Having had the privilege to serve as a trained Combat Medic in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, I’m a proud member of a 250-year-old tradition. Founded in 1775, the “surgeons” (what the medical corps was called) have been taking care of soldiers on the battlefield and off.
I attended the same school on the same base as many decades of medics before me have. I enjoyed my training and took it very, very seriously. I left a dream job to join about 4-5 years after the events of 9/11. Seeing coffins draped in the American Flag kick-started my personal transformation from civilian to soldier to a medic.
I collect WWII items from the medical field. I find that conflict to be the most fascinating to me as warfare was changing, and we were still sending our medics to war with no weapons per the Geneva Convention. These men fought the war with sulfa powder and bandages.
One fact I’d like to put out there is that during WWII, the Combat Medic still didn’t train in combat ops. However when the Ranger Battalion and Airborne Battalions were formed, the Medic evolved and had to train right alongside the men who would “Lead the way (5th Ranger Battalion that soon became the motto of the U.S. Army Rangers on D-Day)
So I thought I would share my collection with the world. Some are reproductions. Mostly the Rations and Bandage boxes, but there are some authentic items in there. The collection is probably 80/20% real vs. reproduction.
Please enjoy my collection and take a moment to be thankful for these men and women from our founding until right this very moment put the lives of their charges first above all.
