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thedrifter
02-08-04, 01:05 PM
The Evolution of the Hospital Corps


CORPSMAN!- That is a cry that has echoed throughout the years. It is a cry of pain, of fear and of suffering. In response to that call have come a group of men and women armed primarily with the weapons of compassion. With their bandages, medicines and often with their own lives, they fought to save the lives of those who called for them. The sacrifices made by these men have grown into a legacy for others to follow.

The Hospital Corps as an organized unit of the Medical Department of the Navy did not exist until it was created by an act of congress on June 17, 1898. However, there have always been men tasked with the duty of caring for their less fortunate shipmates. The first enlisted man on record assigned this duty was John Wall, who signed as a loblolly boy on June 1, 1798 for the Frigate Constellation.

From the formation of the Navy in 1775, it was necessary to provide for the care of the sick and injured. That portion of the ship assigned for that care was designated the sick berth or sick bay. The main deck guns were separated by bracing structures and the space occupied by each gun was known as a bay. Some of the spaces in the forward part of the ship were not occupied by guns and it became custom to set aside one of them for use by the sick. The sick were removed to this part of the ship with their hammocks and bedding. During battle, however, another compartment came to be used. It was below the waterline for protection from shot and shell. The compartment was called the cockpit. It was located below the gun deck in the living space for junior officers in the area of the mainmast.

The first ships were manned with a ship's Surgeon and a Surgeon's Mate, the latter was an appointed officer with the status of a warrant officer. During this period there were apparently no enlisted men trained in the care of the sick and injured. It was common practice to assign as required a number of the least necessary of the crew to assist the Surgeon and the Surgeon's Mate. These men were landsmen or worn out seamen who kept the cockpit scrupulously clean, well fumigated and sprinkled with vinegar. They were sometimes referred to as waisters as the cockpit was located in the waist of the ship.

Seeing to the physical well being of the crew was the job of the Ship's Surgeon. He inspected the men as they came on board and helped fight the sailor's real enemy - disease. With the assistance of the Surgeon's Mate, he tended to the men in sickbay, visiting them at least twice a day as set froth in the regulations. The illnesses on board ship were basically routine, so were the methods of treatment. Medicinals were designed to counteract the patient's symptoms chiefly by purging the body of whatever was thought to have caused the disease. In times of battle he moved his operations below to the cockpit.

For the seriously wounded, the prognosis was grim. The best estimate is that one third of those wounded died. Life onboard the wooden ships was hard. Each morning the Surgeon or one of his mates held sick call where the seamen were permitted to report their complaints. When the frigates put to sea they carried ninety-six pounds of epsom salts in the medical stores. This remedy was freely dispensed to discourage seamen from reporting sick. There were few malingerers, for no grog was issued to men whose names were on the binnacle list. In fact, rather than stand the risk of having their grog stopped, many sailors would endure genuine illnesses and broken bones.

The sickbay beds differed from the standard issue hammocks. They were swinging cots, braced with spreaders at each end and supporting a hair mattress. They were only occupied by the very ill, although extremely cold weather sometimes made the warmth and comfort of sickbay more inviting than the grog issue, and at these times sailors came down with Cape Horn Fever, a condition that lasted until the weather became warmer and the spars less icy, when it miraculously disappeared. The hospital stores included quantities of wines, tea, soup, lemon and lime juices. Oatmeal or porridge was the principal item of diet for the sick.

The two real enemies to health were scurvy and dampness. The former due to lack of fresh vegetables and the diet of salt meat. Dampness caused colds, pneumonia, consumption and rheumatism.

An act of Congress approved March 2, 1799, provided: A convenient place shall be set aside for the sick and hurt men to which they are to be removed - and some of the crew shall be appointed to attend them and keep the place clean. Loblolly boy was the title designating the man or boy first specifically detailed to assist in the care of the sick and injured. The name was derived from the porridge served to the sick and wounded in the British Navy. The loblolly boy was originally a boy or seamen who was not able to perform arduous duties of handling sail or similar work. The first official use of the title Loblolly boy was in the Naval Regulations of 1814.

On June 16, 1861, in accordance with a General Order, the title of loblolly boy was replaced by that of male nurse. They were assigned one nurse per 100 men in the crew.

In 1873, the title male nurse was changed to that of bayman.

On many ships no permanent operating room was provided, and in lieu thereof a space near the sick bay was utilized and enclosed with a canvas screen. The dispensary was small, but adequate for dispensing and office work combined.

The location of the sick bay was uncomfortable at sea, especially during a storm, and very noisy when the ship weighed anchor, the noise being deafening as the anchor chains passed through the hawse pipes. The noise from the saluting battery was another great annoyance to the sick, as this battery was located on the gun deck directly above the sick bay. The sick bay has been gradually moved aft until now it is about midships on the gun deck, which location is considered an ideal one.

June 18, 1898 brought the act of Congress which established the Hospital corps. The act made provision for 25 Pharmacists with rank, pay and privileges of Warrant Officers, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy and removable at his discretion, and as many Hospital Stewards, Hospital Apprentices First Class and hospital Apprentices as in the judgment of the Secretary of the Navy were necessary and that it should be attached permanently to the Medical Department of the Navy.

The Hospital Steward was ranked as a Chief Petty Officer. He was identified with a silver Geneva Cross. The Hospital Apprentice First Class wore a red Geneva Cross between a single red chevron and the spread eagle. The Hospital Apprentice wore only a red cross on his left arm.

The relationship between the Hospital Corps and the U.S. Marines was established in 1898, when Hospital Corpsmen were assigned to the Marine corps Expeditionary Battalion which landed at Guantanamo Bay during the Spanish-American War.

On July 19, 1901, the Hospital Corps had it's first Medal of Honor winner, Hospital Apprentice Robert Stanley. The citation read: For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in volunteering and carrying messages under fire at Peking, China, 12 July 1900.

In August 1902, the first Hospital Corps Training School was opened at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia for the purpose of providing uniform and systematic training for the new personnel entering the Hospital Corps. The graduates of this school saw their first duty under fire with the Marines in Haiti.

From the period of WWI to WWII, the Hospital Corps became one of the outstanding corps of the military service. More schools were provided, qualifications for advancement in rate were raised, and a high degree of technical skill and knowledge was demonstrated by all members of the corps.

During WWI there were 94 temporary commissioned and warrant officers; and 16,000 enlisted men in the Hospital corps. the reputation of the Hospital Corps for performance of duty during WWI, especially in the field with the Marine Corps was greatly enhanced. The Hospital Corps was the most highly decorated Navy unit, and the only Navy unit priviliged to wear the French Fourragere. Hospital Corpsmen received 2 Medal of Honor, 55 Navy Crosses, 31 Distinguished Service Medals and 460 other major awards and citations. In all, 16 Hospital Corpsmen were killed in action.

In WWII, Corpsmen served on every front. Corpsmen were at the forefront of virtually every invasion and were involved in every action at sea. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, casualties among Hospital Corpsmen were proportionately higher than among the Marines. By 1945, the Hospital Corps reached a record figure of 140,000 officers and enlisted men.

Of the 15 Navymen awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII, 7 were Hospital Corpsmen and 4 of those received the medal for action on Iwo Jima. The Hospital Corpsmen also received 67 Navy Crosses, 464 Silver Stars and 820 other major awards. 889 Hospital Corpsmen gave their lives during WWII to save others.

continued....

thedrifter
02-08-04, 01:07 PM
The valor and courage of the Corpsmen throughout the conflict prompted Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal to bestow a special well done commendation in 1945 to the Hospital Corps: ....that others might live, your fellow Corpsmen have given their lives; 889 of them killed or mortally wounded. Others died as heroically from diseases they were trying to combat. In all the Corps casualty list contains 1724 names, an honor role of special distinction because none among them bore arms....The Hospital Corpsmen saved lives on all beaches that the Marines stormed....You Corpsmen performed foxhole surgery while shell fragments clipped your clothing, shattered the plasma bottles from which you poured new life into the wounded, and sniper's bullets were aimed at the brassards on your arms.

No other individual corps, before or since has been so singled out and honored.

On January 22, 1943, women were first enlisted into the Hopsital Corps. On January 12, 1944, the first Hospital Corps School for WAVES was commissioned at the U.S, Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland. The first class consisted of 230 enlisted women.

When the Korean conflict started in the summer of 1950, Corpsmen again served in the field with the Marines. Expanding to a strength of 30,000 members, the Corps added another brilliant chapter to its history. Schools at Camp Pendleton and camp LeJeune were established to train Corpsmen in the principles of field medicine. Upon graduation they were assigned to Fleet Marine Force units. During Korea, Corpsmen received 5 Medals of Honor, and 107 were killed in action. Perhaps the ultimate tribute was said by Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, U.S.M.C, who said: ....You guys are the Marine's doctors; There's no better in the business than a Navy Corpsman....

With the escalation of the Vietnam conflict between 1963 and 1975, Corpsmen were called to serve in Southeast Asia. Hospital Corpsmen truly felt the brunt of the Vietnam conflict. 628 were killed in action and another 3,353 were wounded in action. Awards for gallantry and intrepidity in action included 3 Medals of Honor, 29 Navy Crosses, 127 Silver Stars, 2 Legions of Merit, 290 Bronze Stars and 4,563 Purple Hearts.

Since the fall of Saigon in April 1975 Hospital Corpsmen have continued to serve in many hot spots around the world. During the recovery of the SS Mayaguez, 68 casualties were sustained, of which 4 were Hospital Corpsmen. Then, during the attempted rescue of hostages in Iran, a Battalion Landing Team with it's 65 Corpsmen, a surgical team and a surgical support team were poised 52 miles off the coast waiting to assist the rescue operation. 15 Hospital Corpsmen were killed in the line of duty when the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon was bombed by terrorists. Finally, Corpsmen were present at sea and ashore when the United States took military action in Grenada, Panama and especially during Desert Shield/Storm.

Wherever you find the Navy, wherever you find the Marine Corps, there you will find the Hospital Corpsman. In times of peace, he or she toils unceasingly, day and night, providing quality health care to numerous beneficiaries. In times of war, he is on the beaches with the Marines, is employed in amphibious operations, in transportation of the wounded by air, on the battlefield, on all types of ships, submarines, aircraft and landing craft.

In short, whenever medical care may be required, the Hospital Corpsman is there, not only willing but prepared to serve his country and his fellow man above and beyond the call of duty.

Excerpted from an article written by then HMCM George B. Lusk, CMC, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1073835/posts


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

usmc4669
02-19-04, 10:05 AM
Roger another good web site, hat off to you Marine.

Gunny