REGISTRAR
Modern title… Patient Administration Division
(Click on a photo to view a larger image)
It
is here that accountability for each patient occurs, medical records
are assembled and maintained, casualty notifications are made, statistics
for the hospital are compiled, evacuation of patients to other medical
facilities out of country is accomplished, liaison with the
patients units is accomplished, and anything that nobody else
can do or get done, it usually winds up in Registrar's lap! If
we couldn't do it or get it done, in all probability, a one star
general couldn't get it done either!! Bragging…naw, just
stating a fact!!
This
is the entrance to where it all takes place. Note the sandbags
on the right around the weapons conex… we also stored ammunition,
hand grenades, C-4 (plastic explosive), claymore mines, personal
weapons, knives, etc. Normally, we got the E.O.D. people down as
soon as possible to take charge of the explosives. That wasn't
the case during the Tet offensive of '68 …they weren't available
and besides, we didn't know whether we were gonna have to use them
to defend the hospital or not. We had enough weapons in that
conex during Tet to arm a platoon, including a couple of M-60 machine
guns, which we used during Tet to make an emergency run to the Medical
Depot to pick up a deuce-and a-half load of stretchers. Boy,
was that an adventure!! Sorry, no pictures, we were too busy
trying to get to the Depot and back to the hospital in one piece
without looking like Swiss cheese. That is another story though!
Let's take a quick look inside the weapons conex….
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When a casualty or visitors, came in with weapons, we stored them in the weapons conex.Just to give you a quick peek inside….
Weapons
ranged from WW II to modern…Craig playing John Wayne..Hey,
that's mine!
Now
to introduce you to the Executive Offices located in this building
(the facade is deceptive) …
SSG
Willard is giving directions and possibly a little help to one of
the Bell twins (Rex and Tex Bell) of course from Texas. Sorry
I can't identify the other Medical Records Clerks in the picture. Guess
the light coming through the front door is getting in my eyes!
This is the
other end of the office with the open door to the Patient's Clothing
Storeroom. I believe that is Pfc.Brown to the left of the door, who
was the Storeroom keeper. He did a magnificent job.. he made
sure that each patient's clothing was washed and hung on a hanger,
that is, unless we had to cut the clothing off in the E.R., in which
case, the patient was given a brand new set of Jungle Fatigues, if
he left as an ambulatory patient. He was also responsible for
seeing that each litter was properly scrubbed down as soon as it
was returned from Pre-Op. Note the water tank in the first
picture, that was where the Mama-san got the water to scrub the clothing
and litters … soap was supplied from Supply, unless we had
to "requisition" some because they ran out.
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| Tex Bell clowning wearing Lt. Hicks' hat |
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| Spc. Lieb (left), Sgt. Brown (right) |
Some of the People of Registrar
Now, it is
time to meet some of the people who made things happen in registrar… a
good example is the fact that during Tet, we had to use any helicopter
we could get to move our patients to the 21st CSF. Even
though we had permission from 44th. Med. Bde. to do abbreviated
Clinical Record Coversheets, by hand, as well as Surgical Op reports,
these guys made sure that everything was typed and that the whole
record went with the patient when we evac'ed them. This was
in-between hauling casualties off of arriving choppers!
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| Lee Theesfeld | Jack Hutson | |
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| McAllister | James Pinegar |
Pfc.
Craig Hodge in Treasurers cage, taking a little break…
Sgt.
Yowell, 9th Div. Liaison,
Sgt.
Munoj (l) and his Cpl.®, Liaison from the Queen's Royal Thai
Regiment.
And
the last of the available photos, Cpt. Henry "Pappy" Powers,
Registrar, 24th.Evac.
Would you
believe, It took me 34 years to discover that "My Guys" called
me "Pappy" behind my back….. and kept it a secret
from me!!! The reason for the nickname is because I was almost
double the age of the average man assigned to Registrar!! Thanks
Guys, it is an honor that you called me "Pappy"!!! No
wonder, I was almost 35 years old when I left Vietnam!!! (Most of
the other people who knew me said I was just plain crazy.)
Then,
of course, there was the other side of "my guys", as they
got into the Christmas Spirit as was evidenced by the Christmas tree
at the corner of A&D…
Notice that
it is tucked behind the edge of the litter conex for protection from
prop wash
I
have no idea where the decorations came from but, it is rumored that
some Christmas trees in the various Generals' quarters were a "little
shy" of some decorations!!
The
back door to A&D and the ER was a joint effort (no, I don't know
where the decorations came from, wouldn't tell if I did).
Didn't
have any interior shots of our chapel so this exterior one will have
to suffice.
Our
outdoor theater was the site for the Midnight Mass held on Christmas
Eve, 24 Dec 1967.
Thankfully,
it was dry on Christmas Eve. We had both walkways lined with bed
patients, and in the open space between the walkways, there was a
hodge-podge of chairs, almost lined up, for the ambulatory patients
and staff….visitors who didn't bring their own chairs had to
stand-up. It was a very somber night, stars shining, starlight
flares being fired almost on schedule, every body singing Carols,
and I was the AOD that night! Little did we realize what we were
gonna be into in less than four week(Tet), if we had, maybe we would
have prayed a little harder, sung a little louder, and paid closer
attention to what the Chaplain had to say.
Sometimes,
we even had live entertainment
No, these last three shots didn't have a direct connection with Registrar, they were included just in case someone forgot to include them with their stories.
Now you know
where everything started and ended with the casualties fortunate
enough to get brought to the 24th. Evacuation Hospital
(SMBL).
Henry
Powers
July 8, 2003
Updated: August 17, 2003