Evac Medic

By Janice Bridges

When Doreen Chandler's brother was killed one week before he was to be deployed to Vietnam his sister Doreen wants to honour his last wish. When fellow nursing sisters Angela Sutcliffe, Debbie Albright and Joyce Kennedy discover she intends to join the Australian Air Force for a twelve month rotation on one of the medical ships sitting in the South China Sea when she had finished her Nursing degree, they decide to join along with her.
Evac Medic is Doreen Chandlers story of how one person can mean life or death to the many ground forces wounded during the Vietnam War. Of the danger she placed herself in to fly to the front line in the choppers called Dust Offs to retrieve the dying and wounded and keep them alive until they reached medical care. It is also where you will meet the men who flew those Dust Off's risking life and limb as they flew the wounded to safety.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janice Bridges
• Release date: Feb 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9780648353379

Book preview

EVAC MEDIC

Written by

Janice Bridges

Copyright © 2021 Janice Bridges

All rights reserved.

Daisychain Publishing

Distributed by Smashwords

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Ebook formatting by ebooklaunch.com

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Other books

Dedication

Chapter One

South China Sea; Vietnam. Late, 1969

Hey, Mac. Get a load of this! Rodney Hamilton nudged his Captain playfully and whistled softly over his tongue. Hubba. Hubba. His grin just about split his face in two.

On the opposite side of the chopper, Flight Captain Jason MacDonnell, Mac to his crew, lifted his head to stare at his men with cool disdain. Haven’t you got work you should be doing instead of ogling the new arrivals?

Rod ignored him and continued to grin, while at the same time, his mouth chewed vigorously on his chewing gum. Wow, now that’s a neat set of pins! Oohhwwee, wouldn’t I love to have those babies wrapped tightly around my naked body. Come home to daddy, baby? His eyes grew as wide as saucers, as he ogled the new recruits who had just arrived.

Mac sighed heavily and turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder to where an Australian Chinook helicopter had landed onto the deck of the Hospital Ship, USS Sanctuary. He gave the large, troop-carrying chopper a cursory glance, before returning his attention back to the problem he was attempting to repair. His eyes fixed on the large bullet holes that had penetrated the fuselage and was slowly leaking oil out of the main motor, which was used to keep them in the air. It was yet another unwelcomed reminder of their previous night’s mission into Vietcong territory. They had taken a direct hit as they lifted their last cargo and turned to return to base, a mistake that had cost them dearly. Their chopper had barely made it to the coastline with only the sea-bound, Medical Ship within landing distance. It had been touch and go for the entire distance separating them, with smoke billowing out his rear and altitude rapidly diminishing.

But by the grace of God and a lot of hard work, their chopper now sat indefinitely on the outer deck of the Hospital Ship, USS Sanctuary. Well at least until they could repair, or replace, the vital components needed to get her off the ground again. Tell-tale grease and oil stains covered Mac’s overalls as he once again set to work on repairs. Pass me a shifter will you, Rod?

Rod, who was still bouncing from one foot to the other, his mouth moving a mile a minute, while his eyes watched the new female recruits disembark. Without bothering to look, he lifted a hand to grab blindly at the nearest tools that lay on the floor of the interior and handed his Captain a large screwdriver.

Mac closed his eyes and shook his head. He removed the tool from his sidekick’s hand and pursed his lips with growing displeasure. He knew he wouldn’t get any sense out of his men until the new nurses went below deck. With a heavy sigh, he extracted the rag he was using from his back pocket and began to slowly wipe the grime from his hands.

Oh baby, his co-pilot sighed appreciatively, A man could get hard just lookin’ at those new Nurses.

With a shake of his head, Mac knew he had no choice but to sit this one out, or at least until his crew got their wits back about them. Lowering himself onto the hard metal deck of the ship, he moved under the body of his chopper and began a more thorough inspection.

Jesus, get a look at the redhead? Rod’s mouth began to salivate. Now that’s a body a man could die for. I think I am in love!

Nah, give me the brunette any day, the gunman added, from where he stood in the opened side door, supposedly cleaning the large external machine gun. Now that is the face of an angel a man could wake up next to every morning for the rest of his life.

Mac shook his head; the beginnings of a grin lifted one corner of his mouth. Who was he to spoil his men’s fun? Neither of them had said a word about the close call they had endured the night before. He also knew neither of them would. They lived their lives on the edge of a blade, knowing they could be blown out of the sky, at any turn.

He swore softly under his breath for what he was about to do, even though his heart wasn’t in the rank he was about to pull. They are here to do a job men, just like the rest of us. Mac attempted to quell his crew’s amorous ogling.

Bloody hell. I wonder if all Australian women look that good? Stoneman was having trouble feeding the bullet belt into his gun, so he stopped and simply rested his elbows on the large barrel. I think I feel my temperature rising!

Mac tucked the rag back into his pocket and shook his head. He knew he wouldn’t get any more work out of his crew, so he simply set about cleaning up the mess of oil that had spewed out of the broken pipe and sprayed down the outer side of their tail fuselage. The bullet holes had drained most of the engine oil in flight, so there was very little spillage onto the ship’s actual deck. Until they could fit the new part and panel, he set to work wiping both areas clean with his rag. With the help of a small pot of diesel fluid and an old well-used paintbrush, he set to work.

Most of the metal plates that protected the motor and the main rotor shaft had already been removed. So when Mac suddenly discovered a second area that had taken a direct hit, he swung his body back underneath, so he could double-check it from the opposite side. That was when he caught sight of the last woman to alight from the Australian chopper. The other three females were already making their way over the deck towards the outer door, but there was something about this last one that made him stop and take as second look. She wasn’t as flashy as the other three but there was something about her that struck him as the odd one out of the group.

Maybe it was her light complexion? She definitely wasn’t as voluptuous as the redhead, or as cocky as the one with the deep sable hair. Nor was she as serious as the one who walked back to give her a hand to carry one of her overly large bundles of books. This last one though, caught his eye as she grappled with her heavy load, while at the same time tried to keep up with her friends. Like dark is to light, she was nothing like the other three who called over their shoulder for her to hurry up.

Although she was tall and slender like most of the nurses that worked on the ship, this one had a quality that was totally unexpected. She looked vulnerable!

Mac cast a quick glance at the three walking ahead of her and had to agree with his men, they were definitely stunners to look at and would probably lead his men a merry dance if they were given the chance. But this last one looked so out of place on this ship, miles from anywhere and smack bang in the middle of this bloody war!

‘What the hell did she think she was doing all the way out here?’ he mused and shook his head slightly, but his eyes never left the sight of her struggling to gather her belongings.

Mac kept his head lowered, while his eyes missed nothing. Her bag was already on the deck, while she busily gathered two parcels of heavy books and tried to settle them into her arms. He watched as she spoke to the men inside the chopper, before grasping the handle of her bag and trailing after the rest of her Australian crew.

A feeling of unease filled his stomach. By comparison, this last Officer had hair the colour of spun gold and as she moved, it shone like it had captured sunlight within its silken web. Like the other three nurses, she wore her hair drawn back and away from her face and into a neat little knot at the back of her head. But with the whoosh of wind from the slowly rotating rotors, wisps of curls had begun to spring free from her cap. Those soft wisps floated about her face and eyes, hampering her progress. She wasn’t as spectacularly beautiful as the rest of her unit, but Mac knew in his gut, she was trouble.

Okay boys. Shows over, Mac admonished his crew. Get back to work. I want this baby ready to go before the next call comes in. I think it might be time I also remind you randy admirers, that the Nurses on this ship are strictly off limits. That means no play dates, now get back to work.

From where he was working under the engine of his chopper, Mac might not have seen his men’s face drop at his command, but he instinctively felt the air begin to cool around him.

• • •

Angela Sutcliffe stepped out of the chopper and onto the deck of the American Hospital Warship they had been assigned to. She was tall and willowy with legs that were long and slender. She had hair that was as black as midnight and eyes like pools of liquid honey. Taking a deep lung-full of fresh sea air, she eyed her new surroundings with calculated interest, before dragging her bag from the back of the chopper and lowering it down to the deck of the ship.

‘So this was to be their new home for the next twelve months!’ she thought, looking around her with abject interest. The place looked nothing like a Hospital, just a large floating ship in a sea of brackish brown water. For the first time since they had made this crazy decision, she felt the first twangs of regret. She was a fully qualified Sister who had completed her Nursing degree at Caringbah Hospital, south of Sydney, in beautiful New South Wales. She was also and experienced Trauma Sister whose expertise lay in running an Operating Theatre … So what the hell was she doing all the way out here in the South China Sea?

Stepping out to stand beside her was her dearest friend Debbie Albright, a vivacious redhead with large green eyes that saw far too much. Not quite as tall as the rest of her friends, but she had been gifted by birth, with the most incredible body. She had every woman’s dream figure; large breasts, tiny waist and hips that would drive men to drink. And when she strutted her stuff; the swing on those hips made grown men drool!

Debbie was also a Certified Sister having completed her time at Caringbah Hospital, but where her friends had delved into the gory side of life, Debbie had fulfilled her dreams and was now also a Midwife, who preferred the Delivery Ward rather than Surgical. She too stopped and looked about her, her eyes wide, as the smell of seawater and God only knew what else assailed her nasal passages. Her stomach growled loudly.

Then there was Joyce Kennedy, a brunette bombshell who had the face of an angel with large blue eyes. Her complexion always appeared pale but under that surface lay a will of iron. An import from Kings Cross Hospital in the heart of Sydney, she transferred to Caringbah Hospital at the beginning of her second year after an altercation with a Doctor, who had tried to rape her. When he tried to put the heavies on her, she gave him a black eye for his trouble. Not exactly the done thing, especially to one’s Head of Surgical. The fact that he was married at the time had placed a black mark against Joyce’s name and her position had become quite tenuous, to say the least. The Matron of that particular major Hospital had been unbending about the rules pertaining to Student Nurses and Medical Practitioners.

Unfortunately, the Matron had taken the Doctor’s side of the incident and had referred the matter to the Hospital Board. When Joyce had fought back and threatened to go public over that particular Doctor’s manhandling of Student Nurses, she was quietly given a transfer to Caringbah Hospital, to complete her degree.

This was where she met the trio she now stood beside, glancing at their surroundings with the same shocked look on her face as all the others.

Doreen Chandler followed up the rear at a slower pace. Although not as outgoing as the rest, she was also a fully qualified Sister who had completed her time at the same Hospital. Although younger than her friends, she was more qualified and was in the process of completing her entry exams to become a Doctor. While the rest of her friends spent their off duty hours painting the town red, she spent her time attending University classes to obtain her Masters in Nursing. Not only was she Certified in Surgical and Midwifery, she also had a keen interest in the growing field of Forensic Science.

Ready Ladies? Angela enquired, as she watched the last of them step out of the chopper and gather their possessions.

As ready as we will ever be! Debbie swallowed and puffed air out of her lungs with quick short breaths. Her pallor had begun to turn a slight shade of green.

Have we landed on the right ship? Joyce enquired softly. I thought all American Hospital Ships were painted white not grey? Where do they keep all the patients?

Below deck! Angela informed her as she quickly glanced in Dory’s direction to make sure she kept up with them.

Check out the honeys at two o’clock. Joyce added, noticing the men staring at them from a landing pad further along the large deck. I wonder if all the American soldiers are as nice looking as that lot?

We are here to work Ladies, not dallying with the Pilots. Angela added as she slowed to check on Dory, who was pulling up the rear. Come on, slow coach, she called back over her shoulder as she noticed Dory struggle with her parcels. When she saw a bundle of books almost fall from Dory’s hands, she doubled back and helped her carry some of her load. We are going to be late! she added gruffly for Dory’s benefit alone.

The ship is not going to sink because we take an extra minute to make our way inside Angela, Dory replied, balancing the last of her books in the crook of her arm. In case you haven’t noticed, the chopper cannot take off until we are safely inside the receiving bay.

Angela knew her friend was right and forced herself to calm a little. God, I hope the Matron of this Hospital Ship is not a dragon. I have heard tell she runs a tight ship, but is fair. Why did you bring so many books? You know the reason we all signed up for this exercise was because there was a shortage of experienced Nurses. From what I have heard, I doubt if you will get much spare time to unpack them, let alone read them!

Do I complain when you pack too much makeup or too many hair products? Dory fired back quickly. I need these books, okay!

It’s not the same thing and you know it! Oh, never mind. It is who you are, so give me one of those damn things before your arm breaks in two!

Dory grinned and handed over the smaller of the two parcels. Thank you.

I will be so pleased to get out of this uniform, she sighed heavily as she took the parcel and balanced it under one arm It has been a long day!

Do you think they will roster us on straight away? Dory asked, trailing behind her friend.

God, I hope not! What I wouldn’t give for eight hours sleep!

You drank the last bottle of wine out of the fridge all by yourself last night, Dory added softly.

Angie sighed heavily but didn’t turn, simply added quietly. I had hoped it would dull the pain of leaving the place for the last time. It didn’t. she added, with heartbreaking softness.

Tears pricked at Dory’s eyes and she didn’t say another word. She had also felt the same pain. Would either of them ever get over the loss of losing Daniel? Maybe this new start really was for the best, for both of them.

• • •

They soon discovered the Hospital Ship was bigger than any of them had expected. The USS Sanctuary was five hundred and fifty feet long with four fully equipped Operating Theatres and room for eight hundred patients. A kitchen or galley, that ran like a well-oiled machine and a crew of almost five hundred who sailed her and that was without the medical Staff and Nurses.

Did you see the food in that bain-marie Joyce whispered, still licking her lips with just the thought of hot food.

I hope I don’t get seasick! Debbie added, her eyes stared at the