Page 154 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Summer 2014

Special Forces
Aidman’s Pledge

As a Special Forces Aidman of the United States Army, I pledge
my honor and my conscience to the service of my country and
the art of medicine. I recognize the responsibility, which may
be placed upon me for the health, and even lives, of others.
I confess the limitation of my skill and knowledge in the caring
for the sick and injured. I promise to follow the maxim “Primum
non-nocere” (“First, thou shalt do no harm”), and to seek the
assistance of more competent medical authority whenever it is available. These confidences,
which come to me in my attendance on the sick, I will treat as secret. I recognize my
responsibility to impart to others who seek the service of medicine such knowledge of its art
and practice as I possess, and I resolve to continue to improve my capability to this purpose.
As an American Soldier, I have determined ultimately to place above all considerations of
self the mission of my team and the cause of my nation.

Pararescue Creed

I was that which others did not want to be. I went where others
feared to go, and did what others failed to do. I asked nothing from
those who gave nothing, And reluctantly accepted the thought of
eternal loneliness . . . should I fail. I have seen the face of terror;
felt the stinging cold of fear, and enjoyed the sweet taste of a
moment's love. I have cried, pained, and hoped . . . but most of all,
I have lived times others would say best forgotten. Always I will be
able to say, that I was proud of what I was: a PJ. It is my duty as a
Pararescueman to save a life and to aid the injured. I will perform
my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and
comforts. These things I do, “That Others May Live.”

A Navy Poem

I’m the one called “doc” . . . I shall not walk in your footsteps, but
I will walk by your side. I shall not walk in your image, I’ve earned
my own title of pride. We’ve answered the call together, on sea
and foreign land. When the cry for help was given, I’ve been there
right at hand. Whether I am on the ocean or in the jungle wearing
greens, Giving aid to my fellow man, be it Sailors or Marines.
So the next time you see a corpsman and you think of calling
him “squid,” think of the job he’s doing as those before him did.
And if you ever have to go out there and your life is on the block,
Look at the one right next to you . . . I’m the one called “doc.”

—Harry D. Penny, Jr. USN Copyright 1975