Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-10
BOB CHURCH HONORED
Rewarded With a Medal of
Honor
FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION
At the Battle of Las Guasimas,
Cuba.
PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT
In White House Office in Presence Of
Distinguished Assemblage Of
Army officers.
PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT

Regiment, United States Volunteer Cav
airy, the 'Rought Riders"
The presentation of the medal was made
the occasion, on account of the notable
character of Capt. Church's services, OF a
brilliant ceremony. In the presence of a
distinguished assemblage, including Secre-
tary of War Taft, Lieut.. Gen. A. r. Chat
fee. chief of staff, and the members of the
general staff of the army, and several Of
f1cers of the navy, including Surgeon Gen.
Rixey, all in full-dress uniform, and MEM
bers of the legislative council Of the Amer
lean Medical Association, President Roose-
welt presented the medal to Capt. Church.
The ceremony took place in the Presi-
dents private office and the adjoining cab
met room. Ranged around the office were
the members OF the general star and other
uniformed officers, and in the cabinet room
were the members of the Medical ASsocia-
ton and guests invited to witness the cere-
mony.
Secretary Taft's Presentation.
Secretary Taft formally presented Capt.
Church to the President, saying that he
had been recommended for a medal of
honor for distinguished gallantry and for
service other than that directly called for
in the line of his duty. The Secretary
called attention to the fact that Gen. Leon
ard Wood, then colonel of the Rough Rid
ers.' and the President himself, both az
lieutenant colonel and as colonel of the
regiment, had recommended that the medal
be conferred upon Capt. Church, The Sec
rotary then read from the official records
quoting both Gen. Wood and the President
The former reported to the War Depart
ment:
During the heat of the action Dr.
Church came on the firing line repeatedly,
and, in addition to giving the men the
necessary surgical assistance, took some
five of them on his back and carried them,
under a very heavy fire and with greatest
exposure to himself to the rear. His sery-
ices might have been legitimately consid-
cred ended for the time being In giving
them the best possible surgical aid and
such assistance a s he could render on the
spot. but in addition to this he performed
the duty above specified, carrying the men
several hundred yards over an elevated
ridge in the open, displaying, in so doing,
the greatest gallantry and disregard OF his
own life, in his efforts to remove the
wounded men to a position of safety where
greater assistance could De furnlshed
them.
The Presidents Address.
Turning to Capt. Church, President
Roosevelt. holding in his hand the mo-
rocco case In which the medal was in
closed, addressed him follows:
There Is no distinction which confers
greater honor upon any American In mill
tary or civil life than thistle one honor
coveted above all others, by every man
in the military service Of the United States.
eft was my good fortune as colonel OF
the regiment in which you served to be an
eye witness to your gallantry and to bear
testimony to 1t by letter to the proper au-
thorities, stating the reasons why deemed
that you were entitled to this medal Of
honor.
letters I wrote were written before was
President. Since I was President ! have
the military authorities on the subject.
Capt Church, there could be no greater
pleasure than that / now experience in
handing to my old comrade and friend this
medal of honor"
Grasping Capt. Church's hand, the Presi-
dent remarked, as an aside: There is no
greater comradeship than that which comes
from having lived in the trenches together:
Capt Church bowed, but words evidently
failed him. and he accepted the medal In
silence and manner that really were more
eloquent than mere words would have been.
Turning then to the members Of the
American Medical Association the Presi-
dent said with great earnestness:
To the Medical Delegates.
sI want to say just q word Of greeting to
YOU and to ask your influence on behalf of
the medical corps, not only of the army but
of the navy. There Is not a more exacting
profession; there is not a profession which
makes greater demands upon those follow
ing IT, and which more entities then to the
gratitude of mankind than is the profession
which is yours. The army surgeon has to
combine the work of your profession with
the work of the military men of the line. In
saving that ! want to call your attention to
two specific things-one thing that is now
being done by men of your profession and
one need of men of your profession.
First, the thing that Is being done: All
the United States is the debtor to the med
ical men who have accomplished such re-
markable work on the lsthmus OF Panama.
You hear very loose talk about making
the dirt fly In Panama. Before making the
dirt fly 1t was necessary to get the microbes
under; it was necessary TO grappie with
the mosquitoes; necessary to eradicate dis
ease That has been done to perfection.
We have had the foundation laid for that
wonderful piece of constructive engineer
ing work TO dig the giant canal. To much
praise cannot be given to those who have
done this work in Panama. So much for
tribute to your compeers. Now. as to the
need of your compeerS. You reoollect the
complaint made about hygenic conditions
during the war with Spain. Complaint was
made that the troops were not properly
treated, etc. The blame rested not on any
man then in office, but upon our people as
a whole who had declined, through their
representatives to make provision long in
advance for meeting such q need If we
had a war break out tomorrow, and had to
raise any large army there would be an
partmept, simply because at present our
medical corps is numerically only fit to take
care of about 40 per cent of the regular
army as 1t Is now. The medical corps Is
not numerically fit to grapple with cam
paign In which our whole army, as 1t is.
the little army as 1t is, should be employed.
And. of course If we had to mobilize an
army of volunteers we would, under pres
ent conditions have to count upon wide
spread disaster through the SHORTCOMINGS
in the medical and sanitary and hygienlc
arrangements, rendered inevitable by our
present lack of preparation.
The Japanese have given US a good les
son in this as in many other particulars
by the way they handled their army in the
recent war. One Of the reasons why their
medical department did well-the main rea-
son-was the fact that they had az, ample
supply Of doctors who had been practiced
In time Of peace In doing the duties thew
would have to do IN war. And until we
have provision for an ample corps of doc
tors in the army so that they can be prac-
ticed On time of peace we will not have
prepared as We ought to prepare for the
possibilities of war. Until we thus pre-
pare we can make up our minds that we
are ourselves responsible for any. disaster
that occurs to any army that the linked
States may raise in the future; not the
man who may be at the head OF the army
at the time. The tendency is to attack the
men In Office at the time That is utterly