GI With Leukemia in Vietnam

A week or so ago I was channel surfing. Something I do very often as I am finding TV and the regular programming making me very nervous. While surfing I came across MASH on TVLand. I noticed right away the actor was Patrick Swayze and told my wife to check out how young he was. She was in another room and just took a look and went back to her program. I have never really watched MASH before but seemed to be drawn to this episode. There was conversation that the Swayze character wanted to donate blood to his unconscious friend but that he had an arm wound that would not heal. I knew right then and there it was leukemia which Trapper and Hawkeye confirmed.

When in Nam there were a number of GI's coming in from the field to get circumcised. It was hard to keep clean in the field. One young man came in and had it done and after healing, etc. went back to his unit. No long after that he came back in via Chopper one night to the 24th with an urgent urology issue. I remember seeing his penis in the ER during treatment. It was very enlarged, swollen, red and not healed. The Doc's knew something was wrong. He was later diagnosed with Leukemia and he was airlifted out to Japan.

I have always remembered that young man. He was so young and looked like a teenage (which he was, like the majority of us). And such a great personality. I have wonder what ever happened to him. At the end of MASH it was pretty clear that the Swayze character would return to the states and fight a battle that he would lose. I pray that was not the case for that GI in Vietnam but fear that was what might have happened.

I have said some extra prayers for him and his family this last week and truly believe that if he did pass he is in heaven with his other Nam brothers.