In 1942, Bob Dole joined the Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps to fight in World War II. He became a second lieutenant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division.
By April of 1945, he was fighting the Nazis in the hills of Italy where the action was fast paced. One of the platoon's radio men was hit. Bob Dole crawled out of his foxhole to help him, but it was too late.
Suddenly, while trying to assist the downed radio man, Dole was hit by Nazi machine gun fire in the upper right back and his right arm was so damaged that it was unrecognizable. Dole was immediately given morphine by an Army field medic to alleviate the pain, and his forehead was marked with an "M" in his own blood to alert medics. He was not expected to live.
Dole waited nine long hours on the Italian battlefield before he was finally taken to the Fifteenth Evacuation Hospital. After a brief stay in a field Army hospital in Italy, he was transported back to the United States and to Topeka's Winter General Army Hospital, where he continued his painful recovery and endured a kidney operation. Then, he was transferred to Percy Jones Army Medical Center in Michigan, where he survived his second brush with death -- blood clotting. He was a patient in that hospital along with Phillip A. Hart, whose name graces one of the U.S. Senate office buildings, where Bob Dole occupied an office.
Eventually, he returned to Percy Jones Army Medical Hospital for extensive therapy on his rebuilt arm. It took about three years and nine operations for Bob Dole to rehabilitate. He learned to strengthen his injured arm, and also had to learn how to write with his left hand, as the doctors could not rebuild the excessive damage done by the Nazi machine gun fire.
Bob Dole was twice decorated for heroic achievement, receiving two Purple Hearts for his injuries, and the Bronze Star Medal for his attempt to assist the downed radio man.
Faith and Courage to Survive
As Dole lay in his Michigan hospital bed, he realized through prayer and introspection, that God had a plan for him of faith, endurance and strength. In addition, Bob Dole realized that laughter was the best medicine.
Through his faith in God, the heroic determination of the medical staff, and the loving support of his family and friends, he did not give up. He was determined to recover from the devastating wound that left him with a shattered right shoulder and paralyzed him from the neck down.
When you read and learn about how the people and lives of Russell shaped Bob Dole's life, it is truly amazing to read how they came together to help him during his time of need in the hospital. A cigar box was placed at Dawson's Drugstore, where the citizens of Russell pitched in to pay $1,800 in hospital bills. In addition, Dr. Hampar Kelikian, a Chicago surgeon, agreed to perform seven corrective surgeries at no charge. To this day, Dole keeps the cigar box and receipts in his office as a reminder of the compassion that was shown by the people of Russell.
No hand grenade, eh?
(Wonder if this writer got Cleland's self-inflicted hand-grenade wound mixed up with Dole's ....)