component of the U.S. Naval Reserve, but the new
legislation permitted women to enlist in the Regular
Navy.
Effective April 1, 1948, the Navy changed the
names and insignia of the Hospital Corps. The new
rating titles were hospital recruit, hospital apprentice,
hospitalman, hospital corpsmen third, second, and first
class, and chief hospital corpsman. The red Geneva
cross (fig. APP-I-4), which had marked corpsmen for
50 years, was replaced in the rating badge with the
original symbol of the winged caduceus. The rates of
senior chief and master chief hospital corpsman were
added in 1958.
HOSPITAL CORPSMEN IN KOREA
As part of a United Nations force, Marines were
committed to the Korean peninsula when South Korea
was invaded by its northern neighbor in the summer of
1950. Within the first year, Hospital Corpsmen had
participated in the dramatic landing at Inchon and the
frigid retreat from the Chosin Reservoir. Although
only one Marine division was involved in the war
between 1950 and 1953, the Hospital Corps lost 108
killed in action. Disproportionate to their numbers was
their heroism. In Korea, Hospital Corpsmen earned
281 Bronze Star Medals, 113 Silver Star Medals, and
23 Navy Crosses. All five enlisted Navy Medals of
Honor were awarded to Navy Hospital Corpsmen
serving with the Marines.
HOSPITAL CORPSMEN IN VIETNAM
American military commitment in Southeast Asia
grew in the decades following World War II. As early
as 1959, a few Hospital Corpsmen provided medical
support for U.S. military personnel as part of the
American Dispensary at the U.S. Embassy. Four years
later, in 1963, Navy Station Hospital, Saigon, was
created. Ninety Hospital Corpsmen staffed the facility,
and provided care for U.S. and allied (Australian, New
Zealand, Filipino, and South Korean) military, as well
as South Vietnamese civilians.
These medical
personnel conducted routine medical care and treated
the victims of combat and terrorist actions until the
hospital was transferred to the Army in 1966.
Hospital Corpsmen were assigned aboard ships of
various kinds, providing offshore medical support to
U.S. forces. The largest commitment here was on the
hospital ships USS Repose and USS Sanctuary. Some
200 Hospital Corpsmen, representing the gamut of
technical specialties, worked on each ship. Teams of
20 Hospital Corpsmen served on LPH-class
amphibious ships. Others supported the riverine force
on APB-class base ships.
U.S. State Department initiatives and the Medical
Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) provided medical
support for Vietnamese civilians. Beyond routine aid
and treatment, the Hospital Corpsmen working
through these programs provided guidance in
sanitation and preventive medicine throughout South
Vietnam.
By far the Hospital Corps largest contribution in
Vietnam was with Marine Corps units. Starting with
the 50 who landed with the Marines at Da Nang in
1965, the enlisted medical component would grow to
2,700 Hospital Corpsmen assigned to 1st and 3d
Marine Divisions, 1st Marine Air Wing, and other
combat support units. Two medical battalions and two
hospital companies operated field hospitals, collecting
and clearing units, and dispensaries that treated the
flow of combat casualties from the field.
Closer
support was provided at the battalion aid station (BAS)
level, where casualties could be stabilized before
evacuation to more definitive care. The BAS was often
bypassed because of the exceptional medical
evacuation capabilities of helicopter medical
evacuation (MEDEVAC).
The most dangerous role of the Hospital Corpsman
in Vietnam was in the field. Special units (such as
Navy SEAL teams and Marine reconnaissance units)
took medical Sailors with them, as did the artillery, air,
and infantry elements of the Marine Corps. Most of the
53 Hospital Corpsmen assigned to an infantry battalion
served with rifle companies, one or two men per
platoon of about 40. These Sailors patrolled with their
Marines, risked the same dangers, and rendered the aid
that saved the lives of thousands.
HOSPITAL CORPSMEN SINCE
VIETNAM
Since April 1975, Hospital Corpsmen have
continued to serve in the many hot spots around the
world.
Fifteen Hospital Corpsmen were killed in
action when the Marine headquarters in Beirut,
Lebanon, was attacked and destroyed by a suicide
truck bomber on October 23, 1983.
Hospital
Corpsmen were present at sea and ashore when the
United States took military action in Grenada, and then
again when they faced both bullets and the needs of a
starving populace in Somalia.
The 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait gained a
strong response from the United States and the world in
the form of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Preparations
AI-7