The History of The National Association of Medics & Corpsmen

THE HISTORY of NAMC

In early 1997, when a Medic and Corpsmen first started chatting on the Inter-Net where by their mutual experiences helped one another through some difficultly times they were facing as a result of their separate situations that NAMC was first started in thought.

Both were suffering from survivor guilt feelings and had expressed their thoughts about their dealings in trying to get help. It seemed to them that no one really understood them .They understood what had happen to their men and had been able to help others but felt left out when it came to getting help.

After the Corpsman had taken his Natural brother Medic to a reunion of Corpsmen in late 1997, to try to help his brother realize that there were organizations out there that he could join to get the feelings back that he wasn't alone in his thoughts or feelings, that this Corpsman realized that there wasn't really an organization with basic concepts of "One Doc helping another Doc". When he got back in touch with his Inter-Net Medic friends, he poured out his concerns about this apparent lack of need. They talked about all the rivalry that he had witnessed in all organizations that were detrimental and caused people to stay away.

It was decided between them to put the call out to all concerned Corpsmen and Medics about this apparent need that the formation of NAMC started to take place. Discussions were held during 1997-1998 about how to set up this organization and contacts had been made. While the discussions were being held the Corpsman noticed a division of controversy started to set in within the group. One side wanted combat ribbons with a wreath to designate combat status versus the non-combatants not wanting the wreaths . One thing led to another when the Corpsman spoke up and said "This is causing division within the ranks. This is not what we had agreed on when we first started setting this up where " A Doc helping another Doc" is more important than combat versus non-combat status. The focus was again brought back to center stage.

I was decided by all over the Inter-Net, the 1st meeting of NAMC would be held in Washington, D.C. during the Veterans Day 1998 celebrations with the officers being elected and moving forward with getting NAMC established. Those officers were:

OFFICERS

President: Doc Bronson
Vice President: Doc O'Connor
Treasurer: Doc Bunner
Secretary: Doc Brennan
Doc Beyersdorf
Chaplain: Doc Stanberry

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Doc Brown
Doc Beyersdorf