3/3 RVN Ass’n  Vol  1  Issue 4    09/01/2005                                                                                                Page 2

From the Fighting Third magazine 1968

   You’ve seen the Civil War movies on the late-late show.  When a man was wounded, he was carried by a friend, or else draped over a horse or caisson.  The ride back was rough on the wounded.

   They considered themselves lucky if they could be treated by the town’s blacksmith, who also doubled as the horse doctor and the town’s dentist.

   During World War I, with the advent of automatic weapons, heavier artillery, fragmentation-type projectiles and gas attacks, casualties ran higher.  Chances of survival grew slimmer.

   The Navy acted.  On June 17, 1898, the Navy Medical Corps was founded.  Though established prior to the First World War, doctors and Corpsmen didn’t dash out into the field of battle to begin saving lives.  They served, primarily, on ships.

   During World War II casualties from a cunning enemy, firmly entrenched, a master at the art of camouflage and deception caused a need for Corpsmen with each unit.  Marines were proud to have, instead of the “village smithy”, a brave, well-trained Corpsman in their ranks.

   Percentage-wise, more Corpsmen were killed or wounded during the battle for Iwo Jima than Marines!

   With the advent of the helicopter in Korea, the Corpsman took to the air as well as to the rice paddy type of warfare.

   Today, here in Vietnam, the relationship of chopper and Corpsman has become almost legendary.  A wounded man is treated, medevaced to an aid station, hospital ship or land-based hospital for additional treatment generally in a matter of minutes.

   Today’s Corpsman … reluctantly we’ll call him a “sailor”, is the man who gets up when the others hit the deck to doge enemy incoming.

   “He might be the ugliest ‘mother’ in the valley”, a grunt claimed, “but when you’re wounded and need help, he’s there … with the touch of a mother caring for her newborn baby; the determination and bravery of a bulldog, and the knowledge and experience to do his job.”

   “He can’t afford a ‘goof’, the grunt continued. “He’s the lifeline between a bandage and a cast … or a box.”

  Some call him ”Doc”.  The Vietnamese call him “Bac Si”.

   He deserves better than that … call him “Marine!”

Doc Jerry Gaskins India Co. 1969

ARCHIVES AVAILABLE:

Monthly Personnel Rosters and Unit Diary pages with names of casualties are not listed in the command Chronologies. This information is recorded in Unit Diaries and will have not become available on CDs at this time, since some info contained is not FOIA.

You can get printed copies of this information, but must be very specific on the info you desire (i.e. WIA/KIA on UD pages, or a month/year for a Monthly Personnel Roster for your Co.) by writing to:

Records Service Station

MMSB-10, "Unit Diaries"

Headquarters, USMC

2008 Elliot Rd, Suite 202

Quantico, VA 22134-0580

Alternately

Unit Diaries: 3/3 Nam alumni/families only, your specific UD pages are available from ThirdMarines.net.  If for use in filing a VA claim, these are provided gratis, plus a list of WIA/KIA for your tour, and Journal Summaries from the Command Chronologies, all with covers. 

All others require $0.50 per page plus postage, to cover the costs of printing and mailing.

Command Chronologies:  These are the monthly summaries for 3/3, and currently are available for May 1965 – September 1969 (except that May65, Sept65 - Feb66, May66 are missing… these are to be re-photographed this year sometime, and will be made available as soon as they are released). 

Copies of VN-CD039 (Jun65-Aug65 +Mar66)

and VN-CD040 (Apr66-Sep69 minus May66)

are available via TM.net. 

Copies available are of pages, gleaned from 15,000 pages of archives.  The quality of the pages are enhanced as much as possible, however, some of the pages are in rather poor shape, yet most are readable.

$5.00 per CD, postage and handling included, is required.  The CD’s from TM.net are available only to 3/3 Nam alumni/families., and are mailed the day following the receipt of your order (upon confirmation of alumni status.)

The command Chronology CD’s may be ordered from the USMC Historical Division, with the first CD gratis from the USMC with a $10 fee for each additional CD.

Contact Doc Hoppy for info.