If you’re fortunate enough to have a day off today, it’s because of the sacrifices made by our military servicemembers. We have a beautiful Memorial Day tribute in Boston right now. For the 2nd year running, a garden of flags blankets the ground in front of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument…
Category: Military
Beyond The Battlefield
This week I heard a radio interview with David Wood. A journalist since 1970, Wood is currently the senior Military Correspondent for the Huffington Post where he covers military issues, foreign affairs, and combat operations. He was talking about “Beyond the Battlefield”, a 10-part series that he recently wrote for…
New Bill Aims To Unite Disabled Veterans With Shelter Dogs
The House of Representatives last week passed a bill introduced by NY Congressman Michael Grimm, himself a Marine veteran, that will help both dogs and servicemembers. The legislation establishes a pilot program in VA medical centers whereby veterans with PTSD will receive instruction in the handling and training of shelter…
Medicine Man
This past weekend I had an enjoyable experience in Ogdensburg, upstate NY at their annual Founder’s Day commemoration of the region’s French colonial history. They held a re-enactment of the French-Indian War, bringing the mid-18th century to life for a couple of days. One of the events I attended there…
Exercise Intolerance In Soldiers Returning From Deployment
The latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine describes the results of an interesting series of cases of respiratory symptoms in a group of soldiers returning from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Eighty soldiers at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, were referred for medical evaluation due to respiratory symptoms between…
Minutemen, Militia and Medicine
Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, once said: “If you want to study medicine, go to war”. In 1776 there were only 3,500 physicians in the colonies. These men clearly played a disproportionate role during the Revolutionary War, with around 1,300 of them serving as military surgeons at this time. During…