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Care Under Fire

For many veterans, Vietnam remains indelible—thanks in part to frontline combat medics like Bill “Doc” Strusinski. In Care Under Fire, Strusinski places readers in the terror of firefights, the exhaustion of relentless patrols, and the anguish of losing friends despite desperate efforts to save them. Medics were targeted and forced to treat the wounded under fire. More than a war memoir, this is the story of a man transformed by the sacred duty of caring for others in combat.

an account not told by the scholars and politicians

—Lawrence Redmond

Description

For many surviving military veterans, the Vietnam War is an indelible part of their lives. That they survived is due in many cases to the heroic, life-saving actions of combat medics like Bill “Doc” Strusinski. Being a frontline medic was, and still is, one of the most dangerous jobs in the Army. Medics were targeted by the enemy and often called upon to aid fallen soldiers in the line of fire. In Strusinski’s riveting book, Care Under Fire, Strusinski thrusts the reader squarely into moments of terror during firefights, the exhaustion of endless patrols, the anguish of losing buddies despite best efforts to save them, and the intimate bonds created during times of desperate need. This is a book about war, yes, but even more about how one man was transformed by his “sacred duty” to offer care under fire to the young soldiers he fought beside.

Product Details

PublishedMay 2, 2020
ImprintWisdom Editions
LanguageEnglish
Print length222
ISBN-139781959770305
Dimensions6 x 0.56 x 9 inches

Bill Strusinski’s memoir of his tour of duty as a combat medic in Vietnam is a very good read. There is much humor in this book, some of which is genuinely funny and some of which is the nervous gallows humor of people working in high stress situations. There is much to recommend in this book for those who seek to understand the emotions and feelings of warriors.

—Doofous, verified review on Amazon

Care Under Fire is written with an appealing honesty and clarity. His clear prose bring out both the challenges he faced providing care under fire but the nature of the combat faced by the squads and platoons he served with. Strongly recommended.

—Reader, verified review on Amazon

This book makes you feel like you’re there with this medic. Right from the beginning, this book brought me to that war; the smells, sights, feelings of terror and the miracles that happened during the medic’s time there. Very good read.

—Gypsy9/8/98, verified review on Amazon

Strusinski tells his story in an easy, conversational manner, as though talking with friends over a cup of coffee. Yet he is able to articulate much of what he and his brothers-in-arms were unable to share with us for decades. Read this book.

—Frederick W. Hundt, verified review on Amazon

For humanity to understand and avoid the horrors of war, we need to hear the stories of combatants and victims. It takes courage to relive all of that in the telling. Care Under Fire is Bill Strusinski’s contribution. Fortunately, he is a very good storyteller.

—John Kerney, verified review on Amazon

I have read many books, articles and papers on the Viet Nam War. None have provided a more down-to-earth feel and understanding of that war’s daily danger, stress, anxiety, comradeship, courage, and often individual nobility as does Bill Strusinski’s Care Under Fire, an account not told by the scholars and politicians.

—Lawrence Redmond, verified review on Amazon