Mekong Medicine

Dr Richard Carlson was an obstetrics-gynecology resident in inner city LA when he received his call to Vietnam. He served as chief medical officer with a unit of American doctors, nurses and corpsmen in Bac Lieu Province 1966-1967. With more than 80 photographs, his detailed account chronicles his team’s harrowing work under primitive conditions.

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In 1966, Dr. Richard Carlson, two years out of medical school, embarked on a year-long tour in Vietnam to treat the many forgotten victims of the war: the civilians. During medical school he was introduced to the Los Angeles County General Hospital, the huge institution that served LA's socially and medically deprived. When drafted, he applied to work in a Vietnamese civilian hospital. His tenure at the LA hospital was the best training for what he would encounter in Vietnam.

His arrival coincided with a bloody escalation of the conflict. But like many Americans, he believed South Vietnam desired a democratic future and that the U.S. was helping to achieve that goal. He diligently chronicled his efforts to save lives in the Mekong delta province of Bac Lieu and detailed the stories of the AMA volunteer doctors, USAID nurses and corpsmen that he worked with to treat the local citizens, many of whom were Viet Cong.

He gives a glimpse of the emerging understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder and his team's development of a pioneering family planning clinic. With more than 80 photographs, this book relates hi efforts, including the competition among civilians for medical services. The facilities and equipment were primitive, and the doctors' efforts were often hampered by folk remedies and superstition.