Sharkbait: A Flight Surgeon's Odyssey in Vietnam

by Guy S. Clark

Overview

In early 1966, Dr. Guy Clark received orders to go to Vietnam, and upon arrival that June was assigned to be a flight surgeon at Cam Ranh Bay Air Force Base, on the South China Sea. Thus began a year-long assignment that would find Clark flying more than ninety bombing missions over Vietnam in the Phantom F4-C, plunging deep into the Viet Cong-infested jungle with a gaggle of Republic of Korea Marines in search of the remains of two lost Phantom pilots, and tending to the medical needs of the pilots he flew with.

Sharkbait, A Flight Surgeon’s Odyssey in Vietnam tells these stories and more, including Clark’s survival of “Jungle Survival School” in the Philippines, and temporary assignments at Vung Tau (the “Riviera” for servicemen in Vietnam), Binh Thuy, and other Air Force outposts in Vietnam. Along the way, Clark introduces readers to arrogant and clueless military brass, and courageous pilots who day after day fly into the danger and uncertainty of a war that was becoming increasingly unpopular at home.

Guy Clark’s experiences as flight surgeon and doctor to the pilots who flew bombing missions every day were very different from the ground troops and helicopter pilots, many of whom have written eloquently about their own war experiences. Clark was a physician who dreamed of high adventure, and flying with the Phantom F4-C pilots was the ultimate high. 

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780996563949
Publisher:	Weeping Willow Books
Publication date:	11/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	594
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Dr. Guy S. Clark is medical director of The Arthritis Institute of Santa Barbara and The Osteoporosis Institute of Santa Barbara, Calif., which he founded in 1975 and 1990, respectively.Dr. Clark received his bachelor's degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and his medical degree from Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. He is certified by the American Board of Medical Examiners, the American Board of Forensic Medicine, the International Society for Clinical Densitometry, and the American Board of Forensic Examiners, and board-qualified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He also is a founding fellow of the American Rheumatism Association and the American College of Rheumatology. In addition to his directorships of the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Institutes in Santa Barbara, he has served in numerous executive and administrative positions over the course of his career, including positions in occupational and emergency medicine, extended care and convalescent medicine, and laboratory and clinical pathology. He has served as a senior aviation medical examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration since 1971.Dr. Clark continues to practice medicine on a semi-retired basis. For his service in Vietnam, Dr. Clark received the Bronze Star, three Air Medals, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and the Vietnam Service Medal.This memoir is based on almost daily entries in a personal journal he kept throughout his year of service in Vietnam, from June 1966-June 1967.

Table of Contents

Contents

Prologue 9

Introduction 11

Orders to Go to Vietnam 17

Arriv al in Saigon 22

Cam Ranh Bay 30

Back in the Air! 58

Flying the Phantom 76

Preparing for Flight in the Phantom 96

First Strike Missions 117

Strafi ng Targets—and Meeting Sally 122

Wear and Tear 139

End of My First Month 144

Tiger Hound Country 159

Comes the Monsoon 168

Close Calls 181

A Small Thing 193

Binh Tuy 210

Leavi ng Binh Tuy 235

Jungle Surviv al School 252

Survivi ng Surviv al School 265

Return to Cam Ranh 276

After the Crash 287

Taking Over—Dealing wi th Grief 297

Acci dent Investigation Board 308

Another Loss 325

First Attempt to Enter Dec. 6 Crash Site 335

Changing of the Guard 349

The Search 363

The Mountain 390

Relief! 403

Welcome Christmas Gif t 411

Politic s and Polic y 427

Nha Trang…and the South 437

Return from R&R 448

Vung Tau 467

Sex, Lies and VD 484

Leavi ng Vung Tau 500

Return to Cam Ranh Bay 509

Humanity Calls 522

Hypocrisy and the Vagaries of War 534

Saying Goodbye 554

Offici ally FIGMO 567

Epi logue 577

Acknowledgments 591

About the Author 592

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews:

A thorough memoir of a flight surgeon’s adrenaline-filled experiences in the Vietnam War.

Debut author Clark describes himself as a man with a great “thirst for knowledge” and “passions for high adventure,” characteristics that led him to pursue medicine and become a flight surgeon for the United States Air Force. During the Vietnam War, he was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay in 1966 and “experienced more adventure than most men experience in ten lifetimes.” As a flight surgeon, in addition to his regular medical duties on base, he flew more than 90 missions in a Phantom F4-C, which strafed, bombed, and napalmed targets. Clark details these missions, such as destroying way stations along the Ho Chi Minh Trail over Laos: “The scenarios of anti-aircraft artillery reaching skyward to destroy us with red and white fingers of liquid-lead and explosives were typical and characteristic of every mission.” He shares his informed perspective on the political circumstances of the time, including some of the major flaws of administration as well as the destitute conditions of the Vietnamese and the spirit of both camaraderie and occasional tension among Air Force personnel. Clark eloquently recounts tending to pilots’ injuries and handling the aftereffects of disastrous crashes.

He writes intelligently, illuminating events and the insights they evoked. Long stretches of dry, technical descriptions, however, may overwhelm readers (e.g., his 10-page introduction to the history and capabilities of the Phantom F4-C).

This isn’t a fast-paced memoir; instead, it’s more of an excavation of the many particulars of military life and is interspersed with thrilling adventure in the skies of Vietnam.

Heavy on the technical details but rich with vividly recalled episodes of aerial warfare.

Reviews from Amazon:

“This guy has a total understanding of the whole war thing. No one really wins and we had lost again.

I wish I were as fortunate to eat and live as he did.”

“Guy writes in a very readable and personal style and includes so much day-to-day detail and background that I feel as though I am there amidst the steamy jungle and in the cockpit of the attack fighter.”

“Exceptional read for those interested in more than the combat action of the men who served in Vietnam. Chapter 28 is about the F4 accident report on the incident starting in Chapter 26. It is odd that the USAF official accident report lays the blame for the F4 loss on tower controllers when the true cause was pilot error.”

“An amazing story by a gifted author, this captures his probably unique Air Force experience in a fighter squadron. Highly recommended.”

From the Publisher

2017-05-19
A thorough memoir of a flight surgeon's adrenaline-filled experiences in the Vietnam War. Debut author Clark describes himself as a man with a great "thirst for knowledge" and "passions for high adventure," characteristics that led him to pursue medicine and become a flight surgeon for the United States Air Force. During the Vietnam War, he was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay in 1966 and "experienced more adventure than most men experience in ten lifetimes." As a flight surgeon, in addition to his regular medical duties on base, he flew more than 90 missions in a Phantom F4-C, which strafed, bombed, and napalmed targets. Clark details these missions, such as destroying way stations along the Ho Chi Minh Trail over Laos: "The scenarios of anti-aircraft artillery reaching skyward to destroy us with red and white fingers of liquid-lead and explosives were typical and characteristic of every mission." He shares his informed perspective on the political circumstances of the time, including some of the major flaws of administration as well as the destitute conditions of the Vietnamese and the spirit of both camaraderie and occasional tension among Air Force personnel. Clark eloquently recounts tending to pilots' injuries and handling the aftereffects of disastrous crashes. He writes intelligently, illuminating events and the insights they evoked. Long stretches of dry, technical descriptions, however, may overwhelm readers (e.g., his 10-page introduction to the history and capabilities of the Phantom F4-C). This isn't a fast-paced memoir; instead, it's more of an excavation of the many particulars of military life and is interspersed with thrilling adventure in the skies of Vietnam. Heavy on the technical details but rich with vividly recalled episodes of aerial warfare.

Kirkus Reviews