Tag: War & Veterans
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Curing in bureaucracy: Medical professionals and the rise of the US pension system
Catherine TangPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States The rise of the American federal pension system in the wake of the Civil War made doctors suddenly responsible for denying or approving veterans’ pension applications. This new legal duty sometimes strained the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. John W. Wright, an ophthalmologist in Columbus, OH, recognized that some veterans would have…
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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…
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Resolution
Gaetan SgroPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States noun1. an expression of will or intent; a commitment In June 1965, Edward White, one of two astronauts aboard the Gemini IV mission, becomes the first American to walk in space. He floats free of the capsule for twenty minutes, and is so transfixed by the experience that Gus Grissom,…
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Thank you for your service
Jack RiggsMorgantown, West Virginia, USA As a reservist, I had heard those words on numerous occasions. I appreciated and understood that those words were not directed specifically towards me, but rather to the uniform that I was wearing. Although I had spent twenty-five years in uniform, I felt unworthy and undeserving of those words. I…
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Ought to kill or ought to heal? The importance of medicine in the history of warfare
Erick ScherfSanta Catarina, Brazil All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.—Alexis de Tocqueville War has been written about since the beginning of human history. It was notably recorded by Thucydides in his account of the Peloponnesian…
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The Changi diary and paintings: The partnership of a doctor and an artist
Robert CraigBrisbane, Queensland, Australia Three paintings and a diary in a handwritten exercise book are in the collection of the Marks Hirschfeld Medical Museum in Brisbane, Australia. They represent an episode of extraordinary courage, survival, cooperation, and perseverance by two prisoners of war (Vaughan Murray Griffin and Dr. Burnett Clarke) during World War Two (Clarke 1989).…
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Japanese-American internment camps in World War Two
Gregory RuteckiCleveland, Ohio, United States Bill Mauldin’s cartoons regarding the NISEI15 “What constitutes an American? Not color…race…An American…(is) one in whose heart is engraved the immortal second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.”1 “Any person who considers himself…a member of Western Society inherits the Western past from Athens and Jerusalem to Runneymede and Valley Forge, as…
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Francis St. Vincent Morris: The pilot poet
Paul DakinNorth London, UK I discovered his original notebook and correspondence when sorting my late uncle’s effects. They were given to him by Morris’ sister Ruth. Francis St. Vincent Morris was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. Three weeks after arriving in France he crashed in a snowstorm and died of his injuries at…
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The aftermath of trauma
Shaili JainCalifornia, United States The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. This writing is a work of nonfiction. In an effort to protect individual patient privacy, the patient stories depicted…