By Dr. Gerard Muraida
Unbeknownst to many, military personnel helped pave the way to some modern medicine. This month, America will pay tribute to our veterans, with Veterans Day celebrated on Nov. 11. Much of the honors will no doubt focus on their service overseas and in combat. Yet, their work in the medical field should also be noted.
The origin of military medical service dates back as far as the first conflicts between warring factions. Caring for the wounded soldier in an organized fashion can be traced to an ancient Egyptian medical text, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, which describes the treatment of fractures and the utilization of cauterization to control bleeding and wound care. Roman armies had physicians who developed a process of field care that was followed by further treatment and recovery away from the front lines, if necessary.
Many decades later, French barber surgeon Ambrose Pare’ began treating wounds using an old Roman remedy that included turpentine, a rudimentary antiseptic. Pare’ also re-started the practice of using ligatures rather than a hot iron cautery or boiling oil to tie off bleeding vessels. He even invented an early medical instrument, the hemostat, which is still used today. In 1545, Pare’ published The Method of Curing Wounds Caused by Arquebus and Firearms, a book cited for centuries. He is considered the “Father of Military Medicine.”
Before advances in medical science, more lives were lost to disease in the battlefield than to combat wounds. American military medicine came into existence after the War of 1812. Harvard-trained physician Joseph Lovell became the first surgeon general and constructed the framework for the new Medical Department of the U.S. Army.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, yellow fever was one of the most feared communicable diseases worldwide. As a result of the Spanish-American War, Cuba became an American protectorate and had thousands of troops stationed there. Yellow fever had plagued that tropical island as well. In 1900, Army Maj. Walter Reed was sent to Cuba to study yellow fever. He and his team of military physicians confirmed the hypothesis of Dr. Carlos Finlay, who many years before had proposed that yellow fever was a mosquito-borne illness. Cuba launched a large mosquito control program and within a year had all but eradicated the disease on the island. Many years later the American Army flagship hospital would bear Reed’s name – the Walter Reed Hospital.
In April 1863, Dr. Alexander Augusta was commissioned as a major and became a surgeon for African American troops, making him the Army’s first African American doctor.
In the early 1800s, Dr. William Beaumont served as an Army surgeon at Fort Mackinac on the Michigan-Canada border. As a result of treating a soldier with a gunshot wound to the stomach, he studied gastric physiology so much that he became known as the “Father of Gastric Physiology.”
Many physicians contributed to the success of the Armed Forces medical corps. Some of these doctors were contractors, such as Dr. Charles Drew, who pioneered transfusion medicine and saved countless soldiers in need of blood.
Each of these doctors are just a few examples of the rich history of military medical providers. If you encounter a military physician, please thank them for their service, not only their country, but also for their contributions to the field of medicine.
