When Duty Called -- The 50Th General Hospital, A Witness To History, Is Ready For War Once Again

Frederick Lemere said it was an awesome sight.

From 3 o'clock in the morning until noon, American planes filled the skies over Plymouth, England, on their way to Normandy to take part in the liberation of France from German occupation during World War II.

But what struck Lemere even more were the long Red Cross trains stretched out along the tracks, standing by and waiting to transport the casualties of war.

``I guess the sight of those trains really brought it all home to me, that many of those men would die or come back wounded,'' said Lemere, who was then chief of psychiatric services for the Seattle-based 50th General Hospital.

What triggered the long-undisturbed memory for him and other surviving members of the unit from that era was news that Lemere's unit would again be called into service.

On Nov. 17, the Army's 50th General was reactivated in the largest mobilization of a reserve unit since the start of Operation Desert Shield.

The unit, made up of physicians, nurses, technicians and other medical workers - many from the Seattle area - will staff a 1,000-bed hospital in the event of a war with Iraq. The 624-member unit is undergoing combat training at Fort Lewis and is waiting for word on when the group will be sent abroad.

For the 50th General, first assembled in 1917, it was only the the latest summons to tend to the casualties of wars.

In the last year of the First World War, the unit - which included 26 medical officers, 84 nurses, and about 250 enlisted men - operated a hospital that treated 7,500 patients in five months.

In World War II, the 50th General operated a hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, and then was chosen to follow in the historic invasion of Normandy. The expedition included 68 doctors, 105 nurses and about 500 enlisted personnel.

``It revived a lot of the memories - both good and bad,'' Lemere said of the unit's reactivation last month. ``The camaraderie of the outfit was the main thing - we were real close. But on the bad side were all the wounded soldiers and the ones who had a nervous breakdown.''

Treatment for soldiers who suffered from battle exhaustion largely was limited to injections that put patients in a sleeplike state. ``It allowed them to relive their battle experiences and get it out of their system,'' Lemere said. But only about 10 percent of the patients ever recovered sufficiently to return to their units.

``A large number of soldiers suffered mental wounds during the war. People don't realize that there are mental wounds as well as physical wounds. Our hospital was filled with the psychological casualties of the war,'' said Lemere, now 82 and still practicing in Seattle.

To Jay Sullivan, who served as a medic during the war and as the unit's unofficial historian after the war, service in the 50th General Hospital was more than just a job.

``It was a watershed event in my life,'' said Sullivan, now 66. ``I tend to look at everything in my life as being before or after Normandy. I valued my service with them.''

After the war, Sullivan became a pharmacist and is now semi-retired. He joined the 50th General Hospital Army reserves in 1952 and was active until he left in 1980.

``I was surprised that the unit was reactivated,'' he said. ``It's been 45 years since it's been called to duty. It was constantly in my thoughts.''

The warm feelings toward the unit is shared by Lona Yates, who was a nurse with the 50th General: ``It was an experience that I would never forget. The main good thing about the war was the feeling that we were doing a lot of good for our boys.''

Although the general hospitals were set up well behind the front lines, teams of doctors and nurses risked their lives by going to soldiers who were closer to the fighting.

Medical crews also faced exposure to the diseases contracted by soldiers they were treating. Yates said that a handful of nurses died during the war from various illnesses. Sullivan, who worked in the receiving department, said he caught measles and scarlet fever.

The camaraderie that evolved continued on afterward. The surviving nurses who live in the Seattle metropolitan area (there are about 20) still meet occasionally, Yates said.

Despite their attachment to the 50th General and pride in the fact it was their unit that was selected for duty, the veterans have mixed feelings about the unit's current expedition.

The lack of a clear motive for conflict will be difficult for the unit's members, Lemere said.

``In the Second World War, nobody wanted (Adolf) Hitler to take over the world. There was no ifs, ands or buts about it,'' he said. ``Today it's not as clear as it was back then.''

Another crucial factor in the psychological health of the unit is the support of the people back home.

``In World war II, from a psychiatric standpoint, it was a lot easier and clearer than it was in Vietnam or Saudi Arabia, where there are so many mixed feelings about that going on,'' Lemere said. ``In World War II we had the support of the public.''

Those who go to Saudi Arabia are likely to suffer from the same low morale and doubts that plagued those who served in Vietnam, Lemere said.

``It was different in World War II because everyone there knew what they were fighting for, unlike the wars that have happened since then,'' Lemere said. ``It must be terrible as far as morale goes, and that has a big bearing on the soldiers. The psychiatrists there must have a hard time because there is no clear motive for a war.''

Lemere said his own feelings about the U.S. response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait vacillate.

``I wake up one morning feeling that we should go in there and finish it off and the next day I want them all to come home,'' he said.

Yates is concerned about the impact that prolonged separation will have on the families.

``All of the nurses who served then were single and had no families,'' she said. ``I feel badly about breaking up families and seeing women leave two or three kids. I feel very distressed over it. I don't foresee the outcome of it as being any good. Something that goes on over that length of time isn't going to be good for families.''

Concern for the current members of the unit is rooted in a feeling of kinship, Sullivan said.

``There's a continuity there,'' Sullivan said. ``It's not a different unit, it's the 50th to me.''

Both Lemere and Yates agreed.

Every year, the veterans of the unit are honored by the current 50th General members at a formal dinner. Through these affairs, Yates said she has met several of the reservists now preparing to go abroad.

``I feel close to them,'' Yates said. ``It will always be our unit. Usually we hold our dinners in March or April. We probably won't have this year.''