"I arrived at 3^rd Surg in March of 67 and they were still at Bien Hoa, Long Binh. We were in support of the 173^rd Airborne at the time. We eventually moved to Dong Tam near My Tho in support of the 9^th Division under the 68^th Med. Grp."

"Tet 68. I remember most of what happened. .....  It was a very chaotic time. I remember being up all night after the initial attack. I remember watching "Spooky" hose down the perimeter of Long Binh base and watching the parachute flares float down through the night sky. Very eerie. I even remember the sound of "Spooky's"guns arriving several seconds after the stream of tracers disappeared into the ground. We all went over to the OR area to wait for the initial influx of wounded. When they finally arrived we were almost overwhelmed. I remember deuce and a halfs arriving full of wounded VC and the MP's with automatic weapons waving the drivers off and sending them over to the VC compound. They were stacked like cordwood in the trucks. We didn't have anyone to go over there and administer any anesthesia or surgical care because we were all too busy with GI's. I remember a lot of shit I wish I didn't."

In the Operating Room at the 24^th, Ken delivers anesthesia for a patient requiring surgery by the MaxilloFacial Surgery Team.

Same patient.

"Ed Lesko was an anesthesiologist who took over command of the anesthesia section after Robert Galacz left." 

"Bill Kirk was a nurse anesthetist. He is now Associate Director of the Nurse Anesthesia school at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. A hell of a nice guy. I see him every so often when I am on one of my motorcycle trips. Salt of the earth."

Bunker outside the Officers Quarters.

An Operating Room at the 24th Evac Hospital, circa early 1968.

"The OR's were in the Quonsets. Just one long quonset divided by the partitions you see. I believe there were 8 rooms in all, 4 in each quonset."

"The officers quarters were across the road from the headquarters section. Not in the hospital area at all."

 

The Viet Club.

Photos courtesy Ken Bopp.
Click on the photos to see larger version.