Devil Dog / Devil Doc Chronicles

Welcome to the MCL 1316 Devil Dog/Devil Doc Chronicles, where we feature one of our members each quarter.    For the second quarter of 2022, we meet one of our Devil Docs, Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Navy Corpsman and Silver Star Recipient, Robert “Bob” Bardwell.  

Bob was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and now resides in Albuquerque.  Born an only child, Bob’s parents passed from lung cancer when he was 18.  He joined the Navy in 1962 at the age of 22.  Beforehand, Bob worked at the Winfield State Hospital in Winfield, Kansas, as Psychiatric Aide.  He and a friend joined the Navy Reserves together, choosing the Navy because he was most familiar with that branch.  

Once the site of an early 1900’s World’s Fair turned Naval base, Bob was sent to Treasure Island Naval Base, San Francisco, California.  At that time, basic reserve training was two weeks long.  Afterward, Bob returned to Winfield State Hospital and served in the Reserves in Winfield, Kansas, for approximately six years, during which he went to Great Lakes, Illinois, for Hospital Corps School for MOS Hospital Corpsman.  “I knew if I became a Corpsman, I’d be stationed in a nice hospital somewhere, but that didn’t work out.”  

In 1963, he went on active duty for two years as a Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class (HM3), stationed back at Treasure Island, working in the Shot Clinic.  After a few months, he moved on to a six-week Field Medical School at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, assigned to the Fleet Marine Force.  “That’s where we learned to put up with Marines.”

In September 1964, he transferred to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, Okinawa, Japan, working as a Navy Corpsman with the front-line Marines for two years.  “Everywhere they went, I went.  Whatever they did, we did.  We took care of the sick or injured.  We also went on float and attended cold weather training in Mount Fuji, Japan.”  Like many Corpsmen, they nicknamed him “Doc.”  

January 1965, Bob deployed to Happy Valley, Danang Vietnam, until December 1965, with the 1st Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, staying with the unit on the front lines of the battlefield.  “Rice paddies, trees, and elephant grass that you couldn’t walk through.  Someone gets injured, the Corpsman goes to the injured.”  Bob carried his medical supplies on his back.  “It wasn’t very big.  Mainly bandages and morphine.”  As "non-combatants," Navy Corpsmen only carried a .45 pistol.  If he needed a rifle, “the Marines always had them if I needed one.”  Once the wounded were treated, he radioed for medivac.  The helicopter would land as close as possible, and the Navy Corpsmen helped the wounded to the helicopter if they could not walk.

Along with his National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal, and Good Conduct Medal, Bob received the Silver Star for what he describes as “helping out the Marines” when another Corpsman was injured and evacuated.  Bob treated him and then took care of both platoons -- both platoons requested he be awarded a medal.

“Helping out the Marines” is putting it lightly.  In reality, according to the Silver Star citation, he was awarded the medal “for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against a hostile force…during a search and clear operation on 17 July 1965, in the La Chau Village complex…when the lead element of the second platoon encountered a mine field and was simultaneously brought under Viet Cong fire from several directions, Petty Officer Bardwell, upon receiving a call from the adjacent unit, left his platoon and maneuvered approximately 200 yards across an open rice paddy in the face of heavy fire to locate and administer aid to two Marines, one of whom had been critically wounded by a mine detonation.  With additional injuries being sustained by members of his own platoon as the intensity of the fire increased, he again ignored the mortar and automatic weapons fire impacting nearby, returned to his unit via the same open rice paddy and encountered two other Marines requiring medical attention.  After administering necessary first aid measures, he assisted the Senior Corpsman in directing medical evacuation of the wounded by helicopter while under a heavy volume of hostile fire directed into the landing zone.”  

“Living with Marines was fun.  I was able to give them a hard time.  They took care of me.  I enjoyed it.  No bad memories other than the war.”  From Vietnam, Bob was transferred to the USS Sperry in San Diego to finish his reserve duty, discharging in June 1966, as a Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (HM2).  The “military made me realize that life can be real short.  I blame my loss of hair to the helmet.  I don’t sit with my back to the door, and I’ve been treated for PTSD.”  Once back in Winfield, Kansas, Bob started nursing school at William Newton Memorial Hospital, graduating in 1969, as a Registered Nurse.  

“For some reason, when I graduated, they closed down William Newton.”  While there, he met his future wife, Carin, also a registered nurse.  Looking to find work at a VA Hospital, Bob chose the Albuquerque, New Mexico area, and has lived here since.  He started at the VA Hospital in 1969 and worked there as a Surgery Nurse until retiring in 2002.  In 1971, he returned to Kansas and married Carin, who moved to New Mexico with him.  Carin worked for a nursing home until they started their family.  They have one daughter, Carleen, and two grandchildren -- Brooklyn, girl, Hayden, boy.  For those who are thinking of enlisting he says, “Do it.  Find somewhere to be trained so you have some skills when you get out.  Find out what you like to do.”  For those discharging, he advises, “Don’t waste too much time.  Go to school and find work.”  As for civilians, “I wish people realized what they were told about the baby killers and this and that was not true.  They do the best they can without much to do it with.”  

How did he hear about the Marine Corps League?  “I was at a baseball game once, wearing my Silver Star hat, and I was jumped on and told all about the Marine Corps League.  I’m not sure if they held my hand behind my back or not, but I decided to check it out and found it was something I liked.”  

-Semper Fidelis Doc