Overview

The author, a veteran, is professor and chief of general surgery for the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Details the struggles at five iconic American battles: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne (World War II); Chosin (Korea); Khe Sanh (Vietnam). Most readers do not think about what happens to wounded soldiers; this book is as gripping and moving as any great military history, yet it revolves around the immediate care of soldiers who have suffered in combat. All of the medical personnel discussed are often within in yards of the fighting. In many ways, this book provides a much better sense of actual combat than any fighting soldier's memoir. Here, often in little to no light, often crawling on the ground, doctors try to assess who can be saved amidst the carnage. In some cases, they must attempt to provide medical care with no supplies. Nurses, doctors, and corpsmen are all discussed in each battle and how they worked together, living and dying alongside the soldiers they were charged with healing. As technology advanced, soldiers who would have died in previous wars were now saved, but as the author reveals through the recollection of doctors, the medical staff were as scarred as the men they had kept alive were they really doing the soldiers a service? Soldiers who would have to carry on with a disfigured face, without an arm, leg, pissing in a bag, or more? This is a very powerful book, well written, passionate, and provides the balance what the actual sacrifices are to traditional military histories. AUTHOR: Thomas S. Helling, MD, is Professor of Surgery and Head, Division of General Surgery, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, he served in the Army Medical Corps from 1991 to 2000. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and member of the American Surgical Association. He is author of Desperate Surgery in the Pacific War: Doctors, Damage Control, and America's Wounded 1941-1945 and author or co-author of over 110 scientific articles.

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9781594163203

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Reviews

""The heroes of the title are the men and women of military medical support units who served in five instances where American forces were under siege: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne, Chosin, and Khe Sanh. The individuals described here demonstrated incredible courage, skill, and perseverance through their effort to aid the wounded, when hope and supplies were almost non-existent. Although ignored by many combat histories, they endured the same terrible conditions, deprivations, and enemy fire that the fighting men did, suffering many casualties along the way. A much-needed companion to the many works focused exclusively on combat history. Highly recommended.""--Choice ""A ground-breaking account of American military medicine. Helling is to be commended for writing this major contribution to the literature of military medicine.""--Journal of America's Military Past ""Helling weaves a riveting and harrowing narrative of the sacrifice, courage, and indomitable spirit residing in the men and women fighting to save the lives of those entrusted to their care. Kudos to Helling for this diligently researched and often emotionally compelling narrative that chronicles the best of the human spirit operating under the worst of circumstances.""--Col. (ret.) Christopher Gruber, Medical Service Corps ""A story of fear, pain, horror, despair, and death, but also a story of compassion, hope, courage, resilience, and fortitude, shared equally by both combat and medical U.S. military personnel.""--Army History ""A history of combat medicine unlike any other, Agony of Heroes is an epic journey through the experiences of military medicine's finest during the most extreme conditions of warfare.""--André B. Sobocinski, Historian, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, USN ""Helling weaves a riveting and harrowing narrative of the sacrifice, courage, and indomitable spirit residing in the men and women fighting to save the lives of those entrusted to their care. Kudos to Helling for this diligently researched and often emotionally compelling narrative that chronicles the best of the human spirit operating under the worst of circumstances.""--Col. (ret.) Christopher Gruber, Medical Service Corps ""A history of combat medicine unlike any other, Agony of Heroes is an epic journey through the experiences of military medicine's finest during the most extreme conditions of warfare. Without the heroic and selfless endeavors of Dr. Helling's frontline protagonists, there is no doubt that the terrible toll of war would have been far, far greater.""--André B. Sobocinski, Historian, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, U.S. Navy

Helling weaves a riveting and harrowing narrative of the sacrifice, courage, and indomitable spirit residing in the men and women fighting to save the lives of those entrusted to their care. Kudos to Helling for this diligently researched and often emotionally compelling narrative that chronicles the best of the human spirit operating under the worst of circumstances. --Col. (ret.) Christopher Gruber, Medical Service Corps A history of combat medicine unlike any other, Agony of Heroes is an epic journey through the experiences of military medicine's finest during the most extreme conditions of warfare. Without the heroic and selfless endeavors of Dr. Helling's frontline protagonists, there is no doubt that the terrible toll of war would have been far, far greater. --Andre B. Sobocinski, Historian, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, U.S. Navy The heroes of the title are the dedicated men and women of military medical support units who served in five instances (from WWII and the Korean War to the US-Vietnam conflict) where American forces were under siege: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne, Chosin, and Khe Sanh. The individuals described here demonstrated incredible courage, skill, and perseverance through their effort to aid the wounded, when hope and supplies were almost non-existent. Although ignored by many combat histories, they endured the same terrible conditions, deprivations, and enemy fire that the fighting men did, suffering many casualties along the way. The sometimes horrific details and documentation found here will help students research and understand the surrounding events. Formerly a staff officer of the US Army Medical Corps, Helling (Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center) has also authored Desperate Surgery in the Pacific War (2017), covering in detail the medics who served all over the Pacific theater. Television series like M*A*S*H and China Beach come nowhere close to accurately portraying what medical personnel have endured in such desperate situations, where death for oneself or one's patients is a constant presence. A much-needed companion to the many works focused exclusively on combat history, this work is accessible and suitable for anyone interested in the subject. Highly recommended. All readers. --Choice The author, a former U.S. Army Medical Corps officer and current Professor of Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has produced a ground-breaking account of American military medicine as practiced at five venues: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne, Chosin, and Khe Sanh. Why these five? As the title suggests, not only were American personnel besieged at these locations, but the conditions under which medical care was provided were emblematic of the most difficult circumstances in which military medical care could be provided. . . . Helling is to be commended for writing this major contribution to the literature of military medicine, a book that belongs on the shelf with classics like Cowdrey's Fighting for Life and The Medics' War and Cosmas and Cowdrey's Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations. --Journal of America's Military Past

The heroes of the title are the dedicated men and women of military medical support units who served in five instances (from WWII and the Korean War to the US-Vietnam conflict) where American forces were under siege: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne, Chosin, and Khe Sanh. The individuals described here demonstrated incredible courage, skill, and perseverance through their effort to aid the wounded, when hope and supplies were almost non-existent. Although ignored by many combat histories, they endured the same terrible conditions, deprivations, and enemy fire that the fighting men did, suffering many casualties along the way. The sometimes horrific details and documentation found here will help students research and understand the surrounding events. Formerly a staff officer of the US Army Medical Corps, Helling (Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center) has also authored Desperate Surgery in the Pacific War (2017), covering in detail the medics who served all over the Pacific theater. Television series like M*A*S*H and China Beach come nowhere close to accurately portraying what medical personnel have endured in such desperate situations, where death for oneself or one's patients is a constant presence. A much-needed companion to the many works focused exclusively on combat history, this work is accessible and suitable for anyone interested in the subject. Highly recommended. All readers. --Choice The author, a former U.S. Army Medical Corps officer and current Professor of Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has produced a ground-breaking account of American military medicine as practiced at five venues: Bataan, Anzio, Bastogne, Chosin, and Khe Sanh. Why these five? As the title suggests, not only were American personnel besieged at these locations, but the conditions under which medical care was provided were emblematic of the most difficult circumstances in which military medical care could be provided. . . . Helling is to be commended for writing this major contribution to the literature of military medicine, a book that belongs on the shelf with classics like Cowdrey's Fighting for Life and The Medics' War and Cosmas and Cowdrey's Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations. --Journal of America's Military Past Helling weaves a riveting and harrowing narrative of the sacrifice, courage, and indomitable spirit residing in the men and women fighting to save the lives of those entrusted to their care. Kudos to Helling for this diligently researched and often emotionally compelling narrative that chronicles the best of the human spirit operating under the worst of circumstances. --Col. (ret.) Christopher Gruber, Medical Service Corps A history of combat medicine unlike any other, Agony of Heroes is an epic journey through the experiences of military medicine's finest during the most extreme conditions of warfare. Without the heroic and selfless endeavors of Dr. Helling's frontline protagonists, there is no doubt that the terrible toll of war would have been far, far greater. --Andre B. Sobocinski, Historian, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, U.S. Navy

Author Information

THOMAS S. HELLING, MD, is Professor of Surgery and Head, Division of General Surgery, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, he served in the Army Medical Corps from 1991 to 2000. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and member of the American Surgical Association. He is author of Desperate Surgery in the Pacific War: Doctors, Damage Control, and America's Wounded 1941-1945 and author or co-author of over 110 scientific articles.

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