Interview with Dr. Clarence T. Sasaki: Holding Death at Bay During the Vietnam War

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American servicemen and women fighting in Vietnam received the best medical care in the history of warfare. For one thing, chances of surviving a battlefield wound were dramatically increased. Between January 1965 and December 1970, 133,447 wounded were admitted to medical treatment facilities in Vietnam, and another 150,375 Americans received wounds not serious enough to require hospitalization. Of the 97,659 most seriously wounded who were admitted to hospitals, the mortality rate was 2.5 percent, compared to 4.5 percent in World War II. The ratio of ‘deaths as a percent of hits’ was 29.3 percent in World War II, 26.3 percent in Korea and 19.0 percent in Vietnam.

And the same was true of disease. Even though tropical diseases such as malaria, melioidosis, elephantiasis and dengue fever were common, the average annual disease admission for Vietnam (351 per 1,000 per year) was approximately one-third of that for the Southwest Pacific theater in World War II (890 per 1,000) and more than 40 percent less than the rate for the Korean War (611 per 1,000).

These successes did not just happen. They were brought about by the hard work of the doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, from the front-line medics and dust-off crews to the staffs of the rear-area hospitals and hospital ships.

One such was Dr. Clarence T. Sasaki, who spent a year in Vietnam with the U.S. Army’s 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang. His unit was responsible for the Americal Division, which consisted of 11 battalions of light infantry, one armored cavalry squadron, two armored reconnaissance troops, an air reconnaissance troop, six battalions of artillery and three battalions of assault helicopter squadrons. The Americal Division (officially the 23rd Infantry Division) almost exclusively engaged North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars while operating in the three southern provinces of I Corps.

Today, Dr. Sasaki is the Charles W. Oshe professor of surgery and chief physician of the Ear, Nose, Throat and Head and Neck Cancer Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn. He talked with formerVietnam senior editor Al Hemingway:

Vietnam: What was your background prior to your entry into the U.S. Army?

Sasaki: I was born in Hawaii and went to Yale University Medical School. There was a deferment program called the Berry Plan at that time. There were two options available — a one-year and a three-year plan. The three-year plan meant you would be deferred from going on to active duty until you finished your residency training.

Vietnam: Sort of a medical ROTC.

Sasaki: Yes, but they didn’t pay you. I got the one-year plan. I had no choice. If I was drafted, I would enter the Army as an infantryman and not as a medical doctor. I was doing my internship at that time and agreed to my commission. I went to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and from there to Fort Lewis, Washington. I was assigned to Madigan General Hospital and was there only three months when I got my orders. I held the rank of captain at that time, and I couldn’t understand the Army language on my new orders. So, I went to see a sergeant. He told me, ‘You’re going to Vietnam, doctor!’

Vietnam: What year was this?

Sasaki: This was 1969. My wife was pregnant with our first child. Actually, my first son was born while I was in Vietnam. I didn’t see him until he was about 9 months old.

Vietnam:What was your first impression of Vietnam?

Sasaki: I remember distinctly leaving from Travis Air Force Base. I received very little sleep. On our flight we had a bunch of returning vets going back for their second tours. On overhearing their stories, I was getting scared! What am I getting into! On Okinawa we took on Marines, which scared me even more. Just before landing in Vietnam, I looked out of the plane and saw all these craters. I thought they were bomb craters. I found out later they were burnt out latrines! We landed in Bien Hoa, and I went to a holding company where I got to know some of the infantry officers, mostly young first and second lieutenants. These guys had a high battlefield mortality rate. It was traumatic for me to talk to these people, some of whom, I knew, were going to die in combat. And I might even be treating them.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures, Vietnam War

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