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Another short story. Leo Doc Carter As anyone in the Submarine Force knows there were three cases of Pharmacists Mates performing appendectomy surgery during WWII. There were directives to the Corpsmen, directives to Commanding Officers and to anyone else who needed the information, "THAT NO SURGERY WOULD BE DONE ABOARD THE SUB." Well, this carried over into the Post War SubForce. Once on a trip to the Med in 1951, I had a crewman who had some belly pains and the skipper told me in no uncertain terms that there would be NO surgery aboard. He ceased snorkling, came up and contacted the carrier in the task force. They sent a copter over and pulled the crewman off and that was the last I ever heard of him. No pictures, etc. Well on SPINAX, in April of 1957 on the way to WesPac, SC2 Dudley McMains developed severe stomach pains in the "right, lower, quadrant" of his abdomen. Pain here is consistent with either !. Needing a good bowel movement, or 2. A hot appendix. Of course as a good, conscientious, Corpsman, I told the skipper LCDR Watson of the good news and also suggested that Dudley might have a peptic ulcer. In trying to reconstruct what happened, my notes on the back of the attached picture, indicate a copter from the USS Midway came over and picked him up. Dudley says that it was the Bennington. Who knows? The attached picture shows Dudley being hoisted up to the copter, it's too far away to see the look of pure terror on his face and there is no sound to hear him screaming many four letter words at me, the SPINAX, the pilot, LCDR Watson, and all the rest of the crew.
Doc
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In a phone call to Dudley in Olustee, OK he told me that the
ship he was transferred to didn't have enough equipment so
they sent him to the Yokasuka Naval Hospital for treatment.
He was there for about a month and then with three other of
the crew also in the hospital was sent back to SPINAX in
Sasebo via an oil tanker. Dudley put 30 years in and was on
the boats, shore duty, and I think a surface skimmer or two,
retired and living in Olustee, OK.