From the Collections
The Medic of Mike Company: James "Doc" Pueschel
“A mortar round hit within 10 feet of me and a piece of shrapnel went through my flak jacket and into my right chest. I thought I had a sucking chest wound but never spit blood, so I put a battle dressing with the plastic wrapper still on it over the hole and closed my flak jacket to hold it tight. I didn’t tell Lt. “A” or Sgt. Lunsford as I was the only corpsman, and I didn’t want to be medevac’d leaving my Marines without a medic.”
James “Doc” Pueschel proudly served in Vietnam with the United States Navy as a corpsman assigned to the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Battalion, Mike Company. Their company was one of the most bloodied and decorated Rifle companies that fought in the Vietnam War. On May 31st, 1968, a booby-trapped M-16 set off an explosion that tore through the company. After the explosion and sustained firefighting with the Viet Cong, backup arrived.
Pueschel was medevac’d with all the Mike Company marines. Mike Company took 100% casualties, with their Navy corpsman sustaining four injuries attempting to patch men up during combat. Only in the country for 75 days, Pueschel collected a wide variety of medical equipment and Vietnamese souvenirs.
James “Doc” Pueschel proudly served in Vietnam with the United States Navy as a corpsman assigned to the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Battalion, Mike Company. Their company was one of the most bloodied and decorated Rifle companies that fought in the Vietnam War. On May 31st, 1968, a booby-trapped M-16 set off an explosion that tore through the company. After the explosion and sustained firefighting with the Viet Cong, backup arrived.
Pueschel was medevac’d with all the Mike Company marines. Mike Company took 100% casualties, with their Navy corpsman sustaining four injuries attempting to patch men up during combat. Only in the country for 75 days, Pueschel collected a wide variety of medical equipment and Vietnamese souvenirs.
