Customer Reviews

Doc: Heroic Stories of Medics,Corpsmen,and Surgeons in Combat

5 star:		(2)
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From the very start, the first person accounts of war in Mark Littleton and Chuck Wright's "DOC" bring you immediately into the experiences of life and death in the battles fought by American sons and daughters since World War I. Each account from a medic or from one of the countless souls saved by a medic on some foreign shore reminds you of the millions of soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who have put themselves in harm's way to defend our precious way of life. From Marine Jerry Jolly's quest to find the corpsman who saved his life in Korea to Wheeler Lipes' courageous performance of an emergency appendectomy in the austere conditions of a USN submarine on patrol, these stories will stir your heart. The medics, corpsmen, and nurses measure up admirably, facing horrifying injuries and using their determination and ingenuity to save lives and comfort the injured as best they can in the chaos of combat. As an Air Force surgeon, this book demonstrated to me the fine tradition of American military wartime medical care preceding me and the large footsteps I have to fill.

Ironically the bravest men on a battlefield often were unarmed; these being the medics and corpsman who rendered medical aid to wounded comrades. And immediately behind the lines were the combat surgeons and nurses who toiled, sometimes under fire, to save the wounded brought in from the frontlines. Mark Littleton and Charles Wright's book chronicles the exploits of these heroic medical men and women in this 2005 book from Zenith Press.

DOC covers life-and-death actions from World War II through the current War on Terror. The bulk of the accounts are from World War II. Five stories are from Korea; nine from Vietnam and three from recent conflicts. Most of the accounts are reminiscences; several are tributes from men saved by those unsung heroes.

Curiously only one of the 23 WW II stories deals with medics in the European Theater. Instead the book concentrates on the Pacific, especially the battles for Okinawa and Iwo Jima. More ETO coverage is called for.

In any case, the stories in DOC are often heartbreaking, sometimes graphic, but always moving. You can't read this book without coming away with an admiration for the 'docs,' especially the frontline medics and corpsman who braved intense fire when the cry of "medic" rang out. Often they saved their buddies; sometimes at the cost of their own life...Greater love hath no man!

Recommended.

I was hoping for an exciting, inspiring read, but was disappointed. The stories here are valuable and need to be read. With only a half dozen or so exceptions, they were not the emotional thrillers I was looking for. I want to express my sincere thanks to the men and women whose stories are documented here. From the depths of my soul, I appreciate your sacrifices to our country.

Although well written, I found the stories a little short, leaving much to the imagination and a lot of questions still unanswered. I was expecting a lot more information on this subject, and have yet to find a book that satisfies. With that said, it does make for a nice reading when there is nothing else left to read.