Some sounds bring Vietnam memories close

This is another personal story about being scared in Vietnam.

I was at Michelin Rubber Company’s Quan Loi Rubber Plantation with the 1st Infantry Division conducting operations against the Viet Cong. It was temporary, but later became a permanent base, and lo and behold, another Priest River resident became stationed there, Jimmy Rose, son of the famous Popeye Rose.

Anyway, you have seen TV shows like "M*A*S*H" and "China Beach" that depicted hospitals for wounded soldiers. From a battle, they were about 15 to 30 minutes away by helicopter, but if it was a serious wound, that was too far. Serious wounds needed immediate attention, so we had a mini MASH unit.

It consisted of an eight-man canvas tent. It was crude, but it worked. We had doctors and the necessary medical equipment, but the operating tables were just two 55-gallon fuel drums with a stretcher on top.

One time, during an operation with a lot of casualties, we had about 30 soldiers killed in action. Our morgue was right next to the MASH tent. The morgue consisted of just a canvas enclosure, with all the dead soldiers laid out on the ground in rows. That was part of our job: graves registration.

I happened to be there when a medevac helicopter landed. Out of the MASH tent, they were carrying a badly wounded soldier, clad only in his underwear, with a drip tube being held by a medic. The soldier was very scared, and he was crying out, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die,” in a loud voice.

That put an imprint on my brain, and I have never forgotten it. Just like today, when I hear the “thump, thump, thump” of a Huey helicopter, it brings the sounds of Vietnam back to me — the sound of death.

Roger Gregory served as a captain in the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. He is a Priest River businessman.