Robert Russ Oral History
Object NameRecording, Audio
Transcript
Narrator
Robert Russ
Association
USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11)
DateOctober 19, 2021
PeriodCold War
MediumWAV, PDF
ClassificationsCommunication Artifacts
Credit LineCollection of the Intrepid Museum. Gift of Robert Russ. OHP.217
Object numberOHP.217
DescriptionRobert Russ served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVS-11) as a hospital corpsman second class (HM2) from 1970 to 1971. The Museum recorded his oral history interview on October 19, 2021.See transcript for complete interview. Below is a summary:
Russ began his interview by describing life growing up in central Wisconsin. He then explained why he joined the Navy and provided a brief overview of his naval career. Russ next discussed boot camp. He became his company drummer, and he recalled a humorous story involving the company marching to his drumbeat. He then stated why he decided to attend Navy Hospital Corps School, or corps school, after boot camp.
While discussing corps school, Russ described first aid training and explained the two focuses: basic care in a hospital, and first aid outside of a hospital, which was preparation for serving with the Marines. He also compared Navy corpsmen with Army medics and explained how their training differed. This led Russ to recall when he was sent to Tripler Army Hospital while he was stationed in Hawaii. He then noted that Hawaii was his second duty station, as his first duty station was in Newport, Rhode Island, on a medical contagion ward. Russ then described the traditional order of duty stations for corpsmen and explained why he remained in Newport for a good amount of time. He got married while in Rhode Island and was sent to Hawaii in 1968. As Russ continued to discuss his time in Hawaii, he explained duty sections and noted that, to be part of the duty section, you had to be qualified to work in two of the following areas: sick call, x-ray, lab, or pharmacy. He developed x-rays and worked in the pharmacy.
The interview then shifted to Russ’s time on Intrepid. Russ did not work sick call often because he was an E-5, and sick call was run by HNs and HM3s who were with the doctors. He explained that he was more on the administrative side, and he described their office layout and noted who worked in that space. Russ then recalled, in detail, his memory of coming aboard Intrepid, which involved: checking in, being shown around by hospitalman, Ray Reandeau, and making a point to say hello to the Marines, as he just left the Marines and felt as much at home with them as he did with sailors. Intrepid was in dry dock at this time, so the majority of their work involved catching up on record-keeping, making sure everyone had their shots, and ensuring that everyone who needed a physical, had a physical. He then mentioned that they still held sick call. However, he could not recall any injuries that occurred during the dry dock period. Russ did recount injuries that he witnessed during the cruise, such as a destroyer sailor who was injured while dropping anchor, and an Intrepid sailor who was struck in the head with a helicopter’s tail rotor during a compression test. This story led to a brief explanation of how injured sailors were carried to sick bay.
Russ then recalled rough weather after leaving Boston, which also prompted him to recount how he and his friend, Jim Doherty, practiced golf putting in the passageway leading to sick bay, and how the rough weather affected this activity. Russ then recalled Intrepid’s time re-arming in Bayonne, New Jersey, when someone accidentally leaned on the general quarters alarm.
Russ next described the two types of records they maintained, active sick call records and main records. He described the purpose of each record and where they were kept. He then noted “Tickler” files, explaining that they served as reminders in a time before computers. He also recalled how crew members were informed of their upcoming shots. Before continuing with the topic of records, Russ recounted when Intrepid replaced Lexington as the training carrier in the Gulf of Mexico. He stated that watching student pilots land was the scariest experience he ever had on the flight deck. He also recalled an instructor pilot who was killed when his engine quit. Russ then recounted a suicide that occurred on board Intrepid, and he explained how they shipped the person’s body back home.
The interview soon returned to the topic of medical records, as well as other tasks such as brig sick call and checking first aid boxes throughout the ship. Russ then recalled a hurricane that damaged the ship and caused many injuries, including broken bones, strains, and bruises. He described the roll that caused these injuries. He provided assistance in sick bay by developing X-rays in the dark room.
Russ next discussed liberty, recalling his role with the shore patrol and his time in Portugal with Doherty. He specifically noted checking out golf clubs from the ship’s sports locker in order to golf in Estoril, Portugal, and visiting Fatima, Portugal. Russ then recounted downtime on the ship, which primarily involved playing cards and watching movies in sick bay. He also discussed bartering with other departments. The cooks brought food and drinks for the patients and sick bay personnel to enjoy during movies. The corpsmen also had deals with ship’s servicemen and disbursing. Bartering also led to a conversation on medicinal alcohol, as well as a memorable story about obtaining wine in Kiel, Germany, with Doherty, and an interesting recollection about a third class corpsman, Greg Freeman, who ran the aviation examining room.
Russ then described leaving Intrepid and making his way to Wisconsin, as he received orders to the ROTC unit at the University of Wisconsin. He received his nursing degree after four years of school in a Navy program. He spent eleven years as a nurse in the Navy, mostly working in ICUs. He then noted that, after retiring from the Navy, he continued to work in the medical field, before going to a golf academy and becoming a golf pro. Russ was also asked what he hopes visitors will take away from seeing sick bay, and he stated that he hopes visitors will see what can be done in that space with approximately 12 to 15 men. As the interview came to an end, Russ discussed two more topics: how they handled a sailor’s family medical bills, and what happened to the disbursing records when Intrepid took that large roll during the hurricane.
Extent: 2 audio files, 37 page transcript
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