Beyond the Call of Duty

In an attempt to entertain myself, I ventured into the med school library. At last! A place to ensconce myself for a couple of hours! Alas, I arrived a mere half hour before their closing. In that half hour, I discovered the "History of Medicine" room, and a nice comfy hunter-green armchair. I was sitting amongst all these old books about plague and war - how cool is that? Anyway, I pulled a book off the shelf to check it out. It was Courage and Devotion Beyond the Call of Duty Being a Partial Record of Official Citations to Medical Officers in the United States Armed Forces During World War II. I skimmed through some of it - lots of doctors getting Silver and Bronze medals for putting themselves in harms way to save their fellow soldiers. While that is all incredibly cool in itself, this particular entry caught my eye:

"The Soldier's Medal was awarded to Captain Luke K. Remley of York, Pa. The citation states: 'On August 26, 1943 at . . ., Tunisia, Captain Remley was assisting two (2) (my interjection here: the parenthetical numbers were apparently in the official citation. I love that - like I don't understand what 'two' means unless I see the actual numeral) officers of his squadron in arranging their flying equipment on their aircraft, when suddenly without warning (isn't that the definition of suddenly?) a B-17 type aircraft loaded with bombs, dispersed nearby violently exploded (what does that mean? it was just sitting there, then exploded?), hurling thousands of fragments of burning metal over a wide-spread area and showering the immediate vicinity of the aircraft with burning gasoline and oil. (how dramatic!) The concussion that followed was so instantaneous and forceful that three (3) officers were hurled (hurled!!!) to the ground and momentarily stunned. Upon recovering from the fall (the hurling fall) Captain Remley rushed from the scene of the disaster in an attempt to save himself. (why else would he be rushing away? to catch the falling burning metal fragments on his tongue?) Noting that one (1) of the officers was not running alongside (hey, maybe he was just slower), Captain Remley wheeled about (he wheeled people!) and dashed headlong into the rain of flying missiles and falling debris that was showering the path between him and his fellow officer who was lying on the ground uninjured. (at which point I would have averred: get up, you lazy cur! you made me wheel and headlong-ed-ly dash into raining fiery missiles, and here you lie, without enough sense to rush from the scene of the disaster in an attempt to save yourself!) Utterly disragarding the imminent danger of the bombs detonating in the aircraft by the impending mass of flame and inferno that was encircling it, and the fifty (50) calibre shells that were erratically exploding and striking the plane in numerous places, Captain Remley carried the officer over his back to a place of safety. The presence of mind and heroism displayed by this officer reflect great credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States of America. (and the writing of this citation reflects great credit upon the author, who obviously read a lot of comic books)' Captain Remley is also the recipient of the Bronze Star. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1938."

I love this post. I've always been amazed by doctor-soldiers, and WWII in general. This is just a fun little story to read - and it is true! My only question, in the end, is why was the doctor arranging his flying equipment in the first place? I thought doctors stayed on the ground. Well, anyway. Thanks, Captain Luke K. Remley - you rock. I hope your days were filled with more rushing and wheeling and running headlong into lots of joyous occasions.