Memoir follows doctor from being drafted during his residency to returning as a highly decorated veteran
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Eugene Edynak, MD was drafted into the Vietnam war during the eighth month of his surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing his airborne and Special Forces Officers training he was ordered to Vietnam. Shortly after his arrival in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, he, and his team were responsible for designing and transforming a small convalescent dormitory into a mini-trauma unit for indigenous mercenary soldiers, with two operating rooms, a housing for the field X-ray unit, and a laboratory.
In the book, "Mirth, Medicine and the Military," Edynak shares stories from being drafted, the 14 months he spent after establishing a LASH (little army surgical hospital) and training locals in proper wound care. He also reflects on entrepreneurship and uses humor while sharing tales about his rebelliousness in the army, the military personnel he worked with and local women he had relationships with. He even participated with an airborne Special Forces team to rescue American hostages. He returned to the States having received, among others, the Soldier's Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Air Medal, the prized Combat Medics Badge, and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor.
"Although it's been some 57 years since my time in Vietnam, I'm proud of the little trauma hospital I helped to create," said Edynak. "It led to the literal saving of life and limbs of the indigenous mountain tribesmen who were assisting our forces on the ground."
Though Edynak's story is of a serious nature, he often employs his sense of humor while reminiscing about his service. Vignettes range from "poisoning" the 82nd Airborne antiguerrilla forces during a training exercise with Senna, a stool softener that stained one's urine red, to trading "authentic" chicken blood covered Viet Cong battle flags for truckloads of surgical equipment
"Though not every component of this book is military, there was humor happening at almost every stage when I was in medicine," said Edynak. "There are also stories where in spite of my relative inexperience and naivete, there were usually successful outcomes. That is, I was neither dismissed from my residency, kidnapped nor did I end up in the stockade."
"Mirth, Medicine and the Military: A Vietnam Survivor's Memoir with Poetic license"
By Eugene Edynak, MD
ISBN: ISBN 9781665750042 (softcover); ISBN 9781665750028 (hardcover); ISBN 9781665750035 (electronic)
Available at Archway Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the author
Eugene Edynak, MD became a board-certified surgeon after receiving his MD from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., and later receiving his MBA in health administration from University of Miami. He's held positions as the Chief of Surgery for the US Public Health Service Hospital, Norfolk Va., and the Associate Medical Director at Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, NY. He has also been on the academic staff of several universities. He currently lives with his wife, Marea, in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Fla. To learn more, please visit: https://www.DrEMedicalWarrior.com/
Media Contact
Ziggy Goldfarb, LAVIDGE, 4803067065, [email protected]
SOURCE LAVIDGE
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