CAP 4-1-3 Bac Si Morgan Submitted by: Roch Thornton

Leatherneck
June 1970, pp 67
MedCap Corpsman

By Mark Thiffault, PAO, FLC

DONG HA -- A U.S. Navy corpsman conducting Medical Civic Action Projects (MedCaps) five miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, is winning many friends for the United States and South Vietnamese governments.

HM3 Harry Morgan Jr., who is attached to Combined Action Platoon 4-1-3, has been treating 50 to 60 Vietnamese villagers daily since his arrival in Vietnam in December 1969.

"I really get a feeling of doing something for the people," the "doc" said. "And these people do need help."

Morgan, called "Bac Si" by the villagers, was the first medical man many had ever seen. "At first, everyone wanted the same type of medicine. I had a hard time explaining to them that cough medicine wouldn't do a thing for a cut," he said.

When the Marines first arrived in the area, the Vietnamese people were wary and untrusting. But slowly they came to understand that the Americans were there to help them.

Return To:

• Units & Histories
• CAP Web Site Home Page