“I Came, I Conquered”: The Story Of A Special Forces Medic And Battlefield Medicine In Vietnam

Doc Phillips was born in Virginia in 1939 but grew up in Yonkers with frequent visits to family in Virginia. He was the second oldest and had five brothers and a sister. His dad was in the concrete business but frequently held down three jobs to support the family, and his mother worked as a housekeeper. He played football and ran track in high school, earning a scholarship to Elizabeth City State Teacher’s College. He was exposed to gangs in high school but credits involvement with the Civil Air Patrol for saving him from that life. The Civil Air Patrol changed his attitude, and wearing the uniform, being responsible, and learning discipline gave him direction. He graduated from high school in 1958 and entered the Elizabeth City State Teacher’s College in North Carolina, but his father’s death in 1962 brought him home to take responsibility for supporting his mother and siblings since his older brother was married and living in Florida. Growing up in Yonkers, he lived in a multi-cultural community, but in Virginia and at Elizabeth City State Teacher’s College, an HBCU, he felt what it was like to live in an all-black society. He took several jobs to support the family, napping between work periods. In 1964, he enlisted in the Army because many of his buddies were getting drafted and he wanted agency over the direction his life would take. He talked to recruiters from the different branches, and knowing he would end up in Vietnam, he wanted something exciting. He asked for Airborne and communications. He was first in his class in Basic Training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, and enjoyed the exciting commo training at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, where he learned pole line construction. Airborne school “was a kicker,” and there at Ft. Benning he caught his first glimpse of Special Forces Soldiers. He observed a convoy of Green Berets, and a “strong black man” got out of a jeep. He was supposed to go to the 82nd, but the Special Forces Recruiter approached him and a few others. He volunteered, and was assigned to the Special Forces Training Group. During Special Forces Training, he learned an important lesson about not letting things bother him or get under his skin. A Green Beret was addressing the class and standing on Doc’s desk. He said, “All the spics get over there, and all the wops go over there,” and when he said “all the n….” Doc became enraged, attacked the NCO, and was restrained by his classmates. The lesson was to learn to keep your cool in stressful situations, and after an explanation of the lesson, the offending NCO apologized and hugged Doc. During his Special Forces training, he learned to adapt. He was selected for specialized medical training, and completed courses at Ft. Sam Houston and an internship at Ft. Campbell before returning to Ft. Bragg for a live patient lab. He flew into Saigon and experienced “one of the worst landings” before being picked up by 5th Group. He was assigned to II Corps and joined the C Team at Pleiku before being sent to the B Team at Kontum and an A Team at Dak Pek. He describes his responsibility for taking care of his team and the indigenous Soldiers they worked with. He also talks about teaching the CIDG (Civilian Irregular Defense Group) medics and treating the locals. He remembers taking care of one woman who had leprosy and through a creative application of antibiotics and creams he was able to reduce her lesions. The story of the leper of Dak Pek was covered in a National Geographic article. He treated gunshots and shrapnel, worms, malaria, and in one case, measles. He was concerned because some of the newborn babies in a particular village began dying, and he was examining some of the sick infants to determine the cause. When he identified measles, he immediately radioed higher headquarters. Within 48 hours, doctors from the 52nd Hospital flew in with measles vaccines and speedy reaction ended the outbreak in that village. In another instance, a Montagnard suffered a combat injury resulting in a portion of his skull being pushed against his brain. Doc described the patient’s wild eyes as the pressure caused an involuntary reaction. Doc knew he needed to relieve pressure on the brain, and he had to act fast. Taking two screws from the injured man’s weapon, he cleaned them as best he could and screwed them into the man’s skull. He then fashioned a frame from a bipod around which he tied strings to the screws, and by tightening the strings he was able to pull the man’s skull away from his brain, relieving pressure. He was able to see the immediate effect of his efforts in the man’s eyes, which began to focus. That man suffered some paralysis, but lived. He described the brutality of the enemy who but a bounty on “Bác Sĩ Brun” (the Black Medic), meaning Doc. In one instance, Doc became friends with a village chief. The enemy tied the village chief up and cut him from sternum to pelvic bone, leaving him for Doc to find. Doc tried, but “I couldn’t put it together,” and he bandaged him up as best he could and medevac’d him. The chief lived too. In another instance, he found a woman with a bullet in her lung, and he tried to probe for it, but could not find metal. She was medevac’d as well. He served in Vietnam for three years straight, seeing teammates come and go, and he would have stayed longer, but he became involved with a girl from New Zealand, and decided to leave Vietnam in August 1968. He came back to the language school in Arlington and learned Spanish before being reassigned to Panama, first with the 8th Group and then the 7th. He describes his experiences during a war between Honduras and El Salvador where he helped evacuate casualties from both sides. In one case, he mistakenly sent a Honduran to the El Salvadorian hospital, and when he realized his error he rushed to the hospital to check on the wounded man. When he arrived, he realized that the patient had received no care, aside from getting a new IV bottle, and Doc became furious. He scrubbed, and ordered the patient to be taken to surgery immediately. When the El Salvadorian doctors tried to assist, Doc told them “No! I don’t trust you,” and he cared for the patient himself. That story reminded him of an incident in Vietnam, where a wounded North Vietnamese Soldier had been taken to a South Vietnamese hospital. The man had been left on a gurney with no care. Doc began to operate on the man, reassuring him in Vietnamese “I’m here to help,” and “you’re going to be alright.” The wounded man spat on him and, in perfect English asked, “Why are you fighting for them? They don’t care about you” (indicating his skin color). Doc wiped the spittle off his face and continued to operate. Later in Panama, he was first on the scene at a plane crash, where a baby who was in the crash crawled onto the wing. By the time Doc got there, the baby (and all the others) were dead. That experience haunts him today, and he feels that if he could have only gotten there quicker he could have made a difference. He then served in 10th Group at Ft. Devens, covering Czechoslovakia. In 10th Group, he learned to ski and climb mountains. He recalls training with the Dutch, Belgians, and Danes. At Devens his leadership wanted to medically retire him but instead allowed him to transfer to a hospital, where he finished his career serving as the First Sergeant for the 45th Medical Battalion and then as a First Sergeant at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indiana before retiring in 1989. After retiring from the Army, he worked with anti-drug and alcohol school programs. He then graduated from Butler University, earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and became a social worker at a hospital in Indianapolis. He later had a career working for DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Service). Reflecting on his service in Vietnam, he says it was “eye opening,” and his service to the nation means everything to him. He concludes by saying, “I came, I conquered!”