Scope and Contents

The collection consists of less than one linear foot of books donated by Clint Chambers. The collection includes two volumes of the booklet titled Ho Chi Minh in Thailand written in Thai and two works on Dr. Tom Dooley. The materials date from the post-war era and are in good condition. Also included is a statue that Dr. Chambers purchased at a market in Can Tho.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Clint Chambers (15 January 1932 - 25 March 2022) was born to Clarence and Leta Chambers in Chickasha, Oklahoma on January 15th, 1932. After graduating from Chickasha High School in 1950, Clint earned a football scholarship to Baylor University where he was a 4-year letterman. He received a BS in Biology and worked summers in construction to support himself. He studied both in Waco, and later in Colorado at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratories in Gothic, Colorado during his medical school summers.

Clint attended the Oklahoma University School of Medicine and graduated in 1959. Clint literally practiced medicine throughout the world. He began practicing medicine when he first went to work as a volunteer physician and chief medical officer for the nonprofit organization Medico in 1960-1962 in Southeast Asia. During this time, he oversaw the construction of a health clinic for the Cambodian people and laid the groundwork for future teams to serve this area, which until his arrival, was many miles from any healthcare facility.

In 1960, he met the love of his life, Siva Vainunawin, in Bangkok, Thailand. They wed on February 28, 1961, and were married for over 61 years. In 1962, he joined the United States Air Force, retiring in 1983 as a full bird Colonel.

During his 21 years as military physician, surgeon, and administrator, the Chambers family lived all over the world. They were stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX; Aberdeen, MD for his Johns Hopkins Fellowship; Wiesbaden AFB, Wiesbaden, Germany; Richardson, TX for his Baylor fellowship; Wright Patterson AFB-Dayton, OH; and finally, Reese AFB in Lubbock, TX.

Dr. Chambers came to Lubbock as the Hospital Commander of Reese AFB in 1981. He was a member of Lubbock-Crosby-Garza County Medical Society since 1981, where he served as Vice President in 1991, President in 1995 and as a delegate to the Texas Medical Association House of Delegates for several years. Upon retirement from the USAF in 1983, he went into private practice until his retirement in 2001. He then volunteered part time in the minor surgery clinic of the Community Health Center of Lubbock and taught part-time at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center until 2021.