Description: Taken in 1971 by U.S. Army medic Charles Tweel, this photograph shows children visiting one of the U.S. MedCAPs in Vietnam. He was picked up in a helicopter, along with a Vietnamese interpreter (in hat on the left) and a gunner (right). MedCAP, or Medical Civic Action Program, stations were established throughout Vietnam during the war by American medical staff to provide limited medical care to civilians. As a medic, Tweel spent some time at MedCAPs offering various services to local men, women, and children, particularly immunizations.
This photograph is part of the Charles Tweel Collection (AV 324) at the Ohio History Connection. Charles Tweel grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and attended The Ohio State University. After graduation in 1968, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a non-combatant, first training as a medic at Fort Sam Huston, followed by nine months of additional training at Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He finished his training as a Specialist 3 and 91C, MOS, and went on to serve in Bamberg, Germany, with combat engineers for one year. In January 1971, Tweel served in Vietnam with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion (Air Mobile), 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, based out of Camp Evans near Phu Bai, north of Hue, until December of that year. Tweel spent most of his service on various firebases as the medic in charge, and occasionally shared firebases with South Vietnamese soldiers. He also visited MedCAP stations (Medical Civic Action Programs) where he treated civilians. Tweel received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement, and was promoted to Specialist 5 in 1971. After discharge from the Army, he went to medical school and was in private practice as a family practitioner from 1979-2016, and now works part-time in inner city medical clinics in Columbus, Ohio, and Charleston, South Carolina.
View on Ohio Memory. Image ID: AV324_B02F12_041
Subjects:
Vietnam War (1961-1975);
United States. Army. Airborne Division, 101st;
Medical care;
Civilians in war Places:
Vietnam