Ron Yates, HM2 USN
Fleet Marine Force B605845 (1966-1970)
 AKA "Doc Rowdy Yates"

Well now, we don't want to make too much of my four years in the United States Navy and that is certainly not why I have created this part of the website. I am just one of the millions of Americans as well as others who have jumped in when needed or required. That is the beauty and the tragedy; millions have served and millions have been needed. Troops when serving deserve our full commitment and support regardless of decisions made by civilians in our form of government.

While my personal service is routine compared to others it remains a seminal event in my life and continues to provide me with advantage yet today. I simply would not be who I am today without that experience. How I found myself entering the Navy in retrospect turns out to be a major way station in a grand adventure. For me the adventure starts with getting as far away from my home setting as possible by entering perhaps the only college in America that would admit me.

It was a perfect way to begin my new adult life. We are so very blessed to live in America where we scratch around in a meritocracy making what we may of ourselves based on hard work and good fortune. For many years I was able to say with a straight face that I decided to enlist in the Navy as a volunteer rather than being subject to a draft. It's true but only because I did not subject myself or the school to another semester of academic work.

I made good friends at school and my closest friend wasn't any brighter than me it seems so we decided to join the U.S. Navy on the "Buddy System". And we wanted to be guaranteed Hospital Corpsman School. That's gotta tell you how smart we were right there. The Navy Hospital Corps was established in 1799 through an act of Congress which established that there be a place aboard ship to provide for the treatment of the sick and injured. The first appearance of corpsmen came in the form of loblolly boys, which appeared aboard ship beginning in 1814. These men were members of the ship's crew assigned to assist the ship's surgeon during battle.

One of their functions consisted of running fore and aft between the gun decks and berthing, ringing a bell to announce that the surgeon was holding sick call. During battle they also carried buckets of sand, water and hot coals down to the operating area. The sand was used to soak up the blood on the deck so the surgeon would not slip, the water was used to sterilize the wounds, and the hot coals were used to cauterize the wounds and amputations. This type treatment was common in the early days of medicine.

The Navy Hospital Corps, as it exists in its present form was organized on June 17, 1898. This is the date that the corpsmen recognize as their birthday. In the early part of the 20th Century, the corpsmen followed the Marine Corps movement from serving on ship to being part of a ground combat force.

For example, 22 Medals of Honor have been awarded to Navy corpsmen since 1900. Robert Stanley was the first Medal of Honor recipient. He received this award while serving alongside Marines in China during the Boxer Rebellion. During the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, seven men lifted the pole six were Marines, the seventh was Navy Corpsman John Bradley.

Since their inception corpsmen have been an essential element when it comes to winning battles. "When we are out there, a Marine can have the peace of mind to know that 'Doc' is going to be their to treat them if something happens," say Marine authorities. "This gives the Marines in the field the ability to focus on what is going to happen instead of worrying about what might happen."

In the fall of 1966 "My Buddy" and I entered our promised Hospital Corpsman School in San Diego, California. It was a wonderful experience; we were sailors, young, had a steady paycheck and had time off known as liberty. The downside of course was this was during the Vietnam Era so there must have been no less than 250,000 sailors, young, had a steady paycheck and had time off known as liberty walking up and down the streets of San Diego.

I'm confident we appeared through the eyes of others as large packs of roaming penguins looking for someplace to nest. I think this pretty much explains why two sailors, young, having a steady paycheck and having even more time off known as a 4 day pass found themselves celebrating Thanksgiving 1966 in Los Angels with my wonderful Aunt Thelma.

At some point during our school "My Buddy" and our other classmates were brought together and informed of a new operating procedure starting with our class. We were special. The normal procedure after graduation was to be assigned to a medical facility which would enable us to practice our new skills as Hospital Corpsman.

We had read in the Navy "Book of Jobs" that Hospital Corpsman could choose to volunteer to serve in the Fleet Marine Force. Now we were hearing for the first time that after graduation we would proceed to our next school assignment to give us "Field Medical Skills". Just so we would be clear they also explained that 6-9 months after that school we would be joining our new Marine friends.

And with military precision that plan was executed. We received exceptional training that has only improved over time. It prepared me at the age of 19 to do things which previously were unimaginable. I regret not thinking about keeping good records for contact later. If you are someone I served with at any point you can count on the answer being yes, I would like to hear from you!

After final assignments in a medical setting we discovered clusters of classmates. It was these shipmates that we developed close bonds to as a result of shared pathways. I know these shipmates to this day. And yes, contrary to the evidence available in 1967, all of us turned out to be good citizens.

In total I served for four years. My enlistment decision was one of the greatest strategy decisions of my life. It gave me a proper route to be someone other than what I was destine to become otherwise, it gave me confidence and skills which were lifesaving. It gave me a post Naval career lasting 30 plus years, it gave me the opportunity to achieve manhood.

My enlistment gave me all these things and was routine. What wasn't routine is it allowed me to serve with some select authentic American heroes with the Hospital Corps and the United States Marine Corps. Bless them all and Semper Fi!.

"All the wrong people remember Vietnam. I think all the people who remember it should forget it, and all the people who forgot it should remember it."

Michael Herr