Thank you, Mark. And thank you for dropping by to listen.
The Marines were gone and the area assigned to the 3/82 Artillery in DaNang was now ours. I missed the Marine food, but the Army chow wasn’t bad.
But now we had work to do.
Setting up the Pharmacy
Everyone was busy making our aid station functional and efficient. Doc gave me the job of setting up the pharmacy.
I have to admit that was my kind of job. I was given a good sized room with lots of shelves, a safe for restricted drugs, and French doors so medicine or medical equipment could easily be handed out to those who needed it.
The Memorable Blood Draw
Working in the clinic was rewarding — greeting patients, taking vitals, assisting the doctor.
I had gotten pretty good at drawing blood since my first attempts on the doctor when I was learning how to do the procedure.
One day a soldier came into our clinic. I don’t remember what the specific problem was, but the doctor asked me to draw blood. This soldier was the Hollywood ideal of what a soldier should look like. He was about 6’4”, and solid muscle.
I chatted with the patient so he wouldn’t watch the procedure, because sometimes that bothered people when they saw a needle going into their arm. I didn’t think such a physical specimen would have a problem with that … but I was wrong.
I prepped his arm, got the needle ready, inserted it in his arm perfectly, and started to draw the blood.
That’s when the guy looked down at the needle in his arm and saw his blood filling up the syringe.
His eyes glazed over.
This mountain of a man passed out cold.
Luckily, nearby medics helped catch him before he hit the floor. He came to, embarrassed but fine, once the needle was gone.
I had my sample—and a story to tell.
The Malaria Test
As the unit’s newbie, I drew the short straw for the monthly malaria test, a new urine-based procedure. Stationed at a card table in an open area, I had a stack of containers, a list of soldiers’ names, and a simple task: hand out a cup, watch the soldier pee into it, add a chemical to check for cloudiness, and record the results.
Cloudy meant possible malaria; clear meant probably not.
I spent all day under the sun, repeating the process for every soldier in our unit.
It was simple but tedious, and I couldn’t help but wonder how I’d explain this to my kids someday if they asked, “What did you do in the war, Daddy?”
I was pretty sure I would probably not mention I spent an entire day watching men pee into containers.
Finally, the day came to an end. I cleaned up the area, and then turned in my report to the doctor.
Days later, Doc pulled me aside. Our unit had the highest rate of positive malaria results in Vietnam that month—not exactly an honor.
The captain was furious, but there was a silver lining.
They never asked me to do that test again.
There were a couple of lessons from this time period that I found valuable.
Always be prepared to help when unexpected things happen. I am very glad a couple of medics were there to help me catch the big guy before he hit the ground.
Do your best in every job you undertake even the unglamorous ones like urine tests, regardless of the outcome.
Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.
“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)
Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today
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