Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: War and Veterans

  • William Bell: photographed injured veterans

    William Bell was a veteran of the American Civil War who fought at Antietam and Gettysburg, and became chief photographer of the Army Medical Museum in Washington. He took photographs of injured soldiers as part of a project to document the range of injuries among veterans. On the left, the solider is cleverly posed in…

  • The psychological impact of facial injury in the First World War: outcomes from the Queen’s Hospital, Sidcup

    Andrew Bamji Rye, East Sussex, UK   Figure 1. Aerial view of the Queen’s Hospital, c.1920. The operating theatres are in the horseshoe to the left centre of the photograph. Figure 2. The Plastic Theatre.   Modern warfare, and in particular the use of artillery employed against entrenched troops in the First World War, resulted…

  • Medical innovations made by doctors during the Napoleonic Wars

    Craig Stout Aberdeen, Scotland   The Battle of Waterloo (1815), oil painting by William Sadler. Pyms Gallery, London. The Napoleonic Wars (1799 to 1815) brought great upheaval and turmoil to Europe, with as many as 2.5 million soldiers and 1 million civilians losing their lives. French military physicians, principally Dominique Jean-Larrey, made significant contributions to…

  • Combat hospital chaplain

    Jack Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, United States   Top photo – Several members of NMCB23 visit their former “Chaps” (in blue sweatshirt) and “Doc” (author standing next to chaplain) on their way home from Iraq. Bottom photo – Chaplain (left) and author at St. Patrick’s Day “party” on grounds of US Military Hospital Kuwait in…

  • He is not coming back

    Jack Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, United States     US Military Hospital Kuwait (2005) surrounded by large concrete barriers with “seating” at base.  These relatively private seats were the frequent site for all sorts of meetings; counseling sessions, grief reactions, friendly meetings, unfriendly meetings, gripe sessions, etc.  (Author is middle individual in photo). “Good evening,…

  • Negotiation

    Jack Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, USA   Kuwaiti – U.S. military medical cooperation. Author is fourth individual from left in back row. “We appreciate what you Americans have done for us in the past. But we will not allow you to come into our hospital uniformed and armed.” It was their country, their hospital, and…

  • “Mental Cases” by Wilfred Owen: The suffering of soldiers in World War I

    Alice MacNeill Oxford, United Kingdom   Wilfred Owen plate from Poems (1920). Internet Archive via Wikimedia. Public domain. Who are these? Why sit they here in twilight? Wherefore rock they, purgatorial shadows, Drooping tongues from jaws that slob their relish, Baring teeth that leer like skulls’ tongues wicked? Stroke on stroke of pain, — but…

  • Blame

    Jack Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, United States   US Army Blackhawk medical evacuation helicopter With so much intentional killing and death in war, one might think that an occasional accidental or natural death would go unnoticed and uninvestigated. This was not my experience. In war, killing and death are often viewed through a blameless lens.…

  • Dr. Norman Bethune: A tale of military heroism

    Satish Saroshe Indore, India   A frontline surgeon, noted medical innovator, and early proponent of universal health care, Henry Norman Bethune was best known for his services in World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and above all for selfless work in war-torn China, treating sick Chinese villagers and wounded soldiers. He was one of…

  • Medical and scientific innovations arising from warfare

    Brian Omondi Nairobi, Kenya   Perhaps the only bright side of war is that it impels nations to make medical and scientific innovations. War has long been portrayed as being the best school for surgeons and even for doctors.1 An association between medical services and the military can be traced back to ancient Greece, and the…