Chapter One
The long-awaited orders had finally arrived. They were dated 8 January 1952, and were delivered by Registered Mail to Luke Martin, M.D., 1st Lt., MC-USAR, and read, "Assigned station: Med Fld Svc Sch, Brooke AMC, Ft Sam Houston, Texas, to attend Associate Medical Svc Co Officers Course 8-0-2 rept NLT 11 Feb 52 TDPFO, BY COMMAND OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL CRITTENBERGER, HEADQUARTERS FIRST ARMY".
Dr. Martin’s pulse accelerated as he read the orders. At last he was being called to active duty as an army medical officer, which he had requested in September 1951, when he received his commission from the Secretary of the Army, by direction of President Harry S Truman.
Little did he then realize how much this event was going to change, and yes threaten, his life!
The United States had been at war with North Korea and China since 1950, and Dr. Martin had long been itching to get in and do his part. When commissioned he was an instructor in anatomy at the Yale School of Medicine. He found his teaching and cancer research very interesting, but some inward drive compelled him to lend his hand to the military effort, which he strongly believed in.
Luke was twenty-seven years old, of average height and weight, single, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He did not feel he was particularly handsome, but several of his nurse friends thought so, and wished he would take more interest in them and less in his work! And they were devastated when they heard he was going on active duty.
So early in February, 1952, Luke packed his bags, and prepared to make the long train trip from Connecticut to Texas. It was six degrees below zero, with a foot of snow on the ground when he boarded the train for the short trip to New York, where he transferred to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Jeffersonian for the long trip to St. Louis, and then down to Texas.
Upon arrival in San Antonia he was delighted to find sunny skies, an afternoon temperature of ninety degrees, and the trees were just beginning to bud out. What a contrast with New England!
He stayed overnight at the St. Anthony Hotel, then donned his new officer’s uniform of pinks and greens, shined his new silver 1st Lieutenant’s bars, and took a taxi to the Medical Field Service School at Fort Sam Houston, where he would undergo nine weeks of orientation for new medical officers.
He checked in at the headquarters for officers in the student detachment with his orders, and awkwardly saluted for the first time. The commander was a Captain in the Medical Service Corps, who returned the salute, and cordially welcomed him to the Army Medical Corps. He was assigned to the barracks for student officers, and was given much orientation material to go over before classes started a few days hence.
He was shown to his room by a helpful enlisted man, who kept calling Luke, "Sir!", which was temporarily rather disconcerting and unlike civilian life.
Luke introduced himself to several other student medical and dental officers who were also checking in to the eight-bed barracks room. It seemed rather crowded, but they were all happy to learn that orderlies would make up their beds for them.
The next day as they were all walking to the officer’s mess for lunch a cadre Sergeant called to Luke, "Excuse me, sir! Your garrison cap is on backwards!"
He saluted Luke sharply with a wide grin on his face. Luke fumbled a salute in return, and quickly put his cap on properly, with a very red face. He realized it was going to take some time to get used to the military.
The next few days were occupied with checking out equipment and more uniforms, and attending orientation sessions. Then they started falling in each morning at 8:00 am as a student company for drill and subsequently for a full day of classes on organization of the army generally, and the medical corps specifically. They were given considerable homework and reading, which Luke did conscientiously, although some of his fellow officers ignored it.
After a month of basics and physical conditioning, the class donned their fatigues and went out to nearby Camp Bullis, Texas, where they were familiarized with the mobile army surgical hospital, called MASH for short, the clearing station, where triage was done on wounded soldiers, and the battalion aid station, which was just behind the front line and was commanded by a medical officer, where the wounded were first taken. They were also given a refresher course in the treatment of all types of wounds.
Later they went back to Camp Bullis and were trained in the use of weapons, including the M-2 carbine, M-1 rifle, side arms, hand grenades, light machine guns, and even the anti-tank 3.5 bazooka, which they learned to fire.
The instructors pointed out that although medical and dental officers were supposedly non-combatants, the Chinese Communist "volunteers" in Korea often refused to recognize the red and white cross of the medics, and they sometimes were forced to defend themselves for be captured.
One instructor told the story of a MASH unit being attacked by Chicom and North Korean guerrillas. Medical officers and even nurses picked up weapons to fight off the attack, and a medical corps Major jumped into a burning ammunition truck, which he drove right into the midst of the Communist troops! The sight of the burning truck about to explode caused the guerrillas to retreat in confusion, and the Major was able to dash back to the MASH unharmed before the ammunition in the truck exploded. He received the silver star for his heroism.
A bit later in their course the student officers received their supreme test. They were to crawl on their bellies through the so-called infiltration course at Camp Bullis. The course was about a hundred yards long, through water holes and barbed wire entanglements, and alongside exploding satchel charges. And to top it off, machine guns were fired 44 inches above the crawling students.
To try to make them feel better, the instructor said, "You guys are lucky! The machine guns are set to fire 44 inches over your head; whereas they are set to fire just two feet over the heads of the training combat infantrymen! At any rate, keep your heads down! You will crawl the course this afternoon, and again after dark for realism!".
At the given command, Luke and his squad assumed prone position and began crawling down the dusty, rocky course. Strategically placed pools of water had to be crawled through, and the water turned the dust to mud. They had to use wire cutters to make their way through the tangles of barbed wire. Luke lay in his back briefly and watched the tracers in the machine gun fire whistle overhead. They certainly were an inducement to keep the head down. And the grenades and satchel charges exploding in bunkers on both sides of the course added to the realism.
They finally completed the traverse of the course, and breathed a sigh of relief when they could stand erect again. They were ordered to the field chow line for supper, and then advised to rest before repeating the crawl after dark.
The order came at 8:00 pm, and Luke joined another medical officer and three dental officers for the crawl. One of the dental officers named McCoy seemed quite nervous, and expressed doubt that he could do it again at night. Luke advised him to talk with an instructor about it, but he refused and started to crawl ahead. The darkness made the situation seem more threatening, and the aerial flares floating down over the field gave off an eerie light.
Suddenly Captain McCoy, who was crawling about twenty feet ahead of Luke, shouted, "I can’t stand it any more!", and stood upright.
Luke shouted, "Get down!"
But it was too late. Several machine gun bullets went through McCoy’s body, and he fell in a heap on the dusty ground.
Luke crawled towards McCoy as rapidly as he could, yelling, "Cease firing! Officer down!"
The chatter of the machine guns abruptly ceased, and Luke was able to run the remaining distance to McCoy. He played his flashlight upon the prostrate officer. Quick examination showed that he was dead. Luke noted the absence of a pulse and there were no respirations. One bullet had gone through the lateral aspect of the neck on the left side, severing the carotid artery and jugular vein. Another bullet had entered the cervical spine, and Luke deduced that it probably had severed the spinal cord. And a third bullet had struck his head as he fell, leaving a gaping wound from which brain tissue was extruding.
There was no hope for the man. Death was instantaneous. Luke noted the time of death as 8:20 pm. He was used to death in his profession but this one bothered him more than usual. It was so unnecessary! And Luke felt a twinge of guilt that he had not reported McCoy’s nervousness to the instructor before the exercise began.
Instructors and corpsmen quickly appeared. The infantry Captain in command complimented Luke on his quick action, but added, "All hell will break loose when the General hears about this! This is our first accident on this course. Lt. Martin, I want you to write a detailed report on what happened here, and I am sure you will be called to appear at a hearing in the near future."
The men were quiet and depressed as they rode back to Fort Sam Houston in their trucks. The main thought that ran through all their minds was why did Captain McCoy lose his head and stand up?
Luke spent several hours writing up a report for Brigadier General James Cooley, commandant of the Medical Field Service School, when he got back to the barracks.
The next day the class was ordered back to Camp Bullis for more field exercises, including map reading, and the close combat course, where the officers ran across a field replete with rocks, barbed wire, and water holes. Along either side appearing targets came up at frequent intervals, and they had to fire M-1 rifles at enemy targets, and withhold fire should the target be friendly, with only a few seconds to decide in each case.
Fortunately the weekend rolled around soon, and Luke accepted an invitation from his aunt and cousin, who lived in San Antonio, to drive south and spend Saturday night at the interesting border town of Laredo, with its counterpart of Nuevo Laredo across the Rio Grande River. He had a good time with them.
A few days later Luke was summoned to a hearing at the office of General Cooley. Luke presented his account of what took place when Captain McCoy was killed. Instructors and other officers also spoke.
The general finally gave his decision. He said that it was most regrettable that this accident had occurred. Review of the medical records showed that the deceased had experienced previous psychiatric problems that may have been a factor in the accident. The general ruled that medical records must be considered on all student officers before they were subjected to the pressures and dangers of the infiltration course, and that in the future the legitimate request of any officer to be excused would be considered seriously. However, the General stated that the United States is involved in a war where the enemy does not respect medical insignia, so medical and yes, dental officers, must be prepared for combat. Therefore the infiltration course would not be discontinued. He did not blame Luke for the accident.
On March 15, Luke received orders stating that he would be assigned to the faculty of the Medical Field Service School after completing his present course; however, he first would be assigned about six months of temporary duty at the 1st Provisional Medical Detachment, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, in connection with "medical service activities".
Luke was disappointed not be assigned to duty in Korea, where the action was, but he did like the idea of being in San Antonio where his aunt lived. And he was curious what the temporary duty orders to Walter Reed Hospital meant.
Colonel Cole Melton, chief of the Department of Medicine and Surgery at the Medical Field Service School (MFSS), called him in and congratulated him on his appointment to the department, saying that Luke’s teaching experience at Yale should make him an ideal faculty member.
Luke asked Colonel Melton about the six months of temporary duty at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Colonel replied that there would be no opening on the MFSS faculty until the fall, so the Surgeon General’s Officer had assigned Luke to temporary duty at Walter Reed for this period of time. The Colonel went on to say that the nature of Luke’s assignment there was classified as secret, and he had no other information about it.
This really aroused Luke’s curiosity, but there was nothing he could do except to wait until he was to report in Washington, DC, not later than April 20.
That Saturday evening Luke dropped in at the Officers’ club. A group of Officers stood around a pinball machine watching a player who was running up a high score. Suddenly he detected someone standing behind him, and despite the uniform, he could feel two soft breasts pressed against his back.
Luke was more than surprised, especially when he turned around to see a more than attractive female Officer standing behind him. She was a young, well shaped, brunette, with beautiful legs! Her name tag read, "2nd Lt. Ann Orloff, OT Student".
She said, "Sorry, I didn’t mean to crowd you!"
Luke replied, "It’s all right." But he had a feeling that she really meant to bump into him.
She went on, "Aren’t you going to buy me a drink?"
Luke said, "Surely. Let’s sit down." He wondered what this conversation was leading up to.
She went on to say that she was an occupational therapy student, had noticed him before at the Officers’ club, and wanted to get acquainted. They had soft drinks. She told him that she came from Michigan, graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was now in the OT course at MFSS and Brooke Army Hospital.
He told her a little about himself, and she said, "I heard via the grapevine that you are from Yale, and that you may return to help teach us anatomy this coming fall. But where are you going on temporary duty the next six months?"
Luke nearly dropped his soft drink in surprise. How would she know this about him? He replied noncommittally that he was being sent to Walter Reed.
She inquired, "Doing what?"
He answered, "In connection with medical service affairs." He let it go at that, and decided that he would tell her nothing more. And actually he had been truthful, since he really knew nothing more himself.
They parted, and she said she would be looking forward to seeing him again. Luke thought to himself that here was surely an attractive girl, but a bit too forward for him.
The following week Luke received a lengthy questionnaire from the FBI for him to fill out for security clearance at the secret level. He wondered again what he was getting into a Walter Reed.
Late in March Luke was appointed commander of the student Officers’ company for one week. It meant considerably more responsibility for him, and for the first time, he really felt the burden of command. But he acquitted himself well, and his instructors complimented him on a job well-done.
The first week in April was devoted to final examinations in the field and in the classroom. When it was all over, Luke found himself in first place at the top of the class of ninety officers.
He had seen Lt. Ann Orloff several times at the Officers’ club, and marching with her OT class in the quadrangle. She was surely pretty, but he had an uneasy feeling about her, and did not seek her out.
Finally on April 10, it was time for graduation, and General Cooley invited the student Officers to a party and dance at the Fort Sam Houston Officers’ Club that evening. They wore their best uniforms, the pinks and greens. There were refreshments, and the post band played.
Lt. Orloff was there, along with her fellow occupational and physical therapy student officers. She was especially attractive in her dress uniform. Luke felt compelled to speak with her, and she immediately said, "Aren’t you going to ask me to dance?"
He did, and they whirled off around the dance floor. She came in close, and wanted to dance cheek-to-cheek. After several dances, he suggested they get some punch, which was somewhat spiked. She had three glasses in a row, and they wanted to take a walk. They walked around outside in the warm spring air of San Antonio, under the light of a full moon. He wanted to kiss her, but that uneasiness came over him again, and he did not.
She suggested that they look at the new indoor swimming pool on the grounds of the Officers’ club. Swimming hours were over, but the doors were not locked, and they easily gained access to the pool. They sat down at poolside, and she asked Luke if he had found out anything more about his Walter Reed assignment, and she seemed disappointed when he replied in the negative.
She suddenly said, "Let’s go for a swim!"
Luke demurred, saying, "It’s after hours, and the pool is closed."
But she insisted, started to take her uniform off, and said, "Let’s go skinny dipping!
Luke protested, but she already had her clothes off and jumped naked into the pool. He noted that she was even better looking with her clothes off than on, but he was more concerned about the possible consequences of the present situation.
He yelled, "If the MPs catch you, we both are in for big trouble!"
She responded by climbing out of the pool, saying, "OK! Get me a big towel!"
Luke hurried to the locker room and searched for a towel. He heard some conversation at the pool, and it was in a foreign language and it sounded like a man speaking to her in Russian! But when he returned there was no one there except Lt. Orloff, still in the buff. Before he handed her the towel, she said, "Don’t you like me better this way?"
Luke felt relieved when she was dressed again. He said, "You must be crazy! You jeopardized both our military careers! And who was that you were talking to, and was it not in Russian? What gives with you? We both could have been court-martialed!"
She replied rather lamely, "It was only a friend from Michigan, and we were speaking Polish. Please don’t be angry! Will I see you again before you leave for DC?"
Luke retorted rather irritably, "Don’t call me! I’ll call you!" And they parted company.
As he walked back to the barracks he calmed down a little, and began to analyze what was going on with Lt. Orloff. Her name sounded Russian, but she claimed she was speaking Polish to the unseen male "friend" beside the swimming pool. And how had he known to meet her while she was naked at the pool? And why? And why was she so interested in Luke and his assignment to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC? He had a feeling it was connected with the secret nature of his assignment.
But even though she had angered him and nearly gotten him in serious trouble, he had to admit that she was a mighty attractive young female Officer, and he regretted that he must end the relationship.
He considered reporting her at General Cooley’s office as a possible security risk, but he though better of it. She might try to implicate him in the swimming pool incident, and after all, she had not really extricated any secret information from him.
So when he reached the barracks, he started packing his bags in preparation for departure from Fort Sam Houston.
Updated: July 31, 2002