Posted on 04/19/2005 12:55:27 PM PDT by SmithL
NEW BERN, N.C. - Wheeler Lipes, a World War II pharmacist's mate who performed an emergency appendectomy aboard a submarine with makeshift instruments such as bent spoons, has died at 84, two months after receiving belated honors for his feat.
Lipes died Sunday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, said his brother-in-law, Chris Doney.
Lipes used bent spoons for retractors and alcohol from torpedoes for sterilization in 1942 when he removed the appendix of sailor Darrel Dean Rector aboard the USS Seadragon, 120 feet below the surface of the South China Sea.
Lipes, then 22, and an assistant wore sterilized pajamas in place of operating room gowns. Rector was too tall for the makeshift operating table, so Lipes put the patient's feet in the drawer of a cabinet. Lipes stood with his knees bent throughout the two-hour operation because the table was bolted to the floor.
Lipes had witnessed several appendectomies before deciding Rector needed surgery.
"I always thought he was the guy who had the courage," Lipes said. "I've asked myself, `Would I have gotten up on that table and let someone do the same thing to me?' He was one of the most courageous people I've ever met."
Rector, whose swollen appendix had several inches of blackened tissue, was back on duty in 13 days.
The emergency procedure was recounted in reporter George Weller's Pulitzer Prize-winning article in the now-defunct Chicago Daily News, and inspired a movie starring Cary Grant and a Navy-produced film titled "The Pharmacist's Mate."
But there was also anger over Lipes' actions among physicians from the Navy Medical Corps and talk of a court-martial by the U.S. surgeon general, who was forced to set protocols for appendectomies on submarines.
Lipes went without honors until Jan Herman, historian of the Navy Medical Department, began looking into his case. He received the Navy Commendation Medal in February.
Lipes retired to North Carolina in 2002 after a long career as a hospital administrator. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Ping to the some of the Foxhole Navy!
I'm so glad he got his medal before he died. It was a long time coming.
That's correct Rector was later killed in battle, but his appendix lived and went on to become the current junior Senator from Maryland.
I knew I could count on you.
One ping, in memory of a good guy who finally got the medal he deserved.
Bravo zulu, Seaman. RIP.
Down thread there is mention of a couple of other subs where the same thing happened.
'Whatever happened to the guy he operated on?'
'...Rector was back on duty in 13 days. He died two years later aboard a different submarine, the USS Tang, when the Tang fired a torpedo that circled back and struck the vessel.'
Wow. I have never heard of a torpedo doing that? I wonder what causes a torpedo to do that?
I know of a couple people who have performed self-appy's.
Happened all too often.
Probably a problem with the directional gyro. Maybe a plugged control air nozzle?
Happened a lot in the US Submarine Service. The one that sunk TANG was a late war electric torpedo rushed into service to replace the early war torpedoes which were really, really, bad.
What a story! Bump!!
Yes truly an amazing individual
Yea. I have the movie on tape.Good movie!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.