What They Don't Tell You About the Hospital That Treated 45,000 Vietnam Casualties
Ask A Vet PodcastShow Notes
For three years, Michael Reeder treated the wounded of the Vietnam War without ever setting foot in Vietnam. Drafted in 1966 and trained as a combat medic, Michael expected to deploy in-country. Instead, because his younger brother was already serving in Vietnam, the Army sent him to the 106th General Hospital at Kishine Barracks in Japan — one of the primary evacuation hospitals for the most severely wounded American troops. Over the next three years, he estimates more than 45,000 patients passed through that hospital alone. In this episode, Michael takes us inside the burn ward and the orthopedic ward: the amputees, the burn victims, the booby-trap electrocutions, the quiet humor patients used to survive, and the letters he read aloud to men who couldn't hold a pen. He talks about what it meant to be "Doc" to thousands of young men whose names he never learned — and what it cost him to carry that for over five decades before finally being diagnosed with PTSD, despite never having been in combat himself. This is a story about a part of the Vietnam War rarely discussed: the evacuation hospitals of Japan, and the corpsmen who held the line between the battlefield and the world these soldiers were trying to get back to. Michael Reeder served as a U.S. Army combat medic at the 106th General Hospital, Kishine Barracks, Japan, from 1967–1970. 01:43 — Drafted, and enlisting to try to control his fate 03:10 — Basic training at Fort Bliss 08:31 — Combat medic training in San Antonio 13:35 — His first exposure to racism 18:12 — Orders to Japan instead of Vietnam — and why 19:44 — Arriving at Kishine Barracks, the 106th General Hospital 21:18 — Inside the wards: burns, orthopedics, and the septic ward 24:27 — The dust-off helicopters and the six-hour flight from Vietnam 27:04 — The scale: over 45,000 patients in three years 28:27 — How triage decided who stayed in Vietnam and who came to Japan 32:05 — First days on the Burn Ward 34:32 — Accidental burns and Viet Cong booby-trap electrocutions 37:40 — Transferred to Orthopedics — "I've waited 56 years for this" 41:51 — Who ran the ward: doctors, nurses, corpsmen 43:22 — Draftees vs. enlisted men, and who got the hardest cases 50:17 — The letter: "I can't stay married to a man without arms" 55:02 — Dark humor on the ward — the auctioneer and the urinal 56:04 — The patient he couldn't save: his hardest memory 1:00:31 — Why rank meant nothing once you were a patient 1:04:04 — The Purple Heart policy that showed "no empathy" 1:09:22 — Isolation, marriage, and fatherhood in the middle of it all 1:12:37 — Extending his tour: three deployments back to back 1:14:26 — Coming home to protestors — and silence from his own family 1:20:16 — Small mercies: wheeling patients outside, carrying men to the shower 1:25:37 — Four visits to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall 1:32:52 — Losing a friend, and the moment the war became personal 1:44:00 — The years after: anger, a marriage that couldn't survive it 1:51:11 — Diagnosed with PTSD — as a man who was never in combat 1:57:09 — Healing through art: 25 years of mosaic work, turning 80 and returning to Japan 2:05:38 — Michael’s message to younger veterans ⚠️ Content note: This episode includes candid discussion of war trauma, injury, and suicidal ideation as part of Michael's healing journey. If you or someone you know is struggling, the Veterans Crisis Line is available 24/7 — dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255.
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A lieutenant was yelling in his face about his jungle boots, and Alex Pelensky just laughed: what are you going to do, send me to Vietnam? He'd just gotten back. That was Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, 1970.Alex joined the Air Force in 1968 to stay ahead of the draft, trained in electronics at Chanute AFB and spent a year at Tuy Hoa Air Base on the coast of the South China Sea, keeping the autopilot systems on F-100 Super Sabres working. He arrived angry at being sent away from his wife and three-month-old daughter. By the end of his tour, he didn't want to leave.What he brought home nearly cost him everything: a career on Wall Street, a 17-year marriage, and seven years on the streets of New York. Then his mother died, and a line he'd heard in an AA meeting came back to him: you don't have to live like this anymore. Alex has been clean and sober since November 22, 1994. He raised his son, earned two master's degrees, and taught technology in New York City public schools for 20 years.This episode is dedicated to the airmen of Tuy Hoa Air Base and to every American who served in Vietnam, especially those who came home still fighting, and to anyone working their way back from addiction one day at a time.Content advisory: This episode includes discussion of drug and alcohol addiction, heroin use, homelessness and divorce. If you're a veteran in crisis, or worried about one, call 988 then press 1, text 838255, or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net.⏱️ CHAPTERS00:30 Meet Alex: East Village, New York City 01:44 College, partying and a 1-A draft notice 03:05 Joining the Air Force: basic and tech school 07:17 Cannon AFB, marriage and orders for Vietnam 11:16 Arriving at Tuy Hoa Air Base 14:12 The Maytag repairman: working on F-100 autopilots 17:51 Off base, attacks and the smoke-a-thon 22:05 Da Nang and heroin 23:07 Expo '70 and wanting to stay 26:36 Coming home radicalized 34:16 The GI Bill, Wall Street and a hidden habit 39:47 Divorce and seven years homeless 44:53 "You don't have to live like this anymore" 48:02 Raising his son and 20 years teaching 52:17 Looking back on Vietnam🎖️ SUBSCRIBE for new veteran interviews every week.Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UvdMjkOkOgoHM2yIckhlhListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-a-vet-podcast/id1854840136Read the blog: https://curioushumanography.com/Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/curioushumanography/If you're a veteran with a story to tell, or you know someone who should be on the show, reach out at [email protected]#VietnamVeteran #AirForce #VietnamWar #TuyHoa #VeteranStories #Recovery #AskAVet #F100
It was about 10:30 in the morning on July 29, 1967. Joe Duarte was underneath an F-4 Phantom on the flight deck of USS Forrestal, hooking up the air start for the second launch of the day, when the first explosion went off. A volunteer firefighter back home, he jumped into the catwalk and started handing out fire hoses. Then two more bombs exploded, and he knew he couldn't stay. Joe grew up in Holbrook, Long Island, and joined the Navy in 1965 with his Army draft notice already in hand. Trained as an AME (Aviation Structural Mechanic, Safety Equipment), he serviced ejection seats, liquid oxygen and pilot masks for the VF-74 Be-Devilers. In this episode he takes us from boot camp at Great Lakes to the crossing-the-line ceremony, life aboard a 5,500-man carrier, and five days on Yankee Station before the Navy's deadliest carrier fire since World War II. He tells us about the shrapnel that cut through his arm, the bone set without enough morphine, the chaplain who arrived at his family's door with a $10,000 check because the Navy thought he was dead, nine months of rehab at St. Albans, and the life he built afterward.This episode is dedicated to the 134 sailors and aviators who lost their lives aboard USS Forrestal on July 29, 1967, to the 161 who were injured, and to every crew member who fought that fire. Content advisory: This episode includes descriptions of fire, explosions, death and serious injury. Veterans Crisis Line: call 988 then press 1, text 838255, or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net.
Seven grenades with the pins pulled. A Marine he'd never met shaking beside him in the hole. Forty minutes of fire, a lull, then forty more. Then the word came down the line: "Fix bayonets." Amadeo Robert "Stef" Stefanelli grew up in South Brooklyn in a family of Marines. He enlisted at 17, started boot camp at Parris Island in April 1966, and survived a plane that nearly went down over the Pacific before he ever reached Vietnam. In 1967 he served as a machine gunner with the Marines, moving north from Dai Loc to Phu Bai, Dong Ha, C-2 and Con Thien, within sight of the DMZ. He lost friends, carried mortars and an M14 when the new M16s jammed, and earned a spot promotion to corporal in under a year. Now 78, Stef talks honestly about the friend who told him "I'm so lucky" the day before he was killed, coming home to protesters at Port Authority, years of nightmares, and the seven years of PTSD group at the VA that helped him come through the other side. This episode is dedicated to the Marines Stef served beside who never came home, including PJ Smith, Sgt. Solomon, James Trusha and Herbie Rogers, and to every Marine and Corpsman who fought along the DMZ in 1967. Content advisory: This episode includes descriptions of combat, the deaths of friends, wounded prisoners, the destruction of a village, racial violence, physical abuse in boot camp, a mention of suicide, PTSD and alcohol use. Veterans Crisis Line, 24/7: call 988 then press 1, text 838255, or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 01:27 A Family of Marines and Parris Island 05:40 Infantry Training and the Plane That Almost Went Down 09:43 Stories from Vietnam: Hastings, Prairie and Starlite 12:39 Dai Loc, Mortars and China Beach16:19 Learning from the Veterans and Losing His Gun Team 19:55 Seven Grenades and “Fix Bayonets!” 23:32 Heading to Phu Bai and Ambushed on the Way to Dong Ha 26:22 Mortars, Rockets and Con Thien Near the DMZ 30:07 Ambushes, Losing Friends and a Spot Promotion 35:12 Life in the Field, a B-52 Strike and a Captured NVA Soldier 42:11 Leadership, Coming Home and the Aftermath of War 47:05 Nightmares, R&R and Facing His Fears 50:11 Coming Home to Protests and Racial Violence 52:29 Life After Vietnam, Family and the Marine Corps 57:23 When the M16 Jammed and the Weapons He Carried 1:01:34 Looking Back at 78, Remembering Fallen Marines and Finding Healing 🎖️ SUBSCRIBE for new veteran interviews every week. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UvdMjkOkOgoHM2yIckhlh Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-a-vet-podcast/id1854840136 Read the blog: https://curioushumanography.com/ Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/curioushumanography/ If you're a veteran with a story to tell, or you know someone who should be on the show, reach out at [email protected] #AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #USMC #Marines #ConThien #VietnamWar #VeteranStories #PTSDAwareness
Thanksgiving Day, 1967. Lieutenant Douglas Greenlaw's platoon was supposed to land, pop green smoke, and mark a safe zone for the rest of the company. Instead, the helicopters set them down a thousand yards too far, at the edge of a North Vietnamese battalion. Forty-five Americans against roughly four hundred. They fought for five hours.Doug grew up in a steel-mill family on Lake Michigan, survived being thrown from a car at four and struck by lightning at thirteen, flunked his way off a college baseball team, and was drafted. The Army turned him into an infantry officer. In Vietnam with the 196th Infantry, he led a platoon and then, at 23, a company of 158 men on search and destroy missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. He was wounded twice, earned the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, and survived a booby trap so devastating that he says he died on the table.Then he came home and went to work: straight A's at Indiana University on the GI Bill, radio ad sales in Indianapolis, building The Family Channel, taking MTV to Madison Avenue, and running a 100-year-old media company. At 82, he says he's the luckiest man you'll ever meet, and he's not done yet.📖 Read Doug's book, Forged by Lightning: From Boyhood to the Battlefield to the Boardroom: https://www.amazon.com/Douglas-Greenlaw/e/B0D6ZC5KPK⚠️ CONTENT ADVISORY: This episode contains graphic descriptions of close combat, killing, severe battlefield wounds, the death of a child, and the lasting effects of war. Viewer discretion is advised.If you're a veteran in crisis, or worried about one, help is available 24/7. Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net.⏱️ CHAPTERS00:40 Growing Up in a Steel Mill Town02:10 Thrown From a Car at 65 MPH03:55 Struck by Lightning at 1305:38 Indiana University and Back to the Mills06:30 Drafted06:51 Basic Training at Fort Knox07:24 Selected for OCS08:06 On Detail With Sergeant Street14:53 Officer Candidate School16:44 Training Officer Candidates19:14 Jungle School in Panama20:42 Shipping Out to Vietnam21:18 First Command: Firing the Platoon Sergeant25:25 Search and Destroy29:48 90 Days in the Field33:31 Booby Traps, Snipers and Walking Point34:53 Firefights Nearly Every Day38:24 The Weapons He Carried39:18 Night Patrols Under a Full Moon40:39 "Call Me Law": Leading Like a Brother42:43 Thanksgiving 1967: 45 Against 40046:03 Surviving the Ambush46:50 Face to Face With a North Vietnamese Lieutenant49:11 Into the Tunnel53:44 The Purple Heart and the Silver Star54:50 Losing Fear and Faith55:45 R&R in Bangkok58:46 Company Commander at 2359:44 The Men He Led1:00:40 Arnold Bittner, the Medic Who Wouldn't Get Down1:04:06 1968 and the Tet Offensive1:06:10 Patrolling the Ho Chi Minh Trail1:07:43 Face-First in a Rice Paddy1:09:39 The Booby Trap1:12:27 "Dying Is Not That Bad"1:13:51 Recovery in Da Nang and the Bob Hope Show1:16:33 Yokohama and the Red Cross1:19:05 Rehab at Fort Sheridan1:19:54 Coming Home Without Fear1:23:20 Selling Radio Ads in Indianapolis1:27:58 Building The Family Channel1:31:31 Taking MTV to Madison Avenue1:33:30 CEO of Multimedia1:36:23 Marriage, Family and an Only Child1:37:02 The Nightmares and How They Stopped1:40:26 What Vietnam Taught Him1:42:41 The Wounds He Still Carries1:43:45 82 and Not Done Yet1:44:11 The Greenville Journal🎖️ SUBSCRIBE for new veteran interviews every week.Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UvdMjkOkOgoHM2yIckhlhListen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-a-vet-podcast/id1854840136Read the blog: https://curioushumanography.com/Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/curioushumanography/If you're a veteran with a story to tell, or you know someone who should be on the show, reach out at [email protected]#AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #VietnamWar #ArmyVeteran #InfantryOfficer #SilverStar #VeteranStories #MilitaryHistory
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