Take It Easy, Mac

Edwin and Irwin Rietz, twins and 21, were drafted together a year ago in Rock Island, Ill. They were shipped to Korea together as medical corpsmen in the 40th Infantry Division. Neither got a chance to treat a battle case until Jan. 3, on the first anniversary of their induction.

That wintry morning, Corpsman Irwin Rietz was on duty in his first-aid station, close to the front line. Through the crump of enemy mortars, he heard a G.I. shout, "Medic . . . medic," and raced to the shallow trench where his first combat casualty lay. The wounded man's helmet had fallen over his face; blood oozed from a jagged hole in his breast. Irwin concentrated on all the things he had been taught to do. "Take it easy, Mac," said Corpsman Rietz as he ripped open the blood-soaked flak jacket and pressed dressings on the wound. "You're going to be all right."

"Then I saw his face," said Irwin afterwards. "It was Edwin."

Irwin Rietz followed his twin's stretcher to a forward field hospital, stood outside while doctors worked to staunch the blood flow. A few minutes later a doctor came out.

"How is he?" asked Irwin.

"I'm sorry," said the doctor. "He's dead."

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