31 December 2020 - US SOLDIER SAVED BY GERMAN DOCTOR IN WW 11

 

 

 

 US SOLDIER SAVED BY 

GERMAN DOCTOR IN WW 11

 

G'day folks,

 

 Army doctors often face a conflict between their oath to save all lives and the interest of the camp they belong to. 

 

Luckily for Elmer "Curly" Richardson, an Iowan soldier drafted to the US troops during WWII, the doctor who treated him was a strong believer of the Hippocratic Oath. As the young soldier was on his way to the Battle of the Bulge on the border between Belgium and Germany, their division was ambushed by Nazis, and Richardson was shot and captured.

 

According to the Des Moines Register, the wounded soldier's life was saved by Ludwig Gruber, the doctor in the enemy camp, despite not being eligible for any medical care, “Elmer should have died. He was an enemy combatant and not entitled to the same care and comfort as a wounded German’, or at least that is what the hospital's commanding officers told Ludwig. Ludwig ignored them. After a week, the US army came to collect the captives, and with the help of Richardson's negotiations, the two parties came to a truce, which ultimately saved many lives on both sides.

 

The doctor and the American soldier continued corresponding even after the war.

 

Clancy's comment: Go, Curly. 

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