Dear NVVA Scholarship Committee,
Thank you so much for awarding me the 2022 Frank Budd scholarship. This scholarship will go
towards continuing my education at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of
Biological Sciences. Next year, I will be a TA in a biology lab on campus! I was very
disappointed that I was not able to attend the Memorial Day Service or scholarship dinner this
year, as that was such a great experience last year.
Thank you again for awarding me this scholarship, I truly appreciate it!
Best,
Amara Carey

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In-field care has always been a vital part of saving lives during combat. In medicine, the
first hour after a traumatic event is the most crucial in ensuring survival. Treating potentially
fatal wounds is also necessary for survival, but before the Korean War, soldiers would wait days
before a doctor could see them and usually passed before they were able to be cared for. In 1946,
the first designs were made for the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH, which completely
revolutionized the Auxiliary Surgical Hospital that was used in World War II. This hospital could
hold at least 60 beds and had round-the-clock surgeons, nurses, and other staff. Patients were
checked in using a triage system, which was a new system implemented to care for the most
critical patients first and is now widely used in emergency rooms. The MASH units were placed
near the front lines so that the time that it took to move patients from the field to the hospital was
expedited and care could be given sooner than it ever had been. These units could be moved to
new locations wherever the battles were occurring and set up in less than 24 hours.
As great as these units were during the Korean War, MASH units were not as usable
during the Vietnam War. The 2nd MASH unit was used from October 1966 to July 1967. The
Vietnam War and the Korean War were fought very differently. Where the Korean War was
fought using bombing and fighter jets, the Vietnam War was predominantly fought using guerilla
warfare. To accommodate for this new type of fighting, new mobile hospitals were set up. This
new hospital was called Medical Unit, Self-contained, Transportable, or a MUST unit. These
new units were able to be inflated and deflated quickly, utilized velcro and zippers for easy setup
and takedown, and had air conditioning. They held the same amount of patients as a MASH, but
these units contained X-ray machines, a pharmacy, and a dentist. The MUST took the best parts
of the MASH, and added to it, making it a fully functional, self-contained hospital. When the