The History of the United States Army Veterinary Corps in Vietnam: 1962-1973

Abstract

Bio-Sensor Research Division history is documented, to some extent, in chapter 10. The purpose of this book is simply to tell the story of the US. Army Veterinary Service during the war in Vietnam. The first Veterinary Corps officer to receive orders had never heard of Vietnam. This was in December, 1961 and he had to find a map in order to locate where he was going. By 1972 over 300 Veterinary Corps officers had been ordered to Vietnam and the entire world knew where it was located. In reading the reports, one characteristic of veterinarians became readily apparent; they have an amazing ability to adapt and improvise. They can switch in and out of animal medicine, human medicine, research, military leadership, and day to day survival with so little effort that they are seldom conscious of the transitions. They did not always go by the book, but they usually used what they could find and got the job done relatively well. It was this versatility that earned them the respect of their military contemporaries in Vietnam. While interviewing those who served in Vietnam, a second interesting aspect became apparent, which was a surprise. With few exceptions, the men looked back on the war with a certain amount of reverence. Not wishing to go through it again, nor wishing it on anyone else, but nevertheless remembered it with a certain degree of nostalgia, like one of the few times in their otherwise orderly, practical, and well planned lives that they were a part of something far larger than themselves: an adventure-something wild, free, and uncertain. More than one were unwilling to admit to their wives that when they returned to Vietnam from R&R, they were glad to be back. At Fredericksburg, General Robert E. Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it:" If a history is to be useful, it has to record the failures as well as the successes. No effort has been made to either glorify the good nor cover up the bad. The purpose is to tell the story like it was...