Donald Oehmke

The Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes, Illinois, was established in 1913 to train enlisted personnel of the United States Navy in medical skills, forming the backbone of the Navy’s Hospital Corps. Throughout the World Wars, Korean War, and Vietnam War, the school rapidly expanded, preparing tens of thousands of Hospital Corpsmen to serve with distinction both ashore and alongside Marines in combat zones. Renowned for its rigorous training, the school emphasized both medical proficiency and readiness for battlefield conditions. In 2011, the Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes was closed, and training was consolidated with other military medical training programs at the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) in San Antonio, Texas.

The Naval Regional Medical Center Philadelphia, PA, was a key medical facility serving the United States Navy and the broader military community in the Philadelphia region. Established to provide comprehensive medical care, the center played an essential role during conflicts such as the Vietnam War, supporting both active-duty personnel and their families. Throughout its operation, the center was renowned for its advancements in military medicine and its vital contribution to the health and readiness of Navy forces. Eventually, as military medical infrastructure was reorganized, the facility was decommissioned, but its legacy endures in the history of Navy medicine.

USS Duluth (LPD-6) was an Austin-class amphibious transport dock commissioned by the United States Navy in 1966. Throughout her service, Duluth participated in numerous major operations, including troop and equipment landings during the Vietnam War and support missions during Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon in 1975. In subsequent decades, she provided critical support for humanitarian missions and military exercises around the globe, including deployments to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. After nearly four decades of service, USS Duluth was decommissioned in 2005, leaving a legacy of versatility and dedication to amphibious operations.

NSADANANG Camp Tien Sha was a vital U.S. Navy logistics and support base located near Da Nang, Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. Established in the early 1960s, the Naval Support Activity Da Nang (NSADANANG) at Camp Tien Sha provided essential supply, maintenance, and administrative services to naval and Marine Corps forces operating in the I Corps Tactical Zone. The camp facilitated the rapid offloading and distribution of ammunition, fuel, and provisions, supporting major combat operations in the region. NSADANANG Camp Tien Sha remained operational until the U.S. drawdown in the early 1970s, after which the facility was handed over to South Vietnamese control.