| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR91/159 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | Extent: 1.5 cm; Wallet/s: 1 |
| Object type | Diary |
| Maker |
Doherty, Douglass James |
| Place made | At sea, Bahrain, Kuwait |
| Date made | 1990-1991 |
| Access | Open |
| Related File This file can be copied or viewed via the Memorial’s Reading Room. | AWM371 91/0717 |
| Conflict |
Gulf War, 1990-1991 |
Doherty, Douglass James (Leading Seaman)
Description
Collection relating to the Gulf War service of Leading Seaman Douglass James Doherty, 1st Australian Medical Detatchment, USNS Comfort, 1990-1991.
Wallet 1 of 1 consists of a diary written by Leading Seaman Doherty during his deployment with the 1st Australian Medical Detatchment of the Task Group Medical Support Element (TGMSE) aboard the USNS comfort. The diary records day to day life aboard the ship, interactions with other members of the detachment, concerns about taking up a Team Leader position in charge of American sailors, working in the operating room, making friends, feelings of homesickness and missing family, shore leave in Bahrain, the poor quality of food, a variety of drills inluding life raft and mass casualty drills, and providing medical assistance following a boiler room explosion on the USS Iwi Jima. Additionally, he describes a visit by Admiral Ken Doolan, and his frustrations towards the Australian Government for not publicly acknowledging their presence in the Persian Gulf earlier.
The last diary entry is dated 29 December 1990, 5 days before the TGMSE 1 rotation ended.