THE PRO PATRIA PROJECT

OFFICER Neil MacDonald Fraser

214280, Captain, Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps, New Zealand Services Medical Team

CITATION

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire - Military

New Zealand Gazette number 38, dated 20 June 1968

Captain Officer volunteered for the Territorial Force of the New Zealand Army in April 1961 and since that time has served with Otago University Medical Company, 1st Casualty Clearing Station and 1st Field Surgical Team.  He volunteered for a Short Service Commission in the Regular Force of the New Zealand Army for the sole purpose of serving with 1st NZ Services Medical Team in South Vietnam.  Captain Officer, throughout his tour in Vietnam has applied himself to all phases of medicine and has also carried out the majority of the surgery required of the Team. On numerous occasions he has driven himself to the point of exhaustion in his efforts to give the best professional care to his Vietnamese patients. Many Vietnamese from Bong Son and surrounding districts bear witness with their lives to the skill and devotion to duty of this doctor.  He has undertaken major surgical procedures, all with success, which would normally require the skill of a specialist surgeon. His unselfishness in carrying out the Hippocratic Oath, his friendliness of manner, and his easy approachability has made him a most respected person to the Vietnamese populace.  That Captain Officer has mastered the Vietnamese language and is able to converse freely with his patients and their families show the patience with which he has applied himself to his duty.  The good name that New Zealand has in Bong Son and surrounding districts is due, in no small measure, to the unceasing efforts which Captain Officer has made to assist the Vietnamese people.

KNOWN AWARDS

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Queen's Vietnam Medal

NOTES

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Died