Mirth, Medicine and the Military: A Vietnam Survivor's Memoir with Poetic license

Tale of a disgruntled doctor drafted before he could finish the 1st year of surgical residency. Not able to face treating colds and STD’s in healthy 18-25 year-olds, he chose Airborne-Special Forces. Upon completion of his airborne training, the school’s commanding general designated him as the most outstanding officer completing Airborne training. During Special Forces(SF) training he poked fun at the military hierarchy by flour bombing his forward air control instructor and “poisoning” the 82nd Airborne anti-guerrilla forces with Senna, a stool softener that stained urine blood red. In Vietnam he developed a mini-trauma unit for the SF mercenary support troops. His senior medic equipped the unit by trading “authentic” Viet Cong battle flags coated with chicken blood made by a local seamstress for truckloads of surgical supplies. The mountain tribesmen(Montagnards) gave him an incredible testimonial banquet and presented him with the chief’s tiger skin, killed by spear in the early 1950’s. The doctor left Vietnam as one of the most highly decorated drafted physicians. Laced with humor even in the most trying circumstances, this memoir serves as a candid firsthand account of a military doctor serving in the field, dedicated to his fellow men and country. Capt. Eugene M. Edynak, M.D., is a board-certified surgeon. He has been an academic surgeon for several universities and has published multiple medical papers regarding cancer and the immune system. Read more