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Combat Corpsman: The Vietnam Memoir of a Navy Seals Medic
All his life, Greg McPartlin wanted to be a Marine corpsman, a medic skilled at saving lives. Three months of "bagging-and-tagging" bodies during Vietnam's Tet Offensive took the luster off being a Marine-but not off McPartlin's desire to serve his country. After assisting in the sea-recovery of Apollo 11-the first ship to bring men to the moon-the twenty-year-old McPartlin was redeployed to Vietnam as an elite Navy SEAL. Barred as a medic by the Geneva Convention from the make-or-break training considered vital to service as a Navy SEAL, McPartlin had to show he had what it took. In a war where soldiers partied with their buddies in Saigon one day and crawled through an enemy-infested jungle hell the next, McPartlin proved that he was not only an outstanding medic but a real Navy SEAL-the toughest of the tough.
Combat Corpsman is McPartlin's account of his year in what had been a Viet Cong stronghold until the SEALs took control. It's the first inside story of a Navy SEAL medic, a man who wanted to heal-not to kill-but did both to save lives.
Combat Corpsman is McPartlin's account of his year in what had been a Viet Cong stronghold until the SEALs took control. It's the first inside story of a Navy SEAL medic, a man who wanted to heal-not to kill-but did both to save lives.
- GenresWarNonfiction
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
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80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 9, 2014
Greg McPartlin's tale of his exploits as a corpsman attached to a SEAL team during the later years of the Vietnam conflict is pretty great. McPartlin's has a strong, likeable voice, and his tale is full of gripping combat adventures, the brotherhood of the military, and attempts to keep morale up in a situation that could be pretty depressing.
If you are looking for a "what does it all mean? How should we feel about the Vietnam war?" type of story, this isn't going to be for you. McPartlin is strongly biased, and not afraid to speak about his feelings in (often salty) language. This is his story, and his feelings about the Vietnamese people are ambivalent at best, which comes through throughout the book.
However, I liked him, and I enjoyed reading about his time with the SEALs. They played some very funny pranks on each other, and the personalities of his friends and comrades also came through very clearly in the narrative. The only real downside is that it ends very abruptly when his team rotates home, and I would have liked to know what happened to McPartlin and his fellow SEALs.
It's not necessarily a thoughtful book, but it's a good read.
If you are looking for a "what does it all mean? How should we feel about the Vietnam war?" type of story, this isn't going to be for you. McPartlin is strongly biased, and not afraid to speak about his feelings in (often salty) language. This is his story, and his feelings about the Vietnamese people are ambivalent at best, which comes through throughout the book.
However, I liked him, and I enjoyed reading about his time with the SEALs. They played some very funny pranks on each other, and the personalities of his friends and comrades also came through very clearly in the narrative. The only real downside is that it ends very abruptly when his team rotates home, and I would have liked to know what happened to McPartlin and his fellow SEALs.
It's not necessarily a thoughtful book, but it's a good read.
August 9, 2015
This is an interesting non fiction tale of Navy Seals in Vietnam. A rough and tumble war narration of guys who have to have toughness and teamwork to even live together.
August 11, 2017
I selected this book because I was an Army medic. I picked that when I walked into the recruiter's office, because I had spent a year working in a hospital operating room, and I loved the adrenaline rush. Similarly, McPartlin had prior medical experience before entering the service, although his had been as an ambulance driver, and was much more extensive than mine.
We both got to experience nasty medical jobs briefly. I then was sent to Germany, and initially assigned to the 582 Medical Company, an ambulance unit, where we read comic books in the motor pool; McPartlin sent to VietNam as a Navy medic assigned to the Marine Corps, spent most of his three months putting bits and pieces of friends into body bags.
We both found a way out. For me, it was a transfer to a Preventive Medicine section. where I checked water supplies and inspected mess halls; for McPartlin, it was a transfer to a SEAL team. (And just to make it official: I am not attempting to equate my duty with that of McPartlin. I know for a FACT that I wouldn't have made it as a Navy SEAL, because I had the option to volunteer for Special Forces, and realized there was no way I could do that.)
The story of his training and tour as a SEAL team medic is primarily a testimony to the value of brotherhood. It's clear that his commitment to his fellow SEALs sustained him, long after his commitment to 'keeping South VietNam safe for democracy' had turned to dust. What matters in his story is the people he worked with and loved, and in some cases, lost.
The book has plenty of war stories, both of combat with the enemy and heroic struggling to empty the world of demon rum, on bottle at a time. It also contains any number of clashes with administrators, who are always more interested in enforcing the laws than they are taking care of people. That can be an institutional failure, as well as personal, and McPartlin documents both.
The intensity of the bonding experience produces casualties as well. After spending his leave in Hawaii with his new bride, he observes on his ride back to his base camp that he is now returning to his home and family. He also experiences that incredible disruption of continuity that high speed travel by air made possible in VietNam: one day, he's on the beach in Hawaii with his wife; two days later, he's tending casualties on a brown river barge. There is no solution for such a tearing disorientation, except to keep breathing, and trust that you will eventually adapt.
Although the book ends soon after his team rotates back to the States, I happen to know that his affiliation with the organization remains current. Today, he owns "McP's," a bar in Coronado where SEALS hang out.
The book is co-authored by Teresa Patterson (no known relation to the reviewer) although she does not intrude into the story. My guess is that part of her job was to clean up the language, in every conceivable way. If that's the case, she did an excellent job of it.
LATE EDIT: In the story which begins the book, CBS news correspondent Morley Safer asks McPartlin “Don’t you know it’s against the Geneva Convention for a corpsman to carry anything more than a side arm?”
[Greg McPartlin. Combat Corpsman (Kindle Locations 49-50). Lone Star Publishing/Event Horizon Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.]
This is an absolutely stupid misinterpretation of Article 22(1) of the 1949 Geneva Convention I. Under this rule, medics are to be treated as non-combatants, even if they carry light weapons to protect themselves or their patients. It most emphatically does NOT state that they are forbidden to carry ANY weapon; only that they do not forfeit non-combatant status by carrying light weapons. McPartlin was not attempting to gain non-combat status as a Navy SEAL medic, and he was most definitely not wearing a Red Cross symbol to mark him as a medic.
We both got to experience nasty medical jobs briefly. I then was sent to Germany, and initially assigned to the 582 Medical Company, an ambulance unit, where we read comic books in the motor pool; McPartlin sent to VietNam as a Navy medic assigned to the Marine Corps, spent most of his three months putting bits and pieces of friends into body bags.
We both found a way out. For me, it was a transfer to a Preventive Medicine section. where I checked water supplies and inspected mess halls; for McPartlin, it was a transfer to a SEAL team. (And just to make it official: I am not attempting to equate my duty with that of McPartlin. I know for a FACT that I wouldn't have made it as a Navy SEAL, because I had the option to volunteer for Special Forces, and realized there was no way I could do that.)
The story of his training and tour as a SEAL team medic is primarily a testimony to the value of brotherhood. It's clear that his commitment to his fellow SEALs sustained him, long after his commitment to 'keeping South VietNam safe for democracy' had turned to dust. What matters in his story is the people he worked with and loved, and in some cases, lost.
The book has plenty of war stories, both of combat with the enemy and heroic struggling to empty the world of demon rum, on bottle at a time. It also contains any number of clashes with administrators, who are always more interested in enforcing the laws than they are taking care of people. That can be an institutional failure, as well as personal, and McPartlin documents both.
The intensity of the bonding experience produces casualties as well. After spending his leave in Hawaii with his new bride, he observes on his ride back to his base camp that he is now returning to his home and family. He also experiences that incredible disruption of continuity that high speed travel by air made possible in VietNam: one day, he's on the beach in Hawaii with his wife; two days later, he's tending casualties on a brown river barge. There is no solution for such a tearing disorientation, except to keep breathing, and trust that you will eventually adapt.
Although the book ends soon after his team rotates back to the States, I happen to know that his affiliation with the organization remains current. Today, he owns "McP's," a bar in Coronado where SEALS hang out.
The book is co-authored by Teresa Patterson (no known relation to the reviewer) although she does not intrude into the story. My guess is that part of her job was to clean up the language, in every conceivable way. If that's the case, she did an excellent job of it.
LATE EDIT: In the story which begins the book, CBS news correspondent Morley Safer asks McPartlin “Don’t you know it’s against the Geneva Convention for a corpsman to carry anything more than a side arm?”
[Greg McPartlin. Combat Corpsman (Kindle Locations 49-50). Lone Star Publishing/Event Horizon Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.]
This is an absolutely stupid misinterpretation of Article 22(1) of the 1949 Geneva Convention I. Under this rule, medics are to be treated as non-combatants, even if they carry light weapons to protect themselves or their patients. It most emphatically does NOT state that they are forbidden to carry ANY weapon; only that they do not forfeit non-combatant status by carrying light weapons. McPartlin was not attempting to gain non-combat status as a Navy SEAL medic, and he was most definitely not wearing a Red Cross symbol to mark him as a medic.
October 27, 2020
Fast paced, interesting read!
This is a fine piece of work for anyone interested in SEAL medics in Vietnam. Excellent first person encounter with the VC during a war that never should have happened. Fast paced for the most part, and tales of exciting encounters with the enemy, not to mention training and part of this man's personal beliefs and experiences.
This is a fine piece of work for anyone interested in SEAL medics in Vietnam. Excellent first person encounter with the VC during a war that never should have happened. Fast paced for the most part, and tales of exciting encounters with the enemy, not to mention training and part of this man's personal beliefs and experiences.
January 1, 2024
Really Good Read
Very good book. Gives the reader insight on what warriors face both physically and mentally. How do these brave men do what they do facing death day in and day out and dealing with the loss of dear friends.
Very good book. Gives the reader insight on what warriors face both physically and mentally. How do these brave men do what they do facing death day in and day out and dealing with the loss of dear friends.
June 14, 2017
Excellent story teller!
Enjoyable reading, a perspective from a non-infantry MOS. Worth your time to read this SEAL's account in the delta of Vietnam nam.
Enjoyable reading, a perspective from a non-infantry MOS. Worth your time to read this SEAL's account in the delta of Vietnam nam.
September 1, 2017
Very Good
I love this book. Well written. Interesting read about the SEALS. I would highly recommend this. Thanks to all of Vietnam Veterns.
I love this book. Well written. Interesting read about the SEALS. I would highly recommend this. Thanks to all of Vietnam Veterns.
April 30, 2018
Great book
The stories are almost unbelievable , But I believe every word. I Wish he would write another book. I would be the first in line to buy it!
The stories are almost unbelievable , But I believe every word. I Wish he would write another book. I would be the first in line to buy it!
September 21, 2023
McParlin initially went to the Marines as a corpsman in Vietnam. Then entered the Navy as a Corpsman for the Navy Seals. Engaging memories of his time with both services.
September 8, 2010
Just show us your monster dick so we can get on with it!
February 4, 2013
This is a new release from Lone Star Publishing, a revised, illustrated edition of the
book originally published in 2005. Note that this rating/recommendation is posted by the publisher.
book originally published in 2005. Note that this rating/recommendation is posted by the publisher.
April 21, 2017
This is a new release from Lone Star Publishing, the fully illustrated EBook version of the original Lone Star Publishing perfect paperback edition. Note that the rating is posted by the publisher.
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December 18, 2017Down load
It would have been a good book if kindle would have downloaded more than half the book. But even after messaging kindle all I got was half the book. Thanks kindle
It would have been a good book if kindle would have downloaded more than half the book. But even after messaging kindle all I got was half the book. Thanks kindle
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews