Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Category: War & Veterans

  • Heroic surgeon: Noel Godfrey Chavasse (1884–1917)

    JMS PearceHull, England Britain can boast a variety of displays of memorial celebrations—regal, national, military, and personal—in an unrivalled blend of splendor and disciplined discretion. Of several decorations, symbolised by medals, the Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest of all military gallantry awards.* Only three people have ever twice been awarded the VC. And only…

  • Stamping out preventive medicine

    Michael EllmanWilmette, Illinois, United States In 1965, I became the Chief Preventive Medicine Officer of the United States Southern Command. One of the eleven unified commands of the Department of Defense, the Southern Command was headquartered in the Panama Canal Zone and represented our interests in South America, Central America, excluding Mexico, and the Caribbean—but…

  • A history of military medical services

    George PorterNewcastle, UK Hippocrates once said that “war is the only proper school of the surgeon.” War is an undeniable driver of medical innovation, and the structure, procurement and philosophy of military medical services often reflect the societies which commissioned them. This essay will discuss several models of military medicine, all from a similar geographic…

  • The fall

    Max KutchHanover, New Hampshire Gazing through my night vision goggles (NVGs) at the green outlines of my teammates, we began to silently enter our sniper hide. My breathing labored under the heavy weight of my battle gear and the thick, humid Iraqi air. As I scanned the path we had just patrolled, I was jarred…

  • Comments on Dr. James Franklin’s article on George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War

    Stuart PotichaChicago, Illinois, United States In 1966 as a young surgeon who had just completed his residency, I was drafted into the United States Army. Following basic training at Fort Sam Houston, I was sent to Vietnam, where I became the Chief of Surgery of the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi. The 12th Evac…

  • They don’t teach us that

    Evelyn PotochnyHershey, Pennsylvania, United States You called in your own medevac. You’d even tourniqueted both legs, or what was left of them. And when the Chinook kicked up all that dust and finally landed, you looked so—calm. Someone read each name and the litany of injuries while we watched each stretcher pass by, yours included—a…

  • Atrocities in Asia: Japan’s infamous Unit 731

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden In 1931 the Japanese army occupied the province of Manchuria in north-east China and continued to invade and occupy more of China as well as Southeast Asia and the western Pacific islands. The Japanese war machine needed the natural resources of these conquered territories in order to continue to expand its sphere…

  • Prisoners on leave: Vietnam veterans and the Golden Age Western

    Edward Harvey Missoula, Montana, United States “I think we all died a little in that damn war.”—The Outlaw Josey Wales “So…what have you been up to?” When screening combat Vietnam veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, I will often ask them about their hobbies or interests, since PTSD often manifests as an inability to find pleasure in…

  • George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War: A brush with death

    James L. FranklinChicago, Illinois, United States Robert Capa’s “The Fallen Soldier” is the iconic photograph of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The original title was “Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Carro Muriano, September 5, 1936.” The photograph captures a Republican soldier at the very moment of his death. Dressed in civilian clothing, a…

  • African American contract doctors in the military

    Edward McSweeganKingston, Rhode Island, United States In the spring of 1898, the United States rushed into a war with Spain but lacked adequate troops, training, weapons, transport, supplies, food, landing craft, and medical personnel. One deficit that could be corrected before the shooting started was the lack of doctors. George Sternberg, the Army Surgeon General,…