HOW I GOT MY UNUSUAL CALL SIGN
If there is one thing I've treasured both during my time in the Army and all of the years since
it's the nickname "Doc". I don't doubt that all of the other Doc's in the military, whether true
MD's or ground pounder medics like myself, feel much the same. It's a nickname that denotes
respect.
In addition to "Doc" I had an unusual radio call sign that one might wonder about it when they
read some of the stories coming up. My call sign was "Malpractice" and I'll tell you how I came
to adopt such a strange call sign.
Way back in the summer of 1967 my Army unit, the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 506th Infantry
Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division based at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, was training in preparation for fighting in Vietnam. As a part of this training my battalion was pitted against the rest of the Division in what they call "War Games"
In this particular exercise we were designated the "Guerilla Force", the bad guys using the same
kind of tactics that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army were using against our guys overseas. The other battalions were trying to locate us, ambush us, and capture us. We had blank
adapters over the muzzles of our M-16's and shot blanks at each other.
Colonel John C. Geraci, our battalion commander, was designated "Mal Hombre" and there were
wanted posters for "Mal Hombre" posted in the town of Corbett, Tennessee. Somehow another unusual nickname was assigned to the Sargent Major and that was "Mal Function". But
to be fair to the Sargent Major I'm sure that was all in jest. So to follow along in the spirit of things I came up with "Malpractice".
During our training over those long, hot summer months, veteran Vietnam NCO's told us that it
was not uncommon for the enemy to get on our radio frequencies and try to coax a medic or
soldier to answer a fake distress call and force them to give away their position searching for
the phantom WIA. But the enemy used the generic call signs like "medic" and "bandaid".
I remember lying in the bushes one night on my watch and hearing some VC or NVA whispering
"Medic. Medic. Help. Me". Whoever it was knew we were in the area but not exactly where.
So our medics were encouraged to come up with a different designation.
The first benefit of the "Malpractice" call sign was that this was a hard word for Orientals to
pronounce correctly and the second benefit evolved that not only my platoon buddies knew it
but so did many of the other troops when I was sent in to take over when their medic went down.
I doubt if any of them ever knew my first name.
We Were Wanted Men
Did you know that certain members of a platoon had a bounty on their heads? They were the
Platoon Leader, the RTO (Radio Telephone Operator), and the Medic. Knock these guys off
and that platoon is in a world of hurt.
A Little History
Let's go back to the beginning of my military experience. I joined a reserve Mash unit between
my junior and senior year of High School. So upon graduating in 1965 I was immediately sent
to Ft. Ord, CA for basic training. After that eight weeks I reported into Ft. Sam Houston, Texas
fo another eight weeks of basic medic training.
Suffice it to say it was like going through a Red Cross first aid course. Oh, we did learn
how to give injections and perform "short arm" inspections. But, there was no Emergency Room rotation or ride along in an ambulance. It was a totally bloodless experience.
I returned to Spokane and worked various jobs until the I became restless and enlisted into
the Regular Army in February of 1967. I was in Jump School in April and then on to the
101st.
We Changed The Future
I must interject here that both today's Paramedic program and the Physician Assistant programs
that are now common place and accepted by both the medical profession and the general public
evolved from the experiences, expertise, and independent duty of the combat medics who served
in Vietnam. Today's MediFlights evolved when a stretcher was attached to the skids of a Bell Ranger Helicopter in the Korean War. Just watch the intro into the much beloved television show "MASH". (I've jumped from and ridden in beaucoup helicopters but I wonder what the ride must have been like for the poor wounded grunt laying outside the chopper. Do you think any of them thought to themselves "Man, what a view!")
My Heroes
The "Medivac" or "Dustoff" chopper crews in Vietnam were my heroes. (Ok, the Huey crews
that extracted me and my team when we were in deep doo-doo were my heroes too!) It wasn't
uncommon that the choppers with the big red crosses came down in what was called a "Hot LZ", LZ standing for landing zone. A Hot LZ means that these brave pilots and medics were sitting down in the middle of a fire fight (battle) when we had really critically wounded kids. They were taking fire when they hovered just above the ground long enough for four or five guys to load a wounded buddy or two.
Minimal Training
I can't say that medics fresh out of Ft. Sam in that day and age were highly qualified professionals. But there is a system in place in the Army that brings people up to speed in whatever specialty they were schooled in. That system is call "On The Job Training" or "OJT" for short. The philosophy of OJT is that if you throw a guy into the thick of things long enough something of value is bound to stick. Luckily for the medics of the 3/506th Battalion we had a topped notch Battalion Surgeon who continued our training as we prepared to ship out to Vietnam.
Advanced Training
The Currahee (which means the "Stand Alone Battalion") medics went through the same combat
and guerilla warfare training classes and exercises that all of the paratroopers in the Division went through. We qualified with a number of different weapons, rappelled from cliffs and choppers, and made combat jumps from 800 feet with full combat gear.
We also attended classes written and conducted by Dr. Andrew Lovy from Minneapolis/St. Paul,
Minnesota. Doc Lovy was not only an eye surgeon but also the first Osteopathic doctor to be
commissioned in the US Army. My first impression was that no one would think that this
gentleman would ever jump out of airplanes, wear OD green fatigues, and eat out of a canteen cup. He surprised us all with his dedication to make us the best medics he could.
Our OJT occurred in the surrounding woods of Ft. Campbell, the Okefenokee Swamps of Georgia, and the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. We treated snake bites, the beginnings of jungle rot (the skin breaks down when you spend a week in swamp water),
broken bones, twisted knees and ankles, and diahrrea. During this time our confidence and abilities increased and, knowing that our unit would soon be in a hostile environment, we knew we could take care of our guys.Training along side the other troopers and caring for them during this time we earned the right to be called "Doc.
OUT TO SEA
Our training continued aboard the USS Weigel after the entire battalion boarded this troop
ship in the Oakland Harbor in September of 1967. There were 36 medics in the Medical
Platoon and we rotated working in the Dispensary during the 22 day voyage. (Don't dare
call it a "cruise". The food sucked not to mention the salt water showers.)
We viewed World War II films of medics in action and we even saw a film of how to deliver
a baby (blush, blush). Remember that we were just seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year olds and back in those days and "we were saving ourselves" for the right gal. You're probably laughing right now but "Flower Power" and "Free Love" wasn't in full swing in the most of
cities and towns me and my buddies came from.
It was on this ship that I learned how to suture and do minor surgery. This is very advanced
training for a field medic but it served us well in many instances during our tour in Vietnam.
Doc Lovy knew that he wouldn't be by our side when troopers were struck down by bullets
or flying shrapnel or stepped on a booby trap and he wanted us to be able to perform our duties and handle the most severe cases to the best of our ability.
Our Mission
The primary responsibility of a combat medic, and this may surprise some readers, is to
"maintain the fighting strength of the unit". It's not our first priority to Medivac anyone
with minor wounds or injuries. There is no "injury time-out" in combat or on a combat mission.
We treated the sick and lightly wounded and carried on. And our troopers were tough kids and
they wanted to keep "drivin' on".
It didn't take long before I realized what an awesome responsibility us medics have. One medic
was assigned per combat platoon throughout the companies within the battalion.The platoon
strength at Ft. Benning ranged between 30 and 35 members. We were IT for these guys. We
were their doctor for the duration and we checked on our guys when "take 10" was called.
We dispensed the anti-malaria pills in the morning and evenings and handed out aspirin for
aches and pains. We carried a lot of pharmaceuticals so that we could treat coughs and colds,
constipation and diarrhea, allergic reactions, and alleviate pain with pills and morphine surrettes.
We carried Serum Albumin (a blood expander) and D5W intravenous fluid in 500 liter bottles.
Doc Lovy taught us how to use intracath needles that wouldn't pull out as easily as the standard butterfly. You can't imagine how rough it is for four guys to carry a wounded buddy with a make shift stretcher and their gear to the nearest LZ. And how painful it was for the downed trooper.
The guys in our platoons had faith in us. They knew that should they become ill or wounded
that there was a Doc who knew his stuff, cared about him, and would do their damndest to
get them to safety and, ultimately, home.
We Were Also Riflemen
with arm bands and that stupid red cross target on their helmets unarmed is beyond me. When I
was in Vietnam I was armed to the teeth and I felt naked without my M-16. My hats off
to those guys and one of them was my uncle George who was a Naval Corpsman with the Marines on Guadacanal.
We had to willing and able to protect ourselves and the wounded should it come down to that.
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| Happy To Be Home |
IT WAS AN HONOR
Being a combat medic is an awesome responsibility for a teenager. But is was also an honor.
To earn that kind of respect and to be relied upon in the heat of battle is humbling.
If it weren't for the additional training we were so fortunate to receive from such a dedicated professional I don't know if we could have done the kind of job that the medics of the 3rd of the 506th did. A lot of boys, seriously wounded kids, came home and for that I am very thankful and proud that us Docs did our job.
Dedicated to Captain Andrew Lovy who was wounded during a rescue mission for injured paratroopers.
Terrence Plank (AKA Malpractice)
P.S. My son and daughter have encouraged me to post the stories that I sent to Brian when he was serving with the Marines in Kuwait and Iraq in 2003.
I would love to read your comments about the stories on Muzzle Your Mouse.
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