From World War I through recent conflicts, military medical personnel have treated casualties on the battlefield, transported the wounded to safety, managed the logistics of care, and investigated new technologies to prevent further deaths. Whether they were already established in the field or were treating patients for the first time, their medical training was put to the test in combat, in the field hospital, and in the laboratory. For these healers, medicine was their mission, and they carried it out with grace, determination, and honor. Their stories illustrate a shared commitment to their patients, and to each other.
Healing with Honor: Medical Personnel
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Doctors In an enterprise founded on destruction and killing, military doctors have a uniquely constructive mission. They must mend their own comrades’ wounds and if possible, send them back to fight, even if it risks further injury. Doctors rarely carry a weapon and in most instances are exempt from being fired on.
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Nurses No one in war has a purer mission than nurses. Even doctors must sometimes inflict pain for the better good of a patient, but a nurse is there only to soothe and comfort. The ideals that a nurse carries into any wartime hospital are challenged by the daily arrival of bodies broken in battle.
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Medical Support In any war, there never seem to be enough doctors and nurses, which is where the medical support personnel often come in. Neither idealized like the battlefield surgeons nor romanticized like the selfless nurses, the men and women who serve in the medical corps are among war's true unsung heroes.