I changed upon arriving in-country.
My time on the septic surgical ward at Fort Bragg had left me with no illusions about the serious nature of war. The wounded soldiers on the ward had filled me in on the truth as I was about to live it. However, nothing I had seen or heard even from those casualties of war could really prepare me for the actual experience.
I'm not going to kid ya about this, I just don't have too many solid memories. The stuff I relate here will be as accurate as I can make it. Everything is as I remember it today. These memories are stand ins for all the details I've lost. Sometimes I wish I remembered more. Other times I'm glad the fog exists.
At first I was assigned to the Hospital in Tuy Hoa. I was going to be a REMF and a damn lucky thing too. But all things change, like my orders for example. My new orders said HHC 1/22 INF.
I asked the clerk what hospital that was and he started laughing. I was now infantry.
I flew in to Tuy Hoa and was hustled off to my new unit, Headquarters Company. Before they knew anything about me, I was promoted to E-3. This would make grunts more comfortable with me in the bush as they'd assume I had some experience.
I was turned over to a Sp/4 for orientation. He impressed several things on me and gave me good advice. For example, I must always attempt to save a wounded man even if I didn’t know what to do or if he looked dead or dying. He recommended I volunteer for 2nd plt Bravo Co, which I did.
At orientation, I found myself in the company of a few other new medics, all of whom were conscientious objectors drafted for two years to serve as medics.
At some point in our orientation they told us that the conscientious objectors would not have to go to the bush. This of course meant other medics would be assigned extra field duty. I was told I would be leaving HHC for the bush and would stay there constantly rotating to different platoons. This was the worst way to see Nam. Always the new guy. Always alone. I was scared.
The other guys were elated until they realized the seriousness of my situation. After some thoughtful deliberation they decided to take their share of field duty. It was very courageous. They carried weapons but they kept them unloaded.
We were all assigned to different platoons and I went to 2 plt Bravo as I requested. There was still a shortage of medics so when our assigned plt stood down we could be required to go back to the field with a different plt. We were supposed to spend about 1/3 of our time be safely in Tuy Hoa, about 1/3 with our assigned platoon and the remainder anywhere a medic was wanted (usually other infantry platoons).
After orientation, I needed to get my gear. This meant buying some of it off the black market because the supply REMFs sold our equipment when they could. You could buy or sell anything on the black market.
It seemed a disgrace and I was shocked to see it so common.
Back in Supply I asked for a knife and a clerk offered me a selection of blades being stored for the lifers. I took the re-enlistment NCO's personal knife, a Puma model White Hunter, which I still have today.
While in Supply I saw they had a girl in a conex. They offered her to me for some cash. I declined and expressed my dislike for the offer. The clerk said they bring in a hooker but then keep her regardless of her wishes until they are tired of her. Basically they were renting her to anyone." No big deal" in his mind, since she was already a prostitute.
The girl didn't look to good to me, very ragged. They rationalized it to me saying they'd eventually let her go for a new catch. I was freaked out that this was practically in the open and no one cared.
I took my gear and left Supply. The rules were very different in this place and I was clueless about how the game was really played.
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