New York-Tidewater Chapters' History of Military Medicine Award. The military odyssey of Norman Bethune.
While visiting the Peoples Republic of China in 1982, I became aware of the work of the Canadian, Norman Bethune, as a military surgeon. Bethune first served as a stretcher-bearer in an ambulance unit and later as a medical officer with the Allies during the First World War. He also participated in the Spanish Civil War as a military physician. He died in China while serving with Mao Tse-tung's 8th Route Army, fighting the Japanese invaders in Yenan. Bethune pioneered the use of whole blood transfusions in combat areas, first in Spain and then in China. In the annals of Chinese military history, he has been given an honored place as a military surgeon and a martyr. He is also credited in China with improving the practice of battlefield medicine, as an organizer, teacher, and innovator. Bethune's fame in China is now spreading to Canada.
Alexander
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Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, NC 27701, USA.
D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000266:history; D002170:Canada; D002681:China; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000266:history*; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000266:history; D013030:Spain; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000266:history*