Gentleman by Act of Congress

When America declared war against Germany in 1917, my father did what many young patriotic men did and joined the army. As an MD, he was made a second lieutenant and went to France as part of the American Expeditionary Force. He was a flight surgeon in the Army Air Corp and was soon promoted to captain. He was in France for three years until the war was "over, over there".



He left the Army in 1921 and received a full disability retirement. I believe that he had contracted tuberculosis in France, which made him unfit for service. At that time, many people died from tuberculosis, and most others were not able to work.

He spent his whole life on tuberculosis treatment. At that time there was no cure for tuberculosis, but a lot could be done with rest and proper nutrition. He had a remarkable success rate for getting it in remission and people back with their families.

International Man of Mystery

My father was 52 years old when I was born. I knew him as a big fish in a small pond, the Medical Director and Superintendent of a tuberculosis sanitorium.

He had a quiet life and worked 9-to-5 hours except when there was a rare after hours emergency. They never went out at night, happy to be with one another and the children.



He said very little about his life before he and my mother got married. It turn out that he was well known and highly respected. He had an active public life and was and had given lectures all over the world. He had been Clinical Director of the U.S. Public Health Service and had developed the technology that made large scale screening for tuberculosis possible.



One idea that was often repeated in our house was that they held the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as their role models. That he had given up everything for the woman he loved.

And they lived happily ever after.