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Navy field corpsman Ron Mosbaugh helping Vietnamese civilians.
Episode 2071of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story shared by Vietnam Veteran Ron Mosbaugh that is titled: Winning the Hearts and Minds in Vietnam. In his story, he tells about two programs that were tried during with the purpose of winning over the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese.
A little background about Ron Mosbaugh. He served a 31-year career in the U.S. Navy as a corpsman. That means he served in the medical field. During those 31 years of service in the Navy, he spent thirteen months as a field corpsman in Vietnam with Hotel Company, Second Battalion, First Marines in the dangerous I Corps region of northern South Vietnam.
Ron stated that he witnessed things a 19 years old lad should never see. He went out on hundreds of patrols with the Marines and often was confronted with gruesome scenes of death and destruction. He often would be holding the hand of a wounded Marine as they died from their wounds.
All those horrific things he witnessed in combat resulted in a serious case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for Ron. When he sought help for his debilitating condition, one of first recommendations he received to combat his PTSD was to write about his memories of those terrible times.
In this episode, Ron describes two programs used by the Marines that were intended to win over the Vietnamese people from the grips of the Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese Army associates. Ron participated personally in both programs.
One was the Medical Civic Action Project which was better known at MedCap. That program was perfectly suited for Ron’s medical specialty. In that program, a group of Marines along with their field corpsmen would go out to villages and provide medical services to the civilians.
The other program covered in this episode was known as “County Fair.”
Listen to episode 2071 and discover more about Ron Mosbaugh’s observations and conclusions about two programs used in the Vietnam War that were intended to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese.
