Welcome sign seen by arriving chopper crews. The picture is not very good, but
the sign says: "Welcome to the Finest Hospital in Vietnam -
The 71st Evac Hosp - The reason for our existence has just arrived -
YOU, our patient". The patients were usually
horizontal, thus missing the warm, friendly greeting.
View of Emergency Room wing of hospital.
ER just waiting for the action to start.
This is how the ER looked most of the time....everybody working feverishly to save lives.
Setting up for a case in OR #3. Patient is being prepped on the table.
Everyone's getting ready to save another life, in this case a VC Colonel
who liked to spit at the people who were trying to save his skinny butt.
Colostomy in progress in OR #2, Kenna Given, MD, operating, assisted by
Lt. Birdsell and a male nurse, whose name escapes me. Dr. Given was always a
gentleman and a great surgeon. I worked with him a lot and he was always a
pleasure to work with.
(Breaking news: 3/24/03-I just spoke with Dr. Given on the phone. We talked about some of our more memorable cases and memorable people. It was wonderful to hear his voice again, after all these years. He's still enthusiastic and professional, as always. A very compassionate man, he expressed regret about one GI in particular who'd taken a neck shot, blowing out his carotid artery. Another surgeon had repaired the artery and, doing the best he knew how, overlaid the repair with a skin graft. Later, the graft failed and the patient died. Kenna said, "If we'd known then what we know now, we could have maybe saved that boy, but we just didn't have the skills." He's a great man and I'm happy to have worked with him. I'm hoping he'll write a story or two for us. Big salute to Maj. Given!!)
Thanks for visiting ...SP5 Steven Streeper