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Good Samaritan Hospital and Lindenhurst Rotary work to help Vietnamese Trauma Center
Retired Army combat veteran Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Etherson of Lindenhurst, who had buried the soldier in the jungle after the battle, flew to Vietnam with his friend, fellow veteran Dermot McGrath of Babylon, successfully located the remains of the former soldier, then contacted members of the Vietnamese government who were extremely grateful for their kind act. A tombstone will be placed over the gravesite at the end of June and it is hoped that positive identification eventually will be made by the Vietnamese military so that the soldier's remains can be reinterred in his family's burial plot. Returning after so many years to the former battle zone was quite an emotional experience for Colonel Etherson. He soon learned, however, that Vietnam is now an entirely different country from the one he remembered. What surprised him most was the beauty of the country in peacetime and the genuine friendliness of the Vietnamese people who had long since put that tragic war behind them. As a result, Etherson was finally able to gain closure from the bad memories of that previously wartorn land. Before flying home, Etherson and McGrath vis- ited Viet Duc University Hospital in Hanoi, which is the largest trauma hospital in Vietnam. They had heard that the hospital was critically short of medical equipment, especially in the children's cardiology unit and the emergency room, and they wanted to see if they could help in any way. The staff at Viet Duc Hospital spent several hours graciously showing them around the hospital while explaining the equipment that was needed. Etherson and McGrath vowed to supply them with the medical equipment. Since their return to New York, Etherson and McGrath have been lecturing around Long Island and visiting hospitals, medical companies and fire departments to obtain the much-needed medical equipment. Once people heard their story, the generosity of Long Islanders blossomed. Lindenhurst Rotary, Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip and several local fire departments and their EMT Amulance Rescue Units all began to help out with this worthy cause The veterans' next project will be to locate a company or organization that would be willing to help ship the medical equipment to the hospital in Hanoi.
In addition, Lindenhurst Rotary and Good Samaritan Hospital are developing plans to bring over a Viet Duc surgeon next summer for a 2-month observation and training program in his specialized field at Good Samaritan Hospital. Local Rotarians will try and find a family that would be willing to provide room and board for the doctor near the hospital while he is undergoing training. The cost would be covered by donations from caring people in our local communities.
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