Doc Norton enlisted in the Navy and became a hospital corpsman at age 19. He provides a detailed account of the excellent training provided both by the Navy and the Marine Corps in preparation for his work as a Navy corpsman with the Fleet Marine Force, and specifically as a member of a six-man Force Recon team with the 3rd Force Recon Company. He also carefully explains the continuous and intense learning and training processes that kept the reconnaissance teams sharp and well-prepared for every contingency. He talks about everyone on the team teaching each other their specialties, and describes in detail small team tactics, defensive strategies, Gurkha-style ambushes, what to do when someone loses their rifle in a river, and the importance of silence in the field. He talks with great affection of the men he served with, the friends he lost, and the excellent leadership (and occasionally not so excellent commissioned leadership) in the Force Recon Marines. After Vietnam, Mr. Norton finished college and was commissioned in the Marine Corps. He is the author of 12 books.
Key Words: Naval Hospital Corps School, Great Lakes, Naval Hospital Newport, Rhode Island, USS Forrestal, ward coolie, MOS 8404 corpsman, Unit One emergency kit, serum albumin, medevac, Teeny Weeny Airlines, Snoopy, Dong Ha, long rats (dehydrated rations), Quang Tri, Con Thien, Song Ben Hai, DMZ, Agent Orange, Swiss seat, prickly heat, anti-tank mines, Nikonos II underwater camera, OV-10 Broncos, brown package, CH-46s, Cobra gunships, F-4 Phantoms, Colonel Utter's battalion, M79 grenadier, blooper, codename Snaky, Hai Van Pass, A Shau Valley, Ka-Bar, Kit Carson Scout, punji sticks, Rock Mat, Claymore mine, PSID (personal seismic intrusion device), Da Nang, Gurkha-style ambush, 85th Evac Hospital, jungle penetrator, Graves Registration
Key Names: First Class Machinist Mate Clark, John McCain, Harold Lessenger, Rick Angus, Sandy Bosom, Dr. Juncan, First Sergeant Lonnie B. Henderson, Corporal Swiderski, Sergeant Major Tom Chapman, First Lieutenant Clovis C. "Bucky" Coffman, Jr., Frenchie Peterson, Lance Corporal James M. Fuhrman, Dan Brown, Alexis Perry, Major Alex Lee, Captain Norman Heisler, Teddy Bishop, Lance Corporal Paul Keaveney, Donald Kegler, David Draper, Guillermo Silver, Corporal Adam Cantu, Corporal Allen M. Hutchinson, Sergeant Chester A. Mollett, Lance Corporal Tommy Sexton, Giuseppe Ventresca, Tony Attanasio, Corporal Ted J. Bishop, Sergeant Arthur M. Garcia, Jr., Captain Norm Centers, Lieutenant Stamm, Sergeant Robert C. Phleger, Corporal Jackson, Sergeant Larkins, Dougherty, Byron Tap, Jim Tate, Charlie Hopkins, Pat Sullivan, Wayne Andrews, Ken Burns