What Is A Hospital Corpsman?*

(Author's Note: Today marks the 116th anniversary of the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps. It was established on June 17, 1898 to provide health and medical care to all U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel everywhere---in the battlefield, in naval ships, hospitals and clinics and other military installations--- and to those eligible military healthcare beneficiaries. Below is my poem which I humbly dedicate to all of us, Hospital Corpsman, active, retired and/or deceased. Thank you for your service.)

What is a Hospital Corpsman?

He's more than a doctor's helper

Or a nurse's aide...

He does quality patient care

With utmost service

That's rare---

Only in the military

He's full of responsibilities,

A call to duty...

And other collateral duties.

On the frontline, he is there

On the battlefield, he is there

Everywhere with his comrades

The Marines and the armies...

Rendering emergency medical services

And caring for them when they're sick,

Giving all the support they need:

Moral, emotional, and physical,

Mental, social, and spiritual as well.

Of his nursing-medical experiences

In the field or battlefield,

He's called "Doc" by the Marines

Because he cares for them

Until the end...

In a ship or in a hospital 

He's everywhere, here and there

In the wards or in the Lab,

In the Pharmacy or Radiology,

In the Emergency or in the Galley,

Sometimes, in the Quarterdeck or in PSD;

He's in Sick Call or in Supply,

But, despite his job, he can still smile,

Can all have fun, even for a while.

He's a healthcare provider,

Also a health record keeper;

He is a giver and a listener,

A fighter and a peacekeeper;

He's a writer and a lecturer,

So talented, can you not tell?

Well, he's a Hospital Corpsman

Proud to serve his fellowmen

In sickness or in health,

In wartime or in peacetime,

He's always ready to serve,

To care, to save, and to protect.

-Copyright 2014 by Chris A. Quilpa

*Originally appeared on July 1995 print edition of The Courier (An authorized, monthly publication of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, VA, where the author/poet has served and retired in the U.S. Navy, after 20 years of honorable military service.)
*The poem was certified/registered in the U.S. Copyright Office, The Library of Congress, Washington, DC, on December 23, 1997.