Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Early Days
- Chapter 2 Washington Heights
- Chapter 3 Speyer School for Gifted Children
- Chapter 4 New York University at University Heights
- Chapter 5 To Each His Farthest Star–A Medical Student at Rochester: 1929–1934
- Chapter 6 Duke University Hospital and Its Medical School, 1934–1935
- Chapter 7 Yale Medical School, 1935–1936
- Chapter 8 Return to Duke, 1936-1937
- Chapter 9 You Can Go Home Again
- Chapter 10 My One and Only Wife
- Chapter 11 The Bronx Is the Graveyard for Specialists, 1937
- Chapter 12 The Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 1937 — The First of Its Kind
- Chapter 13 Pearl Harbor and World War II
- Chapter 14 Valley Forge General Hospital, 1942–1945
- Chapter 15 Tinian, 1945
- Chapter 16 Saipan, 1945–1946
- Chapter 17 Return to Columbia-Presbyterian, 1946
- Chapter 18 The Changing of the Guard at the Medical Center
- Chapter 19 An Internist-Diagnostician Rebuilds His Practice
- Chapter 20 The Upjohn Grand Rounds
- Chapter 21 The Iceman Cometh to Park Avenue
- Chapter 22 Songs My Patients Taught Me
- Chapter 23 Mr. J. Peter Grace, Chairman of W. R. Grace and Company
- Chapter 24 Birth of the Upjohn Gastrointestinal Service
- Chapter 25 Roosevelt Hospital, 1962–1965
- Chapter 26 Consultant and Physician to President Herbert C. Hoover
- Chapter 27 Problems at Roosevelt Hospital: The Bête Noir of Full Time
- Chapter 28 Internal Medicine as a Vocation (1897)
- Chapter 29 The Upjohn Service Moves to St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Chapter 30 Helicobacter Pylori and Peptic Ulcer: A Revolution in Gastroenterology
- Chapter 31 Plasmapheresis for Hepatic Coma at St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Epilogue
- Endmatter
Chapter 16 - Saipan, 1945–1946
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Early Days
- Chapter 2 Washington Heights
- Chapter 3 Speyer School for Gifted Children
- Chapter 4 New York University at University Heights
- Chapter 5 To Each His Farthest Star–A Medical Student at Rochester: 1929–1934
- Chapter 6 Duke University Hospital and Its Medical School, 1934–1935
- Chapter 7 Yale Medical School, 1935–1936
- Chapter 8 Return to Duke, 1936-1937
- Chapter 9 You Can Go Home Again
- Chapter 10 My One and Only Wife
- Chapter 11 The Bronx Is the Graveyard for Specialists, 1937
- Chapter 12 The Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 1937 — The First of Its Kind
- Chapter 13 Pearl Harbor and World War II
- Chapter 14 Valley Forge General Hospital, 1942–1945
- Chapter 15 Tinian, 1945
- Chapter 16 Saipan, 1945–1946
- Chapter 17 Return to Columbia-Presbyterian, 1946
- Chapter 18 The Changing of the Guard at the Medical Center
- Chapter 19 An Internist-Diagnostician Rebuilds His Practice
- Chapter 20 The Upjohn Grand Rounds
- Chapter 21 The Iceman Cometh to Park Avenue
- Chapter 22 Songs My Patients Taught Me
- Chapter 23 Mr. J. Peter Grace, Chairman of W. R. Grace and Company
- Chapter 24 Birth of the Upjohn Gastrointestinal Service
- Chapter 25 Roosevelt Hospital, 1962–1965
- Chapter 26 Consultant and Physician to President Herbert C. Hoover
- Chapter 27 Problems at Roosevelt Hospital: The Bête Noir of Full Time
- Chapter 28 Internal Medicine as a Vocation (1897)
- Chapter 29 The Upjohn Service Moves to St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Chapter 30 Helicobacter Pylori and Peptic Ulcer: A Revolution in Gastroenterology
- Chapter 31 Plasmapheresis for Hepatic Coma at St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Epilogue
- Endmatter
Summary
Now that the war was over everyone wanted to go home, right now. Clearly, this was impossible for many reasons, including lack of transportation. Some of the B-29 units used their airplanes to fly home, but this was stopped after several serious crashes occurred, probably due to inadequate maintenance. It upset us no end to learn that brave men who had eaten with us and enjoyed our company, had completed their wartime bombing missions only to die in an aircraft accident while heading for home. Our commanding general, W. W. Irvine, was equally disturbed and ruled that airplane travel was forbidden except for official business and emergencies. There simply were not enough ships to get the men home in a hurry. Some medical specialists would have to await replacements while others would be needed for occupational duty. A point system was set up to bring equity to the demobilization process. Those with longer periods of military service would be given preference over those with less time in service. But humans being what they are, some sought to escape by having their families enlist the assistance of the Red Cross in obtaining emergency leaves. The “emergencies” were, at times, trumped up. One doctor on Saipan arranged to be called home because his wife had given birth. Another went home because his father had died. There were other such excuses for expediting a quick return. The real problem was that none of these individuals was, to my knowledge, ever returned to his overseas post once the “emergency” was over. Medical officers in scarce categories were locked into their positions by the inability to obtain replacements from the zone of the interior. I recall one poor fellow, a captain M.C. and ENT specialist, who had served in forward areas in the Pacific with combat units for over two years, who was being held because there was no replacement for him. He began to drink heavily and was drunk on duty. The commanding officer was contemplating a court-martial for him and asked me for my advice. I looked into the problem and discovered that the doctor had served well for a number of years and had seen his potential replacements rotated back home on an emergency basis, leaving him holding the bag on Saipan.
I reported to the C.O. that I sympathized with the man and did not feel we should court-martial him.
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- The Life of the ClinicianThe Autobiography of Michael Lepore, pp. 229 - 263Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2002