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 Once a Marine was shot in the abdomen. We could not get a chopper for him. His abdomen was open and all we had was a battle dressing, Ringers lactate and trendelenbeg. The only transport was the greygoast. This was a grey subruban ambualnce. Oftern it broke down and the dash fell off. My partner Richard was a Ranger and Pentacostal by faith.. We load out Marine into the  ambualance and made a dead run for San Diego Balboa. This is some 300 miles or so. The dash fell off around San Berdo, and we got it back on, I could not get a blood preasure, so I forced fluids via a BP cuff. Blood was soaking through everything We ran as fast as she could, till at last the Grey goast gave out. She was not overheated, and the tank was full.No phones were  available, no radio worked. My Marine ceaced breathing. I bad him. Richard paced.He tried everything. Nothing Worked. At last he came to the engine put his hands on it and commanded it in the name of Jesus Christ to start!. It did. We raced from the Salton Sink to Balboa, NRMC. I gave report and we both ere obligated to say "Jesus Saved us". Given the conditon of my patient, the experience of surgical medicene I had observed in the era, and the delay, I doubt he lived.... The Grey Goast delivered Richard and I to the Bell and quarter deck at Branch Hospital Twenty Nine Palms promply diieing. I gave the same report to my Chief of the Day. He did not smile.  Not long after this an officer recieved blow the head dianosed as a closed head injury. Instructions were given over the phone to nurses and corpsmen for a bur hole. The officer promply recieved a chinook and was ran into the chopper by us corpsmen, It was black cold, noisey and dark inside as usual. The nursing tossed us out side. This officer was lifted up and away due south. It suppose he did live given my current understandinig...such was the division between us and them. It was quiet flustrating to a young corpsman.  Spider  a corpsman said to me, "Hunt, ya gota under stand we is peons, ya keep your head down and don't get noticed it will all be ok"

The life of any patinet has been important to me.