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Logistics page 85 left
Caption: A Navy nurse on USS Repose (AH 16) offers encouragement to a patient being prepared for transport to the United States in 1967. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

 

Saving Lives

Medical battalions staffed hospitals in Saigon, Da Nang, and elsewhere in South Vietnam. By 1968, Naval Support Activity Hospital, Da Nang, the largest land-based medical facility in Vietnam, served 24,273 patients. Casualties who arrived at a medical facility within an hour of being wounded had a 98% percent survival rate. The Navy’s hospital ships provided medical treatment for thousands of personnel. Each unarmed, air-conditioned ship had two major operating rooms and a frozen blood supply.