Freedom Fighters: Dr. Dick Hurst - KLTV.com - Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |ETX News

Dr. Dick Hurst was a physician during the Vietnam War. It lasted 16 years, from 1959 to 1975 and claimed more than 58,000 American lives. Dr. Hurst was married with three children and had a successful medical practice when he was called into the service in 1967. He was sent almost immediately to Vietnam.

Hurst was assigned to a Provencial Hospital where most of his patients were Vietnamese civilians. Hurst was faced with medical needs such as malnutrition, bubonic plague and tuberculosis in addition to the wounds of war. Since his days in Vietnam, Dr. Hurst has done much to alleviate suffering throughout the world. He's made eighteen trips to Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Russia and Kosova, bringing food and medical aid to refugees in those war-torn countries. He has shared these experiences in his book Religion, An Accident of Birth.

From the country's attempt to halt the spread of communism, Dr. Dick Hurst has continued the freedom fight by saving lives and alleviating suffering.

Dr. Hurst's book is available at The Scroll, Barnes & Noble, Leewright's, and Hastings book stores. It's also available at amazon.com and accidentalreligion.com.

Joan Hallmark, reporting.