I note from Google Earth the area where the hospital used to be. It looks very different – probably no longer a building of importance. I lived in a place called Hotel Columbia – a couple of blocks from the hospital at what was then called 100 pee Alley.
One thing I noted while taking the tour with Google earth is how developed and clean the city looks. I was always impressed with the people, and even more so after taking the Deja Vu tours. What a great peice of work to compile and blend the video.
I recently learned of the death of a dear good Doctor who worked at 3rd Field, as I attempted to share this site with him. Missed him by about 30 days, and I know he would have loved the Deja Vu tour.
I have fond thoughts of my time in the city, and will take them with me when I go. Wish you all well, and if someone spent time at Third Field in 1969, I’d love to hear from them.
George Baggett
Hello George – Thanks for stopping by and visiting our Blog. I’m glad you enjoyed the videos. I’m sorry to learn of the good doctor’s passing.
Our old school which later became the Third Field Hospital is now “The War Remnants Museum” operated by the Vietnamese government. There are a few pictures of 3rd Field from the ’60s and 70s in the “Photo Gallery”, along with a picture of what it looks like today as The War Remnants Museum. [Photo Gallery link is on the Menu. You'll need to Register to login to it.]
Several of our Saigon Kids’ parents were doctors or medical personnel in Viet-nam. And, many Saigon Kids returned to Viet-nam after completing school as military or government personnel. Perhaps you’ll bump into someone here that you knew during your time in Viet-nam.
By the way, there are a few people that visit our Blog often who either worked at 3rd Field or spent time there as a patient.
Bob
In the fall of 2002, a Vietnam-era Huey helicopter touched down on the campus green of Kennesaw State University, where I teach in post-retirement. Its visit had been mentioned in the Atlanta newspaper as part of a Texas-based film project (“In the Shadow of the Blade”) that was documenting the memories of Vietnam veterans about the venerable workhorse of the war. When the Huey had landed, I was one of many curious people who inspected the aircraft and spoke with the crew. Only sometime later did I read, in the Atlanta newspaper and online, about another visitor that day, former Army nurse Captain Donna Rowe, and her story that helped me to remember that the American Community School buildings in Saigon (where I’d spent the 10th grade in 1960-61) had later become the Army’s Third Field Hospital. (I had discovered Third Field Hospital was on the ACS site when, in 1969, I drove by it in a Jeep during my later service with the Army.)
So this comment is not about ACS per se, but is a story that involves Third Field Hospital and the compassionate nature of the personnel who later occupied the buildings on that site. Further, it’s another heartwarming example of the power of the Internet to reunite people decades later who had despaired of ever being reunited. Enjoy, but have a few tissues nearby, as you learn about Baby Kathleen.
Begin by reading: http://www.vietnamexp.com/newsletter/volume2_issues/vol2issue5.htm
Then continue with: http://www.vietnamexp.com/Shadow/media_coverage/american_statesman.htm
Especially for those who served in the military in Vietnam, the words of Army nurse Donna Rowe speak to the powerful message contained in the story of the rescue of Baby Kathleen and the care she received at Third Field Hospital: “So, when they called us baby killers, this story proves otherwise.”
Bruce
Bruce – Great comments. Personally, I’m PROUD to have learned that our old school buildings were put to EXCELLENT use as 3rd Field after our school was closed.
For those of you who don’t know it – George has written a wonderful book. I’ll be Posting about it in a few days. He has also been kind enough to share some pictures from an AWESOME collection he has of 3rd Field and Saigon vintage 1969. They’ll be appearing on our Blog soon.
Bob
I was once told by a nurse who had been assigned to the 3rd field hospital in our old school that there was a Gecko in a glass case in the administration section of the hospital. I wonder if it’s still there as part of the war museum now.
There were many good things that happened at 3rd Field Hospital. I have often heard the question if I was in the field or did I have soft duty? Compared to the 25th Infantry and running through the jungles, the answer is it was softer, but in 1969 Saigon had its dangers, and working 12 hour shifts and sometimes around the clock at 3rd Field was no picnic. We referred to the facility as the “Walter Reed of the Orient,” and considering we had a kidney dialysis unit to deal with traumatically wounded in renal failure meant we cared for the most seriously wounded in Vietnam. I remember periods when doctors and nurses rarely left the hospital, and after a 12-hour shift in the Renal Unit, I and many others helped in the Triage area when the flow was heavy. This is not to say there weren’t moments when we partied and had fun. One of my big regrets is to have left when I did, without making a list of names and addresses. I came alone and left alone, and when I got home suddenly realized I had no way to contact some of the greatest people I had ever met. Now, I’m 61 and had a heart attack last year. Dr. Daniel Macken died last month, and who knows where the wind scattered us.
This isn’t about the hospital but a comment on the comments made by George Baggett. It is a terrible shame that I, too, failed to maintain contact with my 12th CAG buddies during my Army tour in Vietnam. I can say the same about my college friends and, of course, my SKs. That is why this site is so damn important to me. When I think of SKs that I knew back in the ‘60’s, I see their 17, 18, 19 year old faces, not the grandmotherly or grandfatherly folks that they have become. I wish so much to be able to contact all of my friends and buddies from those wonderful times (well, school wasn’t so great, but you know what I mean).
Still I had a lot of laughs in that old school and kissed some beautiful girls. No regrets there.
If you look at the pictures I’ve posted, you’ll see only a few of the people. I’ll post more as I get time to scan them – these will be of the Renal unit and the people who worked there. Sad to say, I can’t remember all the names after 40 years.
I served at the 3rd Field Hospital from Fall of 1965 to Spring 1966 as Chaplain’s Assistant. Have many pictures. Anyone there at that time? Anyone remember Chaplain Hanley?
Tom J
My time at 3rd Field was 1969. It may seem funny, but after publishing my book, “Youth In Asia,” some of my personal issues and dreams about Vietnam suddenly went to the bookshelf, and I’ve been concentrating on the hear and now.
I did call Dr. Stone – a wonderful man who worked in the hospital and then went on to serve in the VA. He seemed shocked that I reached out 40 years later, but we had a brief and heart-felt visit about the passing of Dr. Macken.
As I review the list of wonderful people I knew, I’m curious about how they might react to the person I’ve become. A twenty-one and unsophisticated guy has become so very different and circumspect.
However, like most, Saigon Kids or Veterans, our brush with the Saigon experience changed us all in significant ways. We look at the world and cultures differently than many who never left the safety-net of the US. We know things that others haven’t a clue about, and if I can generalize a bit, we frequently take those paths less traveled.
For myself, I remain somewhat outside the population of the US. It is easier to live this way, as when I’m immersed into the population I always hope my silence does not betray my lack of interest in the trite and petty.
As I look at our current wars, the recent “finding” of valuable natural resources in Afghanistan has opened my eyes to a continued method of world planning – not for the inhabitants, but for those who have an ulterior motive. The redundant experience with the rationale for wars is most revealed in the NYTs story about the site of the ancient Buddhas, purposely destroyed before our phase of the war. Artifacts that were not destroyed are in jeopardy as mining interests hope to “develop” the area for copper and other riches. Why are we told about these findings at this juncture?
I see the answer as having to do with the issue of the former rationale for staying in Afghanistan is evaporating. Now, we must appeal to the greed of our nation’s corporations and to those who assume there is some sort of ownership defined by such discoveries. Though this clears the fog of our war, it cannot be other than disappointing to realize the same game is in play.