Highway portion honors Navy Hospital Corpsmen Nothing in the world could have prepared Charles “Dan” Daniel for what he saw that August day in 1942. Four short months after his eighteenth birthday, the United States Navy Hospital Corpsman found himself at the island of Tulagi as part of WWII’s first major American offensive in the South Pacific. The Japanese had a stronghold on Tulagi, a small island within the Solomon Island group. Tulagi was a stepping stone to achieving control of Guadalcanal, a critical initiative in the war. It was a long way from home in tiny Beaver Dam, Kentucky near Owensboro. It was also Daniel’s first brush with death in combat. “It was a shock,” said the now 90-year-old Ft. Wright resident. “It got your attention, believe me, but you grew up in a hurry.” At the time, it was his job as a Navy Hospital Corpsman to administer medical aid to the 1st and 2nd Raider Battalion of the 1st Marine Division because the Navy Hospital Corpsmen provide their medical services to both sailors and Marines. “The Japanese had prepositioned guns up on the elevation to cover any traffic in the straits and boy, I’ll tell you they were accurate,” Daniel said of the sniper fire they came under as they invaded the island. “So that was a job to get rid of those guns. We also got rid of an awful lot of our corpsmen.” It was the corpsmen, often referred to as “doc,” who would collect and clear, or triage, the wounded until they could be seen by physicians at the field hospitals. It was also the corpsmen who would take a bullet protecting the injured on the front lines. “I know that that Marine I’m working on, he’d risk his life to save mine,” Daniel said, noting the special bond between the Marines and the Hospital Corpsmen. The obvious red cross affixed to their arms, an international symbol meant to protect medical personnel from harm during conflict, was like a bullseye. “The corpsmen were not allowed to be armed and the United States were abiding by the Geneva compact of 1929,” recalled Daniel. “Well, the Japanese didn’t abide by that so that red cross became a target and most of us, we took that thing off, but a lot of people were killed before we did that.” The symbol would be replaced in 1948 by the caduceus, a medical symbol featuring a winged staff entwined with two serpents. Largely unscathed throughout the war, Daniel was, however, on the receiving end of treatment by Hospital Corpsmen when he contracted malaria, filariasis, a parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes, and when he suffered a minor shrapnel injury. Daniel was one of thousands of Hospital Corpsmen who routinely risked their lives for their fellow brethren. And he’s spent the past two years trying to get a highway dedicated to the brave men and women who have served honorably as Hospital Corpsmen. Daniel said the Navy Hospital Corps is among the most decorated in the service. “We are also the most ignored and I thought this is not quite right,” Daniel said. So, Daniel got the ball rolling by contacting State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill and Lauren Armstrong from Fleet Reserve Association, a nonprofit dedicated to representing the Sea Service community before Congress, according to their web site, to help with his mission. Now, his grassroots efforts have paid off as a portion of US-25/Dixie Hwy. in Ft. Wright between Rivard Drive and St. James Avenue has been named in honor of the United States Navy Hospital Corpsmen. Nancy Wood, public information officer for the Kentucky Department of Transportation, said this is the only Kentucky roadway memorializing the Navy Hospital Corpsmen. A highway dedication ceremony organized by Wood was held at the Ft. Wright city building on Sept. 3. “They are the unsung heroes on the battlefield,” said McDaniel, who sponsored the legislation for the highway dedication and also served as a U.S. Army infantry officer. “Those corpsmen and medics have saved countless numbers of American lives on the battlefield.” McDaniel attended the highway dedication ceremony along with Daniel, who was overjoyed at the designation. “I believe we were each put on Earth for something and by getting this recognition, I think maybe that’s what I was put here for,” Daniel said. Never mind the fact that his naval career began at the ripe age of 17 after his parents signed for him and wished him well. Or, that he served not only in Tulagi, but at Okinawa and Iwo Jima. Or that he was held over to serve again in Korea. He would go on to earn the equivalent of a Physician Assistant certification and become a Senior Chief Instructor, training other corpsmen. In 1960, after nearly 20 years, he retired from the Navy and had many successes in the private sector. Daniel says emphatically this dedication is meant for all Hospital Corpsmen, not wanting the focus to be on himself. He says he was just doing his job. “If it hadn’t been me, it would have been another one doing just as well or better,” Daniel said. “This highway pays tribute and is a legacy to those past, present and future and the unwavering dedication to upholding our motto, ‘Semper Fortis,’ for always courageous,” said United States Navy Force Master Chief, Director Hospital Corps Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Sherman Boss, also present at the dedication. “Throughout their history of service, Hospital Corpsmen have become the most decorated group of enlisted men and women, achieving 22 Medals of Honor, 174 Navy Crosses, 31 Navy Distinguished Service Medals, 948 Silver Stars, innumerable Purple Hearts, and 22 ships commissioned in their honor.” Boss also noted that there are 30,000 Hospital Corpsmen serving in a multitude of capacities today. Nearly half of all sailors wounded and a third of all sailors killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are corpsmen.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:53:05 +0000