June 21, 1989
S7028

   There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: from the Bangor Daily News, June 7,1989, PROSTHETIST SEES NEEDS IN VIETNAM (By Jeanne Curran):

In 1968, Roger Marshall, a British-trained prosthetist, found himself called to South Vietnam, where he served for several years in a war-torn town creating artificial limbs and braces for civilians and sharing his skills with 20 Vietnamese students. Twenty-one years later, Marshall was back in Vietnam to assess the medical needs of war-related amputees and other people requiring prosthetic services. Traveling on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee, Marshall, who lives in East Corinth, returned in April from a trip that required him to visit four major prosthetic centers in Vietnam and report on their needs. The medical specialist found, as might be expected, "a great deal of poverty" throughout the southeast Asian country, but he also discovered a less expected characteristic. "One thing that struck me more than anything was the friendliness toward us," said Marshall, during an interview this week. "They knew we were Americans. It was most apparent that the Vietnamese do not hate Americans as people. In fact, I got the strong impression they would like to see us come back and trade".

   Born in Birmingham, England, and raised in England and Scotland, Marshall served in the Royal Air Force for 2½ years. He was trained as a certified prosthetist in his native country, later receiving American certification after completing additional training at New York University and Northwestern University in Chicago. Marshall, who works at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, and his wife, a Brewer reading specialist, have lived in East Corinth for 11 years. "I've always been Interested In the peace movement,." said Marshall. "I came into prosthetics because I was a medic in the Air Force. I'm not a 100 percent pacifist." Marshall said he felt compelled to go to Vietnam during the war because he knew of the suffering there. "Some people would interpret that as a call from my conscience I'm not really sure," he said. "Something seemed to call me in that direction. I know It would be bad. I didn't realize it would be as bad as it was." Marshall said he spent 3½ years working with an Anglo-American" relief team in the town of Quing Nghai, a "hotly contested area" south of Da Nang. He said his job was to help the civilian population, amputees and paraplegics "who got caught between the warring factions." The 20-member team was often in danger, said the prothetist. One time, six members were captured by the Viet Cong, but were released unharmed "as soon an they found what (the team members) were doing," he said.

   Supplies were limited and difficult to get. "We relied entirely on private donations," recalled Marshall. "I used to get Plexiglas from the American helicopters and heat that up and use that for splints and certain kinds of braces." Once, he even salvaged the wing of a shot-down American airplane, using the aluminum to make artificial limbs. "It's worlds apart from what I'm doing now, but the basic principles were the same" in terms of taking casts, measuring patients, and making prosthetic alignments, he said. Marshall left Vietnam in 1972 after his students took their exams and graduated. "It was time to leave and time for them to take over," he said. The Vietnamese staff took over the center and relocated it to the town of Quin Nhon. The AFSC [American Friends Service Committee] continued to supply equipment until funds ran out in 1981, and the organization became involved In other aid projects of higher priority, said David Elder, AFSC co-coorindator,  for Asian programs last year, President Ronald Reagan sent an envoy led by retired Gen. John W. Vessey Jr. to Hanoi to discuss humanitarian issues. Out of those discussions came the recommendation and encouragement that private aid be raised for rehabilitation efforts.

   Elder said his organization, which has worked informally with several other groups on rehabilitation, recently received a major grant, almost $300,000, from two Dutch and American organizations to support that rehabilitative work. Our primary work is to provide tools, equipment and supplies both for prosthetics and physical therapy," said Elder, during a telephone interview from the AFSC office in Philadelphia. The AFSC official said there were 60,000 amputees in Vietnam, which has a population of 60 million to 65 million people. "Actually, that's very high in terms of amputations," said Elder. "You don't usually find that rate. The six government-run prosthetic centers in Vietnam provide about 10,000 prosthetic devices and orthotic appliances, including braces, crutches and shoes each year," said Elder.

   Most Vietnamese amputees are veterans, though at least 10,000 people, including women and children, have been injured since the war ended in their attempts to clear existing minefields, he said. Other people in need of prosthetic and physical therapy are children suffering from polio ("still a major problem"), accident victims, and people suffering from cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injuries, and congenital malformations, said Elder. The AFSC official said Marshall's report would be used to help make purchases for the centers. After the report is reviewed, "we'll begin shopping and shipping," said Elder, adding that he expected to have the equipment "on the high seas" by the end of the summer. Marshall visited four centers, traveling from the Mekong Delta to Hanoi, and staying in small hotels. He saw his former students and met Professor Bai Thung, director of the Hanoi prosthetic center. The East Corinth man also saw a lot of amputees, saying that "most of them have to beg or have their families help them support themselves. "No, they're not bitter," continued Marshall. "They're poor, very hard working, but the ones I met were not bitter. They're looking for the better times ahead".

   While he was treated very well and found "no animosity at all," Marshall nonetheless was struck by the lack of supplies at the centers. "They're desperately in need of equipment and have been making a lot of limbs themselves," he said. Impressed by the country and hoping to return some day, Marshall said he thought Vietnam potentially was "a very good investment".