Combat Corpsman: The Vietnam Memoir of a Navy SEALs Medic

by Greg McPartlin and T.D. Patterson

Book Overview

All his life, Greg McPartlin wanted to be a Marine corpsman, a medic skilled at saving lives. Three months of "bagging-and-tagging" bodies during Vietnam's Tet Offensive took the luster off being a Marine-but not off McPartlin's desire to serve his country.

After assisting in the sea-recovery of Apollo 11-the first ship to bring men to the moon-the twenty-year-old McPartlin was redeployed to Vietnam as an elite Navy SEAL. Barred as a medic by the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425205827
• ISBN13: 9780425205822
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

literally just finished it

a spectacular book, never a boring moment..it just rips along til the last chapter i highly recommend i, going into the NAVY as an HM myself it made me feel proud and excited of what im going to do READ IT!

Awesome book

A great book, a truly original point of view and worth the read for anyone who likes war memoirs, SEALs, etc. One of my favorite SEAL memoirs of all time (out of say 20 books)

Insightful and real

What I know about combat corpsmen I learned from Greg Mcpartlin. It's not realistic, it is real. I thought I'd see blood drip from the pages. We who have not experienced combat cannot empathise with terror and confusion but Greg takes us as close as we'll ever get to through the emotions that he projects. A great experience and a wonderful read.

The toughest of the toughest

If Navy SEALs are considered the toughest combat troops in the US forces, then their corpsmen have to be the toughest of the toughest. Here is the story of a young man's search for significance and adventure played out in the crucible of Vietnam. Young men like Mr. McPartlin are America's greatest asset. That there are such men in an the modern age of cynicism and distrust is nothing short of amazing. As the legendary Col. John Boyd was fond of reminding us, "machines don't fight wars, people do, and they use their minds." Upon reading this book, one would add "the toughest use their heart." In this book, Mr. McPartlin takes us to the heart of the warrior code. Along the way he applies that code not just to a passion for battle but a passion for the lives of his fellow warriors as well as the enemy combatants he finds in his care. Here is the epitomy of an American warrior hero. Mr. McPartlin represents the kind of American warrior we all wish we could be - courageous, tough, and yet without loss of compassion. The toughest of the tough are those willing to care in the face of hopeless and impossible situations. Once you start the journey with Mr. McPartlin, you will want to carry on to the end.

U.S. Navy SEAL Medic

This is a very readable and informing memoir by a past Marine and eventual Navy SEAL Corpsman, better known as "Doc" to all those broken in combat he mended. The majority of the book tells of his service in Vietnam during the mid to late 1960's, with the west coast branch of SEALS. Most SEALS were only stationed in country for 6 months at a time, for as the author states, the constant intensity could dull their senses, and that could cost them their lives. The North Vietnamese put bounties on all these "green faced men" hoping to kill a SEAL whenever possible. The bounty was both a tribute of their respect for the SEALS but also a sign of their deep-seated fear of the SEALS. I was leaving the Navy to come back for college at about the time Greg McPartlin was entering the Navy. So some of the topics he talks about are very familiar to me, but a reader does not need to be "prior service" to read and enjoy this book. In a review written for The Military Book Club recently, I stated that this book is one of very few excellent books it's been my good fortune to encounter. His story and that of his fellow SEALS will give the reader an insider's view of the "above and beyond" nature of service all these men gave, and each of these individuals are true heroes in the best sense of the word. Though undoubtedly each would not find that a compliment with which they are comfortable. They, for example, would turn down a Purple Heart award, unless they were terribly wounded. No rear echelon types here; however that may be, all of these men are some of the finest to ever wear the uniform of the United States. Only two items would have made this a stronger book: a good map of Vietnam showing the area Mr. McPartlin describes; and a few pictures of all the men in his group. But that not withstanding, this is a very readable and memorable book written by a combatant as seen through the eyes of a medic. A truly unique writing from one who not only took lives, but saved lives. Semper Fi.