Excerpts from The Seas of War

March 3, 1967: Casualties Mount

I spent most of the day writing letters for patients in the ICU. The wounds were almost too much to bear. I helped a patient write who couldn't talk because he had been shot in the jaw and head. One patient lost both legs and one arm, was shot in the face and stomach, and did not live long. My admiration for the nurses and corpsmen on that Ward grows with each visit.

I visited the Surgical Ward where most patients have multiple wounds, but would probably live. One patient was at Da Nang airport when it was bombed and said all he could remember was walking out to the truck after he was hit. He was shot in the head, both arms, twice in the stomach, and somehow managed to walk in that condition. He wanted me to write a letter to his wife. He was shot on her birthday and just broke down and cried. I almost cried too!

Patients keep pouring in and the hospital in filled to capacity. The staff is trying to find more beds. I continued to visit new patients and wrote letters until my fingers hurt. We have so many patients that the chapel has been converted into a Ward and a third level added to the bunks.