Evening star., 1942-09-04
Navy Medical Corps
Has Long Record Of
Heroism in Action
Doctors Have Served
With VoIor From TripoIi
To Pearl Horbor
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
ITO keep as many men at as
many guns as many days as pos
sible."
Such is the motto of the Bureau of
Medicine and Surgery of the United
States Navy, q century old this
week
It started in the days OF wooden
ships, days Of fiogging, of rotten
food, of putrid water, when the
best-known antiseptic was the heat
Of a red-hot iron, when few seriously
wounded ever recovered, when ships
were literal hellholes.
1t has progressed through the
most momentous century In the
history of mankind and has played
q notable part In the most glorious
of all accomplishments, doubling the
average length Of life of man in
most civilized countries. It has ar
rived at such triumphs as Pearl
Harbor when the record OF Its doc
tors In saving life and relieving suf-
fering was the brightest part of
SkOoAiy PASbtiC. IL iioo III iFCu.
through series of non-descript
hospitals and medical centers. to the
new medical center at Bethesda.
dedicated by President Roosevelt
early this week, which ranks among
the finest on earth.
A long line of distinguished doc
tors has served the Navy.
Rear Admiral Ross T. McIntire
Is the twenty-third surgeon general
Of the Navy
The line started in 1842 with the
appointment of DR.. William P. G.
Barton, q graduate OF Princeton and
the University of Pennsylvania who
was director of the Naval Asylum"
in Philadelphia. The actual title
Of surgeon general" was not created
until 1879.
In DR.. Barton's day Navy doctors
were without rank. The number as
signed to ship depended, as it had
even during the Revolution, on the
number OF guns. Flogging was still
common method of securing disci-
pline. Actually in that year a dele
CATION of Navy seamen petitioned
Congress against abolition of the
practice, which was causing protests
among philanthropists. Discipline
could not be maintained without 1t,
these men insisted.
The Navy, of course, always had
had a medical service, OF a sort.
Even during the Revolution few
ships went into action without some
provision for caring for the sick and
wounded. The first naval surgeon
OF whom there is record was q Ger
tain Joseph Harrison, aboard John
Paul Jones ship. the Alfred, in ITS.
Played Heroic Roles.
Navy doctors have played heroic
parts ever since in the Nations
wars. But their present status was
not achieved without hard struggles.
DR.. Barton, for example, served only
1s months as head of the Bureau OF
Medicine and Surgery. He was
forced out when he made efforts to
improve the service.
My earnest WISH he wrote Presi-
dent Tyler, "has long been to retire
from the scene OF unavailing ef-
forts" a a&
Nevertheless, the Navy records
show, he had succeeded in raising
the standards of admission to the
naval medical service, had demon
strated the importance OF strict
physical examinations for recruits.
had established medical library
system and had abolished LIQUOR
aboard warships.
Naval archives abound in accounts
OF heroic deeds by Navy doctors,
They have served In all sorts of
capacities in emergencies.
Lost Life in Arctic.
An outstanding hero was DR.,
Lewis, who in 1904 took charge of
the 6o-ton ketch Intrepid in the
campaign against Tripolitan pirates
IN what Lord Nelson described as
the most daring act of the age"
1t was Navy doctor, DR.. Richard
G. Edgar, to whom Capt. Lawrence
spoke the words destined to become
the motto of the service: Don't
give up the ship" Mortally wound
Sa' Sdpe. Lawrence directed the
doctor to relay the message to the
ofrlcer in charge Of the deck.
A name held in reverence by
Navy surgeons is that of DR.. James
M. Amber. who lost his life while
serving with the De Long expedition
TO the Arctic In 1s7o-1ssl. After
the ship was crushed by Ice some
OF the party reached the Siberian
mainland In safety, but the re-
mainder, including DR.. Amber. per-
ished OF cold and starvation. That
he was the last to die was attested
by his journal, found beside his
body.
In the first World War manv
oflcers and men of the Navy's medi-
cal and dental corps were cited for
valor and distinguished service,
Already in this war the Navy Gross
has been awarded to several sur
geons and hospital corpsmen-par-
ticUlarly for bravery and eficiency
at Pearl Harbor.
Switchmon Survives