Jul. 19, 2016
I joined the Army in 1948, an eager teenager who wanted to help people. This desire to help led me to complete basic corpsman training as a medic. During medic training, I learned about the often humid and rainy conditions of the battlefield where medics were often stationed. I quickly learned that although I was committed to helping people, I also had a strong desire to stay dry — something I think most people can understand.
Toward the end of my training as a medic I started thinking about how the x-ray machines, which operated using high-voltage electricity, also had a need to stay dry. I figured if the machines operated best under dry conditions, so did the people operating them, so I completed my medic training and put in a request to complete further training as what we then called an x-ray technologist.
Once I started learning how the x-ray equipment worked and how it could be used to provide patients with better care, I was hooked on the profession. Even after working in the profession for 50 years, both in the military and as a civilian, and being retired for nearly 20 years, it’s still one of my life’s passions.
I still love staying informed of what’s happening in the world of radiologic sciences and learning what my fellow R.T.s are accomplishing at home and abroad. It’s one of the main reasons I have been an active ASRT member for the past 58 years and why I started supporting the ASRT Foundation 22 years ago. This profession is a part of who I am, and I not only want to know what’s going on in it, I want to be a part of helping others who love it as well. I want to empower them to create a great future for the radiologic sciences. Today, that means giving money.
Professional Experience
The most satisfying work I did was when I was stationed in Japan to help the individuals who were wounded in the Korean conflict. Every patient coming through the door was sick or hurt as they came in from M.A.S.H. or evacuation hospitals. They were the most grateful patients I have ever worked with.
The first thing each patient received was a hot bath. Many soldiers had been on the front line without a bath for weeks or months. A simple cleaning and a soak did wonders for their mental state. They were then given a hot meal in a quiet ward to eat in peace and not be disturbed by incoming patients.
Some of the wounded soldiers would come in with fractures or chest wounds but would remain calm knowing we were there to help. Others would come in screaming and panicked and we would have to calm them down before we could assist them with anything from “minor” bullet wounds to a severe physical trauma. It’s impossible to see the things I saw these patients go through and be unchanged. Their attitudes, resiliency and trust in the medical staff helped shape the caring R.T. I am today. The memories of what I experienced at that hospital are never far away.
One man in particular has always stood out in my mind for his attitude. He’d had both of his feet blown off by a grenade, yet while he was being cared for he told the medical staff he felt like the luckiest guy to come out of Korea. Like many of you, I could not wrap my head around the sentiment and finally one day my curiosity overcame my social graces and I asked him how he could feel lucky.
While I don’t recall his name, I’ll never forget the sincerity in his voice as he looked up at me from his hospital bed and said, “That mortar crew dropped the grenade in the bottom of the trench I was in, but I was able to get everything out but my feet before it went off.”
When the Korean conflict ended, I returned stateside with my wife, whom I had married in Japan in 1953. I worked in various basic and advanced radiography programs at medical field service schools as a technologist and instructor.
In 1961, the Army offered me the opportunity to earn a degree as a medical laboratory technologist because of my extensive experience in patient care. I seized the opportunity to become an additional asset to caring for patients, and it led to some of the most interesting work I’ve ever done.
The military sent me to Fort Sam Houston in Texas to complete the training. I was then assigned to a medical research laboratory in Thailand for three years to try to find a solution to the blood and intestinal parasites that were plaguing the population. Through our efforts, we were able to educate patients on ways to prevent catching these parasites and discovered new ways to treat affected patients.
It was an amazing tour. I learned a lot and got the opportunity to help improve the health of patients in different ways. When my tour ended, I returned to the states and taught medical laboratory technology sciences for a year before retiring from the military in 1968 and starting my civilian career.
Commitment to Patients and the Profession
I can still hear my father’s voice telling me as a kid, “Do what you’re paid to do and a little bit more and you won’t have to worry about finding a job.” The wisdom in his words instilled in me a strong desire to go the extra mile whenever I could for my patients and co-workers. I was also fortunate enough to have several mentors in my career who echoed that sentiment in their advice as well as their actions, which only increased my commitment to supporting the profession I love.
I worked at small hospitals and clinics for 30 years after leaving the Army primarily because it allowed me to work one on one with patients and to get to know them personally. Also, the smaller facilities often allowed me to work both as a radiographer and a medical laboratory technician. Throughout my career, I always felt a strong need to be there for my patients whenever they needed me. In fact, the last full year I worked my schedule was 12 days on with two days off because I was the only R.T. working at that small hospital. I received $5 per patient taken during on-call hours, and I made $5,000 that year between on-call and overtime hours.
As many of you know, it was hard at times taking so many on-call patients because it kept me from seeing my family as much as I wanted. But I’ll never complain about taking care of people who were sick or injured. They needed help and I had the skills and knowledge to help them, so there was no question of putting in the work or not.
I have always tried to serve my patients and my fellow R.T.s to the best of my ability. It was this drive to help others and a desire to support the R.T. community on a different level that led me to begin donating to the Foundation over 20 years ago. I still donate as often as I can because I know that every little bit adds up.
I encourage every R.T. to support the Foundation in any way possible because it helps create a bright future for the profession we love. When a lot of individuals donate, it doesn’t matter what size the individual gifts are because together we can make a large difference.