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Medics, A Brief History

During Ancient times if a soldier was wounded, he laid in the field where he had fallen. There was no one to come to his aid. Napoleon's Army was the first to assign people to help the wounded. They were called the litter-bearers, made up mostly of inept and expendable soldiers. The American Colonel Army lead by George Washington, also had litter-bearers during the Revolutionary War.

In 1862, due to the unexpected size of casualty lists during the battle of Manassas where it took one week to remove the wounded from the battlefield, Dr. Jonathan Letterman, Head of Medical Services of the Army of the Potomac, revamped the Army Medical Corps. His contribution included staffing and training men to operate horse teams and wagons to pick up wounded soldiers from the field and to bring them back to field dressing stations for initial treatment. This was our Nation's first Ambulance Cops. Dr. Letterman also developed the 3 tiered evacuation system which is still used today.

Field Dressing (Aid) Station - located next to the battlefield. Dressings and tourniquets

Field Hospital - Close to the battlefield (during the Civil War it would be Barns or Houses, today they are known as MASH units). Emergency surgery and treatment.

Large Hospital - Away from the battlefield. For patients' prolonged treatment.

Dr. Letterman's transportation system proved successful. In the battle of Antietam, which was a 12 hour engagement and the bloodiest one day battle in the entire Civil War, the ambulance system was was able to remove all the wounded from the field in 24 hours. Dr. Jonathan Letterman is known today as the Father of Modern Battlefield Medicine. Unfortunately, amputation was the primary method of treatment for wounds to extremities during the Civil War with over 50,000 resulting amputees.

During the Spanish American War in the 1890's Nicholas Sin stated: Fate of the wounded soldier is determined by the hand which applies the dressing. Field dressings are now applied by litter-bearers in the field.

World War I required millions of casualties to be treated at the front. Unlike previous wars, battles did not stop to retrieve the wounded or the dead. World War I saw, for the first time, medics rushing forward with the troops, finding the wounded, stopping their bleeding and bringing the wounded soldier to the aid station. In World War I medics were no longer expendable and were well trained.

After World War I, Military Medicine advanced. Training became a priority both in fighting and medical care. Medics were trained along side infantry soldiers, learning how to use the lay of the land for their protection and that of their patients. Medics were also trained in the use of pressure dressings, plasma IV's, tracheotomy, splints, and administering drugs.

During World War II a wounded soldier had an 85% chance of surviving if he was treated by a medic within the first hour. This figure was three times higher than World War I survival statistics. The red cross worn by medics on their helmet and arm bands became visible targets for enemy snipers during World War II and Korea.

Korea saw the advent of the helicopter being used to bring men from the front lines to M*A*S*H units (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital).

In Vietnam, the medic's job was to treat and evacuate. Medevac helicopters now could bring medics on board to continue treating the wounded while transporting them back to the Field Hospitals.

There was a 98% survival rate for soldiers who were evacuated within the first hour. Vietnam was the first time medics were armed and carried firearms and grenades into combat. Red crosses on helmets and arm bands were no longer worn.

I haven't forgotten Navy Corpsmen. They will be covered on an upcoming thread of their own. ;-)

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

http://home.att.net/~steinert/#Brief%20History%20of%20the%20Medical%20Corps www.1stcavmedic.com/
http://home.att.net/~steinert/wwii.htm
www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/revwar/guco/gucomedicine.html

We yelled for them and they appeared, like smoke above a fire.
They came to us through battles roar, with only one desire.
They came to treat our wounds or give us comfort our last hour
They came to us and risk their lives, through deadly hails of fire.

The Medics came to patched us up and tell us “You’re OK.”
Whatever made them think that they could save us anyway?
But save they did! And lost their own, in Honor and in Valor.
How many men would we have lost if they had stopped to cower?

A “CMB” is just a badge to many who don’t know.
To those who humped the jungle trails, it is a Medal of its own.
These men who wear the “CMB” are heroes to us all.
Heroes to the men who had to give the “MEDIC!” call.

©John S. Garrison -2002

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Good Friday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

A combat medic from the 101st Airborne was presented a Silver Star for heroism in Iraq yesterday.

If you look at his photo in the story, you can see he's already wearing his Combat Medic Badge.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 06:
1564 Christopher Marlowe English poet/dramatist (Dr Faustus)
1608 Antonio Vieira Portuguese Jesuit preacher
1665 Anne Stuart Queen of England (1702-14)
1756 Aaron Burr Newark NJ, (D-R), 3rd US Vice-President (1801-05), dueler
1830 Marcellus Monroe Crocker Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1865)
1832 John Brown Gordon Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1904
1833 James Ewell Brown "JEB" Stuart Major General (Commander of Cavalry, Confederate Army)
1834 William Dorsey Pender Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1874 Milton Bennett Medary US, architect (Washington Chapel)
1888 Ljudmil Stojanow Bulgarian poet (Metsh i Slowo, Cholera)
1890 Anton Hermann Fokker aviation pioneer
1893 Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan President of UN General Assembly (1962-63)
1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth Baltimore MD, baseball great (Yankees)
1899 Ramon Novarro [José RG Samaniegos], Durango Mexico, actor (Ben Hur)
1900 Roy Smeck guitarist/banjoist
1902 Louis Nizer lawyer/author (defended blacklisted stars in the '50s, Catspaw)
1908 General Edward Lansdale model for "Quiet American" & "Ugly American"

1911 Ronald Reagan Illinois, actor (Bedtime for Bonzo)/40th President (R) (1981-89)

1912 Eva Braun mistress of Adolf Hitler
1922 Patrick MacNee London England, actor (Jonathan Steed-Avengers)
1931 Rip Torn Texas, actor (Coma, Summer Rental, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
1932 François Truffaut Paris France, director (Jules & Jim, Fahrenheit 451)
1933 Walter E Fauntroy (Representative-D-DC, 1971- )
1939 Mike Farrell St Paul MN, actor/idiot (BJ Honeycutt-MASH, Battered)
1940 Tom Brokaw Yankton SD, news anchor (NBC Nightly News 1982- )
1943 Fabian Forte Philadelphia PA, singer (Turn Me Loose, Tiger)
1943 Gayle Hunnicutt Ft Worth TX, actress (Legend of Hell House, Dallas)
1945 Bob Marley Jamaican reggae vocalist (Bob Marley & Wailers-Roots Rock Reggae)
1950 Natalie Cole Los Angeles CA, singer (Unforgettable)
1961 Yuri Ivanovich Onufriyenko Russian major/cosmonaut (Mir, Soyuz TM-23)
1962 Axl Rose [William Bailey] Lafayette IN, rocker (Guns & Roses)

Deaths which occurred on February 06:
743 Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik 10th Moslem caliph, dies at about 52
0891 Photius Byzantine theologist/patriarch of Constantinople/saint, dies
1612 Christopher Clavius calendar reformer, dies (birth date unknown)
1685 Charles II King of England/Scotland/Ireland (1660-85), dies at 54
1695 Ahmed II 21st sultan of Turkey (1691-95), dies
1804 Joseph Priestley England/US theologist/philosopher/chemist, dies at 70
1865 John Pegram US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 33
1917 Edouard A Drumont French anti-semite journalist, dies at 72
1945 Jan Bos Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1945 Paul Bos Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1952 George VI King of Britain (1936-52), dies at 56 (succeeded by daughter, Elizabeth II)
1965 Jack Wagner actor (Jive Junction), dies at 68
1973 Ira S Bowen US physicist/astronomer (Mt Wilson/Palomar), dies at 74
1976 Vince Guaraldi jazz pianist (Charlie Brown TV specials), dies at 43
1988 Marghanita Laski English author (Victorian chaise-lounge), dies
1989 Barbara Tuchman historian (Guns of August-Pulitzer), dies at 77
1990 Jane Novak silent screen actress (Ghost Town), dies of stroke at 94
1991 Danny Thomas comedian/actor (Jazz Singer), dies of a heart attack at 76
1994 Jack Kirby cartoonist (X-Men, Spiderman, Hulk), dies at 76
1994 Joseph Cotten actor (Citizen Kane), dies at 88
1996 Guy Madison actor (Wild Bill Hickok), dies at 74
1998 Carl Wilson rock vocalist (Beach Boy), dies of lung cancer at 51

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 HALL DONALD J.---STROUD OK
1967 HEISKELL LUCIUS L.---MEMPHIS TN.
1967 KIBBEY RICHARD A.---DELMAR NY.
1967 WOOD PATRICK H.---KANSAS CITY MO.
1968 BURNETT DONALD F.---MONTGOMERY AL.
1968 CHAPA ARMANDO JR.---SAN JOSE CA.
1968 FARRIS WILLIAM F.---WEST SALEM IL.
1968 GALLAGHER DONALD L.---SHEBOYGAN WI.
1968 HUSS ROY A.---EAU CLAIRE WI.
1968 HYLAND CHARLES K.---AUSTRALIA
[11/26/68 RELEASED BY PRG]
1968 JONES THOMAS P.---BUFFALO NY.
1968 MC KAY HOMER E.---SHALLOWATER TX.
1968 NEWMAN JAMES C. JR.---KNOXVILLE TN.
1968 THOMPSON MELVIN C.---COLQUITT GA
1968 TRAVIS LYNN M.---NEWPORT AR.
1969 BRIGGS RONALD D.---PHILDELPHIA PA.
1969 CHRISTIANSEN EUGENE---BARSTOW CA.
1969 O'HARA ROBERT CHARLES---LOST NATION IA.
1969 PADGETT DAVID E.---WASHINGTON IN.
1969 PARSONS DONALD E.---SPRATA IL.
1969 PARKER DAVID W.---STONE MOUNTAIN GA.
1969 STANLEY CHARLES I.---CLEVELAND OH.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0337 St Julius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1189 Riots of Lynn in Norfolk spread to Norwich England
1508 Maximilian I crowned Holy Roman Emperor
1577 King Henri de Bourbon of Navarra becomes leader of Huguenots
1626 Huguenot rebels & the French sign Peace of La Rochelle
1693 Royal charter granted College of William & Mary, Williamsburg VA
1716 England & Netherlands renew alliance
1778 France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; 1st US treaty
1778 England declares war on France
1788 Massachusetts becomes 6th state to ratify constitution
1815 NJ issues 1st US railroad charter (John Stevens)
1819 Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds freeport harbor Singapore
1820 86 free black colonists sail from New York NY to Sierra Leone, Africa
1820 US population announced at 9,638,453 (1,771,656 blacks (18.4%))
1832 1st appearance of cholera at Edinburgh, Scotland
1832 US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy
1840 Waitangi Day; treaty signed between Britain & Maoris of New Zealand
1861 English Admiral Robert Ritzroy issues 1st storm warnings for ships
1861 1st meeting of Provisional Congress of Confederate States of America
1862 Victory for General Ulysses S Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson; Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant
1862 Naval Engagement at Tennessee River-USS Conestago vs CSS Appleton Belle
1865 2nd day of battle at Dabney's Mills (Hatcher's Run)
1867 Peabody Fund forms to promote Black education in South
1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers
1891 1st great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17)
1899 Spanish-American War ends, peace treaty ratified by Senate
1900 Battle at Vaalkrans, South-Africa (Boers vs British army)
1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organized in New York NY
1904 Russian-Japanese war began
1911 1st old-age home opened in Prescott AZ
1911 Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey
1918 Britain grants women (30 & over) the vote
1919 1st day of 5-day Seattle general strike
1920 Saarland administrated by League of Nations
1921 "The Kid", starring Charlie Chaplin & Jackie Coogan, released
1922 Cardinal Achille Ratti elected Pope Pius XI
1922 US, UK, France, Italy & Japan sign Washington naval arms limitation
1926 NFL rules college students ineligible until college classes graduates
1933 -90ºF (-68ºC), Oymyakon, USSR (Asian record)
1933 Highest recorded sea wave (not tsunami), 34 meters (112 feet), in Pacific hurricane near Manila
1933 20th Amendment goes into effect; Presidential term begins in Jan not March
1935 Board game "Monopoly" goes on sale for the 1st time
1935 1st election to allow women to vote in Turkey
1941 Battle of Beda Fomm Italian 10th army destroyed
1941 British troops conquer Bengazi, Libya
1943 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of Allied expeditionary forces in North Africa. He later became World War II Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
1943 1st Spitfire in action above Darwin, Australia, Mu Ki-46 shot down
1943 Singer Frank Sinatra debuts on radio's "Your Hit Parade"
1945 8th Air Force bombs Magdeburg/Chemnitz
1945 Russian Red Army crosses the river Oder
1948 1st radio-controlled airplane flown
1951 Radio commentator Paul Harvey arrested for trying to sneak into the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago IL
1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site Argonne Atomic Lab (Illinois), to demonstrate lax in security
1952 England replaces King George VI stamp series with Queen Elizabeth II
1953 US controls on wages & some consumer goods were lifted
1956 University of Alabama refuses admission to Autherine Lucy (because he's black)
1958 Ted Williams signs with Red Sox for $135,000, making him highest paid
1959 Fidel Castro is interviewed by Edward R Murrow
1959 US 1st successful Titan intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
1961 "Jail, No Bail" Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill SC
1964 France & Great-Britain sign accord over building channel tunnel
1965 Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" hits #1
1967 Heavyweight Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) TKOs Ernie Terrell in 15 in Houston for heavyweight boxing title
1968 Former President Dwight Eisenhower shot a hole-in-one
1970 NBA expands to 18 teams with Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston & Portland
1971 1st time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard)(FOUR!!)
1974 US House of Representatives begins determining grounds for impeachment of Nixon
1977 Alain Prieur jumps his motorcycle 65 meter over 16 buses, near Paris
1977 (Handsome)Harley Race beats Terry Funk in Toronto, to become NWA wrestling champion
1978 Muriel, wife of late Hubert Humphrey (Senator-D-MN) takes his office
1978 Snowstorm hits New England (54" (137cm))
1979 Supreme court of Lahore affirms death sentence against premier Bhutto
1984 Moslem militiamen take over West Beirut from Lebanese army
1987 No-smoking rules take effect in federal buildings
1989 Lech Walesa begins negotiating with the Polish government
1990 Brett Hull becomes 1st son of NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby) to score 50
1990 Steve Briers of Wales recited the entire lyrics of Queen's album "A Night At The Opera" in 9 minutes & 58.44 seconds backwards! (someone needs a life)
1996 Heidi Fleiss scheduled to begin her 7 year jail sentence
1997 Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husbands sperm
1998 Mary Kay LeTourneau, 36, former teacher, who violated probation by seeing 14 year old father of her baby, sentenced to 7½ years
1998 Twin trade Chuck Knoblauch to New York Yankees for $3 million & 4 minor leaguers
2001 Ariel Sharon elected prime minister of Israel.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Massachusetts : Ratification Day (1788)
New Zealand : Waitangi Day-New Zealand Day (1840)
World : Boy Scouts Day (1910) (Sunday)
World : International Clergy Appreciation Week (Day 6)
US : Muffin Mania Week (Day 6)
US : Ronald Reagan Day
Grapefruit Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Vedastus
Christian : Feast of St Vaast (St Gaston)
old Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Titus, bishop of Crete, confessor
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Dorothea, virgin/martyr
Anglican, Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Amandus [Apostle of Belgium] & Vedastus
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Philip of Jesus, 1st Christian martyr in Japan
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Paul Miki & his companions, martyrs

Religious History
679 Death of Amandus, the founder of Belgian monasticism. During his 95 years, he established eight abbeys, five in the Southern Netherlands.
1839 Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Even in the wildest storms the sky is not all dark; and so in the darkest dealings of God with His children, there are always some bright tokens for good.'
1924 Station KFSG (Kall Four Square Gospel) went on the air. One of the earliest radio stations licensed, it broadcast the services of Angelus Temple, the flagship congregation of the International Foursquare Gospel Church, founded by Aimee Semple Mc Pherson in 1923.
1931 Pioneer American linguist and missionary Frank Laubach wrote in a letter: 'There is a deep peace that grows out of illness and loneliness and a sense of failure. God cannot get close when everything is delightful. He seems to need these darker hours, these empty-hearted hours, to mean the most to people.'
1952 American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Christianity, disruptive in nature, has nonetheless integrating powers for the individual in the culture, though both he and it may expect revolution.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Ours is a world where people don`t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it."

Question of the day...
OK...so if the Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the "Jags" and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the "Bucs".

What does that make the Tennessee Titans ?

Murphys Law of the day...(Professor Gordon's Rule of Evolving Bryophytic Systems)
While bryophytic plants are typically encountered in substrata of earthy or mineral matter in concreted state, discrete substrata elements occasionally display a roughly spherical configuration which, in presence of suitable gravitational and other effects, lends itself to combined translatory and rotational motion. One notices in such cases an absence of the otherwise typical accretion of bryophyta. We conclude therefore that a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Amazing Fact #2,604...
A duck's quack doesn't echo.

A Medic's Heart

The battlefield was bloody, there were bullets everywhere
You could hear the SOUND of chaos, it seemed to penetrate the air.

My job as a medic was to do ALL that I could do
To save a wounded life and help them make it through.

But there were times that even I, had NO role to play
For death would come to ravage and steal a life away!

In anguish I cried out ~ "Where are You, my God"
"Why have you left me helpless ~ Why don't You make it stop?"

In confusion I felt anger as I watched the soldiers die
For I could not understand and there was no time to cry.

Now, the battlefield's behind me, only memories plague my mind
But my heart is slowly healing through God's comfort that I find.

You see, I KNOW that God was with me, He NEVER left my side
And HE was with EACH soldier the moment that they died.

So even though it's difficult to understand it all
I cannot turn my back nor run away from God.

For someday He will tell my ~ WHY it had to be
Why others died in my arms, yet no harm came to me.

Maybe God selected ME to comfort, soothe and calm
Until He, Himself, could come, and wrap them in HIS arms.

So, for WHATEVER reason, my heart will lean on Him
For His ways are not my ways and my ways are not His!

Yes, Only Jesus has the answers ~ Only HE will hold the key
To everything in this life that takes it's burdened toll on me!

Written For Corpsman and Medics
2003

Terese Holloway