Vietnam Doc: An American Physician’s Memoir

Dr. William Clayton Petty believes anesthesia is a gift from God to mankind, and for many years it was his privilege, his living, and his blessing. In Vietnam Doc, he shares his unique experience as the chief of anesthesia at a very busy military hospital during the Vietnam War. Petty received his orders in 1969 and reported to the 24th Evacuation Hospital, a hospital with a phenomenal record for trauma care that recorded low mortality rates of two to three percent. He tells how the Vietnam War was his baptism of fire in anesthesia for trauma, and he describes the workings of the complex task of providing surgical care to multiple soldiers with traumatic injuries due to combat. Vietnam Doc offers keen insight into the intensity of the life of a medic during the war and of the wounded soldiers he and other medical personnel worked so hard to save. Poignant, reflective, and often gut wrenching, Petty narrates his personal reflections on how these events affected his life and those of others. Read more