On Sep 20, 10:03*pm, Vic Smith
wrote:
On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:47:32 -0400, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:





"Robert Green" wrote:

Joining the Navy doubtless improved your chances of staying alive. *The USMC
took one hell of a pounding in Vietnam, as did the Army.

OTOH- I knew 3 Corpsmen in VN that had joined the Navy to avoid going
to VN. * * * Doc Witt told me how special he felt when he got picked
for a *medical* specialty! * * * When told his first assignment after
school would be Camp Pendleton, CA he wasn't sure what that meant
yet--

He was one badass MF, too. * * *You'll see a lot of Corpsman on the
wall and in your MOH database. * * Not just because we loved them and
they were mother, Dr., and confessor to a bunch of Marines-- but also
because they were some of the bravest, most selfless folks that ever
walked the earth.

That's what I always thought too.
But outside of battle, they are nurses, and the ones I ran into acted
pretty much like nurses.
In 4 years I had 3 encounters with them I remember.

1. I had bronchitis so bad I went to sick bay for help. *I had many
bouts of bronchitis when I was young, and when it was bad enough I was
prescribed anti-biotics.
The corpsman said "Go gargle some salt water."
I thought he was just an asshole, but I tried it.
It worked. *And I never had bronchitis again.
Best thing a corpsman ever did for me.

2. Slamming in a boiler burner I tore about 4 sq inches of skin off
the palm of a hand in a pinch point, down to meat.
Caught a callous.
It was all oozing blood and hurt like hell.
Wrapped a rag around my hand, got a relief on the burners and went up
the ladder to sick bay.
Figured the corpsman could pour something on it to stop the bleeding
and desensitize it.
Since I was a boilerman, coming from the boiler room where I'd been
changing and slamming burners, I was all sweaty and my hands were
dirty with Navy Special Fuel Oil.
This guy didn't even want me in his sick bay. *He was like "Eeeew."
Told me "Go wash you hands." *Idiot. *I normally washed my hands with
a wire brush.
I just said "**** you." and left. *Managed it myself with some pain.

3. I had a tremendous tooth ache for about a week at sea.
When we docked for a 2 day in Naples I was sent to whatever they
called the support base there.
I remember this.
The dentist was a Commander with massive forearms.
I saw his forearms in action.
He had a corpsman assistant.
The dentist shot me up with novocaine, then told the corpsman
to hold my head so it couldn't move.
The Commander went to work pulling a lower molar with the dentists
version of pliers. *Took him a long time yanking this way and that,
and the vacuum could hardly keep up with the blood.
He paused once, and the corpsman walked away.
The Commander yelled, "Get back here!"
It was obvious to me the corpsman had a weak stomach.
That tooth would have had a root canal if we weren't at sea.
Only tooth I was missing for the next 30 year.
I got a root canal on a different tooth in Norfolk. *It was fine job,
so I'm not knocking Navy dentistry.
Losing that molar was simply needs of the Navy.
Not as bad as thinking about how I supposed to pick up plutonium
with rubber gloves and put it in a bucket for an ASROC casualty.

Like everybody else, it's performance in battle that makes the hero.
I'll never know what I'm made of, and don't really want to find out.

--Vic- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Pity it was all so pointless. You are a brainwashed lot. Meekly going
away on none-of-your-business foriegn wars inflicting savagery on
innocent people.
All for the benifit of the American arms industry/commerce.

Don't feel proud of what you've done. You and your government are evil
*******s, well deserving of 11-9 and of getting thrashed in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Now you have a slight inkling of what it feels like.
The ones that went to Canada to avoid the draft are the heros. You
who went off to kill civilians are cowardly scum fighting from behind
a wall of steel and technology.

And BTW only Americans are obsessed with guns. See what it has got
you. Economic collapse and poverty. Because guns/weapons create only
mayhem ultimately.

And your stupid government never learns.