This month’s featured veteran is Navy Corpsman Jim Bourke. Jim served three tours in Vietnam and received seven Purple Hearts for injuries he received during the course of his wartime deployments.
Born in Wyoming, Jim is the product of a military family with many members of his immediate and extended family answering the call to serve. Despite the fact that his father wanted him to go to West Point and serve in the Army, Jim had his sights set on the Navy. So as many young men tend to do, he decided to go his own way.
In 1966 with things heating up in Vietnam, the Marine Corps needed corpsmen, so twenty year old Jim found himself on his way to war. During his first deployment while on patrol with the Marines, Jim’s platoon was ambushed resulting in two Marines being killed and a third wounded. Jim was also wounded, taking small arms fire to his knees. He was medevac’d to the rear and then eventually sent to the Philippines.
Again, in 1967, Jim was back in Vietnam. This time, he was assigned to the hospital in Da Nang which he said was under frequent rocket attacks. He remained in Vietnam into '68 which included the Tet Offensive. When asked about Tet, he responded, “It was no fun.”
In addition to serving at a hospital, Jim served aboard a Marine Corps H-34 helicopter which was used to medivac wounded. Jim recalls one instance when they were landing at a hot LZ. A ricochet from an enemy round struck both he and the helicopter's gunner in the head. Fortunately, both were wearing helmets. Despite being injured from the round, Jim and the gunner continued on and picked up the casualties, and flew them to safety.
On another flight aboard an H-34, the helicopter was hit, and Jim took shrapnel to his back. Several years later, his mother, who was a nurse, removed a piece of the shrapnel after it began causing Jim discomfort.
For his third tour to Vietnam, Jim was sent over as a Navy advisor and was assigned to headquarters in Saigon. Once there, he received orders to an island off the southern tip of Vietnam. The island was 80 percent controlled by the Vietcong and home to several thousand enemy POW’s.
While on the island, Jim was assigned to the Army 5th Special Forces as a medic, an assignment he enjoyed because it allowed him to perform many different tasks in addition to his duties as a medic. Jim said he had a ball, but it was at the expense of being wounded three more times. None of the injuries, however, were bad enough to send him home.
One of the more harrowing experiences occurred while Jim was in a foxhole. One night while in his hole listening for the enemy who they knew where out there, an enemy soldier fell in. Jim suddenly was in a fight for his life. Jim retrieved his knife and ended the fight by killing the enemy soldier. But not before he was stabbed by the enemy three or four times. It wasn’t until the next morning that what had happened became known to the rest of Jim’s team.
In addition to treating our wounded, Jim took care of the Vietnamese. One memorable experience was when Jim delivered triplets for a young Vietnamese woman. To keep the babies warm until a helicopter could come to pick them up and take them to a hospital, he put them in an oven with just the pilot light turned on for warmth. When the Air Force arrived with two nurses, Jim pointed to the oven and said, they’re in there. The nurses were appalled. But the babies were warm, happy and healthy.
Jim recalls that he was fortunate that during all three of his homecomings, he never encountered any of the hate that so many did after returning from Vietnam.
When asked how his experiences in Vietnam affected his life, Jim says that it changed his perspective on life. He said he saw enough bodies to fill a few cemeteries and that will change anybody. But he says he doesn’t have any regrets and he doesn’t experience any of the negative psychological effects that many do. And if asked by a young person if they should pursue a career in the military, Jim say’s he would advise them to do so because there’s so many educational opportunities in the service.
For those watching this interview in the future, Jim wants them to know that he served honorably and would recommend the military to anybody who wants to serve. We couldn’t agree with Jim more strongly.
Sadly, Jim passed away a few years ago. We are grateful he chose to speak with the Voices of Freedom and allow us to record and preserve his story.
