arthur G. Trudeau, Commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division, for its outstanding medical support. At Toknon-Ni we were rather cramped for space, therefore few conveniences or recreational facilities were available. Morale remained high, however, due primarily to the excellent food prepared by our new mess sergeant, Sergeant Loving.
With the signing of the truce on July 27, 1953, we were ordered to move back to our former location at P’Aiu-Ri to ready ourselves for our part in the long-awaited Operation Big Switch.
Initial Report - Headquarters
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
8076th Army Unit
14 January 1951
SUBJECT: Annual Report of Medical Department Activities,
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, 8076th Army Unit
THRU: The Surgeon
8th US Army Korea (EUSAK)
APO 301
TO: The Surgeon General
Department of the Army
Washington 25, D.C.
The principal medical activities of this command have been: to furnish surgical and medical support to the combat division, principally in the care of non-transportable casualties so seriously wounded that further evacuation to the rear would jeopardize their recovery; to coordinate evacuation of all casualties from division areas to installations in the rear, and treat slightly wounded cases who can be returned to duty within ten days, tactical situation permitting. Casualties here receive emergency as well as highly specialized treatment. They are given skilled pre-operative, operative and post-operative care. When transportable these are evacuated to rear installations.
This hospital was activated per General Orders No. 161, Hq 8th US Army, APO 343, dated 19 July 1950, under T/O&E 8-571, dated 28 October 1948, and expanded per General Orders No, 180, Hq 8th US Army Korea, APO 301, dated 24 November 1950. Due to the wide variation in the tactical situation encountered in this theatre, the missions of this unit have varied widely. This unit has been operational 152 days and had 9,008 admissions. It was first operational at Miryang, Korea, from 2 August 1950 to 5 October 1950. During this 65 day period, 5,674 patients passed through the hospital. 244 surgical patients on one occasion and 192 on another were admitted during a 24 hour period. The greatest number of dispositions in one 24 hour period was 608. It was fortunate that the unit during its busiest time at Miryang had selected a woolen mill to set up in, for its expansion was unlimited. Storage warehouses were used as wards and as the patient load increased, new wards were opened up in vacant warehouses. At one time this unit had a census of 427 patients. At the beginning of operations, the unit was organized into a Headquarters Section, a Professional Service and Administrative Service. The Professional Service consisted of operating, Ward, Pharmacy, Laboratory and X-ray Sections. The Administrative Services consisted of Detachment Headquarters, Supply, Mess, Registrar and Motor Sections. On 15 October 1950, per paragraph 211, Hq 2nd Infantry Division, one lieutenant, Dental Corps, and one dental technician, enlisted man, was attached to the command.
On this date a Dental Section was added to Professional Service. This arrangement while caring for but surgical cases worked well; but as the situation changed and the mission of the hospital, in addition to being primarily surgical, became one of an evacuation hospital, minor changes were made which it is believed helped the unit to function more smoothly. The Headquarters Section and the Detachment Headquarters were consolidated thereby pooling the resources of three clerks. Four Enlisted Men were originally in the Registrar Section; two more were assigned because of the heavy patient load. An Evacuation Section consisting of one Medical Corps officer, one Medical Service Corps officer and one NCO was established as a subdivision of the Registrar Section. This provided for a smooth coordination of patients designated for evacuation from the Holding wards to the evacuating medium (i.e. ambulance, train and/or air).
The need for local security, which because of the tactical situation and locations in some areas rendered it impossible for other units nearby to supply local security made it necessary to add a Guard Section consisting of ten Enlisted Men. By making this a permanent section disruption of night and day personnel shifts was avoided making for a smoother functioning unit.
From 28 October 1950 through 31 December 1950, the unit moved six times. Local buildings were utilized in all instances and supplemented with tents as necessary. Because of the problem of weatherproofing, heating, and lighting these buildings, a separate Utilities Section of seven Enlisted Men was set up, which greatly facilitated housekeeping. It is believed a trained electrician and carpenter would be a definite addition and facilitate greatly the lighting and housekeeping problem encountered.
Equipment as basically supplied this unit was entirely adequate for function of the operating section and ward sections, however, when casualties were exceptionally heavy there was a shortage of oxygen flow meters, suction apparati and anesthesia machines, but as the need for this additional equipment arose it was promptly supplied through 8th Army Medical Supply channels.
The following recommendations are submitted for the Orthopedic Set as it is supplied. The table portable, field orthopedic, has been satisfactory with the exception of one factor. It is impossible to apply a body jacket or a Minerva jacket to spinal injuries in hyperextension while the patient is under general anesthesia. Two modifications of the table could be made very easily – one the addition of the Goldthwaite irons and their end pieces to the present table for the application of jackets in the hyperextended supine position and the use of a canvas strap with fixation at the chest symphisis to apply jackets in the prone position. Minerva jackets can be applied with the same apparatus by the use of the Goldthwaite irons. There is too much equipment available in the orthopedic line of some types and too little of other types in the field. The use of plates, screws, Lohman clamps, twist drills, etc. is of questionable value at the field levels and under field conditions but these and others are included in the field fracture and amputation sets. Conversely [sic] there is very little Kirschner wire and Steinman equipment available and in the Korean Theater up to this time there has been almost none of this available. It is felt that these should be heavily stocked in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals. These are unquestionably emergency treatment items and are of more value than equipment provided for definitive surgical procedures. The stock of wire suture material is largely confined to heavier gauges. This should be available down to the level of No. 36 wire. It is well known that wire suture material is inert in the presence of sepsis and the use of it in closing the lateral borders of wounds to decrease their size, when it is known that sepsis will follow, would be of value. Then too, the use of finer gauges of wire in the Bonnel technique of tendon repair presents itself in cases incurred under clean circumstances and recently enough to be repaired, such as one finds in mess and utility personnel of nearby units.
The 250,000 BTU gasoline space heaters as supplied to this organization have been invaluable, however much difficulty has been experienced in keeping them operational. The chief difficulty with the blower type unit heater being the frailness and lack of stability of the gasoline engines which require almost constant maintenance to keep them in adjustment and in functioning condition. These blower motors can be only regarded as gadgets rather than as functional pieces of equipment. At present this organization has converted one of these units which became so unserviceable that it is powered by an electric motor. This modification has proved much more dependable and satisfactory than the units supplied.
This unit has always been supplied with at least one ambulance platoon and sometimes with two depending on the tactical situation.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the helicopters stationed at the hospital who brought seriously wounded patients from inaccessible areas and evacuated seriously wounded casualties from forward medical installations, thereby providing a quick, smooth, comfortable evacuation from forward areas to the hospital with a minimum of shock and delay.
In general, the physical and mental health of this command has been excellent, of all disease encountered in the past six months, those of infectious origin have predominated. Included below are diseases and incidence of such in this command during the past six months.
Two psychiatric casualties have been evacuated from the theater with diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and severe anxiety state, in general the mental health of this command has been excellent, and morale has remained high.
The officers, nurses and enlisted personnel have been housed in local buildings within the hospital compound when these were available. Sectional and squad tents have been used at other times. Ventilation and heating have always been good to excellent. General cleanliness of the quarters has been well maintained. During the summer months mosquito and fly control was good. DDT spraying was carried out effectively throughout the hospital area with the occasional assistance of a sanitation team from a nearby unit. The usual "fly attractive" areas such as the mess, the latrines, and garbage disposal pits, were kept fly free by the usual general measures: frequent changes of pits and latrines, scrubbing of latrine boxes with disinfectant solutions, and mess cleanliness. Rodents presented no problem. Frequent aerosol bomb spraying of the operating room was carried out during the summer months, and mosquito netting was placed so as to cover the entrance to the operating room, as well as to the patient wards. Insect repellent as well as DDT powder was available to all patients. Tissues removed at surgery, as well as old dressings were burned and buried. Water supply has at all times been within easy reach of the hospital’s water truck. The hospital utilities section has made shower baths available to the unit whenever possible. Occasionally the shower points of nearby larger units have been available. Hospital laundry has been handled very efficiently by the Quartermaster laundries of nearby divisional units. While at Miryang, their facilities were not available and local labor was hired to do the hospital laundry. The hospital supplies and equipment were necessary sanitary measures have been quite adequate.
Chancroid, gonorrhea, luetic chancre, and lympho-gtrauloma venereum were the most frequently observed infectious illnesses. All diagnoses were clinical, save for smears in suspected gonorrhea and chancroid, as this installation has no facilities for serological diseases. Whenever possible, persons with venereal diseases were returned to duty, but often they had to be evacuated because their unit had left the area. Gonorrhea was treated with either 300,000 or 600,000 units of procaine penicillin with good effect. Patients with suspected primary syphilis were started on a course of procaine penicillin, 600,000 units daily x 10, and then returned to duty with instruction to report to their unit dispensary to complete the treatment. Chancroid was treated with streptomycin 0.7 gms twice a day for five days, initially, but later in the year, good results were obtained with aureomycin 0.7 gms twice a day for five days, initially, but later in the year, good results were obtained with aureomycin 2 to 4 gms daily for five to ten days. The same treatment was used in lymphogranuloma venereum.
Dysentery was the next most frequent type of infectious disease. No laboratory confirmation as to type was obtained. The majority were presumed to be bacillary, and most of these responded to Aureomycin or chloroimycetin therapy, usually being ready for duty in two to five days.
Malaria was observed frequently in August and September. A few cases were found in December, but these occurred among members of the Philippine 10th BCT, and were thought to be acute recurrence of chronic malaria acquired before arrival in Korea. All cases became clinically well with chloroquin, the most frequent dosage schedule used being 1.0 gm stat, with 0.5 gms three times daily for three days thereafter.
Encephalitis of unknown type, but thought to be Japanese B was seen often in August and September. All had positive spinal fluid findings, usually showing 100 to 1200 cells per cu. Mm., with lymphocytes and neutrophils varying in predominance from case to case. All cases were acutely and severely ill at the time of evacuation, but no patients died before leaving the unit. Only three cases of poliomyelitis were observed, two of whom expired because of respiratory failure.
Hepatitis as evidenced by icterus was seen frequently, and all such cases were quickly evacuated for definitive therapy.
Respiratory Infections of various types were seen with increasing frequency during late November and December. The most serious of these were pneumonitis, of unknown type, seen most commonly among Philippine troops and Thailanders. These patients were evacuated due to the tactical situation before the results of Aureomycin therapy could be evaluated. For incidence and control of infectious diseases in the command, see paragraphs three and four.
6. Outstanding Clinical Experiences, Improvements in Medical Practice
This unit was located in an area where casualties were extremely heavy, and for a time we received all surgical casualties from the 2nd Infantry Division, 24th Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Brigade, and ROK forces. In less than a two months period, three hundred (300) laporatomies were performed in this institution. About fifteen (15) ruptured urethras, numerous injuries to extremities, chest and head were encountered. TBM [Technical Bulletin Medical, TB MED] 147, and its forerunner, the "ETO Manual of Therapy," was familiar to all surgeons, and was used as a basis for all treatments, however, from experiences during this period, it is believed some points can be emphasized which can be of future help to the trained surgeon uninitiated in war surgery. For all wounds or injury other than enumerated below TBM 147 very adequately covers the basic procedures.
A bold, ample para median incision provides better exposure and is much less time consuming than a transverse incision and is in nearly all cases the incision of choice. The surgeon then quickly assays the amount of work to be performed. The first step should be gentle but rapid exploration of the small bowel from Treitz to cecum, with complete evisceration of the small bowel. This maneuver affords thorough inspection of the small bowel for perforations; inspection of the mesentery for bleeders, which if present are promptly secured; direct vision of all colic gutters, and easy and thorough inspection of the posterior abdomen. Intestinal perforations are marked and clamped to prevent further contamination of the abdomen, and the remainder of the abdomen surveyed. The viscera are now replaced and the survey completed and the necessary operative procedures are now performed. While it is realized that evisceration is a shocking procedure the operating time and the more thorough exploration afforded, well overweighs the disadvantages.
Severely lacerated livers were encountered accompanied in several cases by marked hemorrhage. Fibrin foam has been the only one of the foams available at this installation. Its use in these cases has in general been disappointing. Best results have been obtained using deep mattress sutures with generous fat grafts beneath the loops to prevent the sutures from lacerating the liver substance. In several cases rather large hepatic ducts were torn by the missiles, and rather than trust entirely a Penrose drain, a latex tube of 26 F with side perforations was placed along the damaged area or actually incorporated into the bed of the furrow before securing the mattress sutures. The tube, along with the Penrose drain, was then delivered to the outside through a stab wound in the right flank. Over 350 CC of bile drainage has been obtained from these tubes in a 24 hour period.
Combined thoraco-abdominal wounds were handled in the main by aspiring the blood from the chest by catheter and suction prior to closure of the defect in the diaphragm. The case was then handled primarily as a chest case. We were very much impressed by the very small number of wounds of the chest which required open thoracotomy. The majority responded well to repeated aspirations of blood, maintenance of normal chest physiology in so far as possible, blood transfusions, oxygen and general supportive measures. When catheter drainage of the thorax with underwater seal was indicated, the use of large catheters cannot be stressed too strongly, as smaller ones tend to become blocked and require too much attention to keep them functioning properly.
Perforated urinary bladders and vesico-rectal fistulas were treated in accordance with TBM 147. There is nothing outlined in this bulletin as to the care of uretheral wounds. Approximately 15 complete ruptured urethras were observed. These were almost always associated with perineal and pelvic injuries. While it is realized that the procedure as suggested here cannot be properly evaluated until the final end results are appraised, it is believed, that difficult secondary reconstructive surgery has been minimized, in that a patent splinted channel has been maintained from the bladder through the urethral meatus in all cases. If a catheter could be passed to the bladder and a free flow of urine obtained, the catheter, usually a 20 F or 22 F 5cc Foley, was left indwelling and no further treatment was believed indicated. If, however, a catheter could not be passed the defect was explored, and a primary reconstruction was accomplished over a splinting catheter. Urinary flow was diverted from the anastomosed area by one of two methods, depending on the location of the defect. If the rupture was in the bulb or anterior, an external perineal urethrostomy was done with bladder drainage accomplished by a 26 F 5cc Foley meatus. If the lesion was proximal to the bulb, a splinting catheter was passed to the bladder, a suprapubic cystostomy accomplished, the defect repaired, and the pelvic diaphragm and perineal muscles repaired as well as possible.
Traumatic lesions of the upper G U tract included many contused kidneys, lacerated kidneys, and one case in which the ureter was severed in the upper third. As with lesions of the lower tract, there was almost always coexistent pathology. In general, where possible, operative procedure was delayed and serial urinalyses were done to determine the progression or regression of the hematuria. If the hematuria organ decreased, and the patient was adequately supported, as one could be certain the kidney was the only organ involved, no operative intervention was attempted. Cases not responding to the treatment as outlined above, were explored, usually transperitoneally, as there was usually associated abdominal pathology. Resection of a badly shattered lower pole of one kidney was carried out in one case. Two lacerated parenchymal lesions of renal tissue extending into the pelvis were repaired and nephrostomy tube inserted. The severed ureter was treated by insertion of a splint tube down the ureter, and a nephrostomy on the same side. A pyelostomy probably would have been preferable, but the procedure was further complicated because the subject had an intrarenal pelvis. At the same procedure three perforations o the small intestine were also repaired. Only three nephrectomies were performed during the entire period of this report.
It is regrettable that due to the rush and pressure upon this unit more detailed studies could not be carried out on these casualties. It is also unfortunate that the results of the work done here cannot be further observed. The salient points learned from this experience can only restate that which has so often been stated. Before any operative procedure is attempted, the patient must be adequately treated for shock, only those measures essentially necessary be done, speed and gentleness throughout all procedures must be strictly observed.
This organization as any other has encountered personnel problems. The personnel strength has been increased by General Orders 180, HQ EUSAK, and it is felt that the proper number of personnel, including medical officers, nurses and enlisted men, is now sufficient to carry out the assigned tasks of this hospital. Under T/O&E 8-571, the following breakdown of personnel is supplied: 14 Medical Corps Officers, 2 Medical Service Corps Officers, 1 Warrant Officer, 12 Army Nurse Corps Officers and 97 Enlisted Men. By issuance of General Orders 180, HQ, EUSAK, the following revision was made: 15 Medical Corps Officers, 5 Medical Service Corps Officers, 17 Army Nurse Corps Officers and 121 Enlisted Men. Attached for administration, duty, rations and quarters was always an ambulance platoon from either the 567th Medical Ambulance Company (Sep) or 584th Medical Ambulance Company (Sep). This was always provided by Medical Section, EUSAK, in order that proper evacuation be accomplished.
With the constant moving up and down the peninsula, administration at times has been hindered, but on the whole, taking into consideration the difficulties of distribution and mail, breakage and occasional loss of equipment, and the shortage of AR’s, SR’s and other governing materials, the organization has been able to keep up its administration in a very satisfactory manner.
During the majority of the time, the personnel of the hospital have been working. Because of the steady influx of work, "on the job training" has been the source of knowledge acquired by personnel. It is believed that "doing" plus an occasional helping suggestion is the best way of learning under field conditions. During the periods of time when the hospital was not abnormally busy, inventories, policing and improvements of all kinds were and still are generally in order.
Supply problems experienced during the period of this report have been relatively small. During the period of time this unit was located at Miryang, Korea, all medical supplies were procured from the 6th Medical Depot in Pusan. Usually a representative of the supply section was dispatched to Pusan with a requitions to be filled and returned either by hospital or by vehicle, however, from time to time when emergencies occurred medical items were flown in by liaison plane and helicopter.
On moving North a constant flow of supplies was provided by the advance platoons of the 6th Medical Depot. The use of helicopter transport proved invaluable during periods of action resulting in large numbers of seriously wounded casualties, when as many as 100 units of whole blood were used in an 8 hour period and reserve blood supplies were depleted.
Blanket and litter exchange proved to be somewhat of a problem at various times due to shortages in the theatre, however, the hospital trains at present are furnishing an adequate exchange. Exchange of blankets and litters on patients evacuated by air has caused some concern, since no exchange has been provided. The exchange of blankets at Kunu-ri during the latter part of November proved quite a problem due to the extreme cold weather requiring up to six blankets per patient, the exceptionally high census, and fact that all patients were evacuated by air. Since the supply run to Pyongyang required at least a full day, the shortage was alleviated by airlifts arranged through the 8th Army Surgeon’s office.
Quartermaster, Signal, Ordnance, Engineer logistical support has been adequately provided by the 2nd Infantry division and the 24th Infantry Division, as well as the various Army technical supply units.
(signed) K.E. VanBuskirk
Lt. Col, MC
Commanding