DR. WHO
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
WILL WARD, MD
AUTHOR Aaron Burch
J
oining the Armed Forces often means servicemen and
servicewomen are given unexpected assignments which
require outstanding character and mental fortitude. For
example, how could a young Will Ward growing up in
Georgetown, Ky., have guessed that one day his medical
skills would save the life of a Saudi Arabian general? A
combination of luck and skill led Dr. Ward through a re-
markable life, both overseas and in Kentucky, where he practiced
medicine for over four decades.
The quiet farmland between Louisville and Lexington was Dr.
Ward’s stomping grounds as a boy. When his father lost his job
during the Great Depression, the family moved to his grandfather’s
farm. “We got there and fixed the house up. We even put indoor
plumbing in,” Dr. Ward remembered.
His father found a job in Frankfort, Ky., and Dr. Ward would
ride with him to school each morning. His best friend and playmate
during this time was Ben Chandler, the son of Gov. Happy Chandler.
“We played from first to fourth grade, sometimes at the Governor’s
Mansion where his family lived.”
Dr. Ward’s family became more comfortable on the farm and
more efficient in their work. His mother and grandfather were in
charge of the day-to-day activities. At the time, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt was sending government officials across the country
to teach farmers how to rotate their crops and get more out of their
land. This helped Dr. Ward and his loved ones survive when times
were most tough.
“My mother had gone to an all-girls school in Shelbyville known
as Science Hill. When she visited the headmistresses, they suggested
she invest in my education and send me away for high school,” Dr.
Ward said, remembering that he had to undergo a series of aptitude
tests. “Apparently, I did well enough for my grandfather to invest
in me, and off I went.”
Dr. Ward was sent to McCallie, a semi-military prep school in
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
Chattanooga, Tenn., as a generation of boys slightly older than he
went off to fight in World War II. “Everybody wanted to go. There
were people who hoped the war would last longer so they could
serve too. The desire was universal at the time,” said Dr. Ward. Still,
he was too young. Dr. Ward would have to wait a few more years
before his chance to serve would arrive.
In the meantime, he focused on his studies and graduated in
1947 with a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University. “At that point
in time, the school of medicine recognized nationwide was Johns
Hopkins. I figured that if I could get a scholarship to Vanderbilt,
why not Johns Hopkins? I applied but didn’t get one. However, my
grandparents believed in me and could afford to help, so they paid
the bill. I was pretty lucky, truth be told.”
His time at Johns Hopkins was formative, not only for his contin-
ued exceptional education but also because he joined the Air ROTC
while attending. After just three years, Dr. Ward had enough credits
to graduate from the undergraduate program. However, he didn’t
qualify for medical school at Johns Hopkins because it asked for
four years of foreign language study. Instead, he made the decision
to come back to the University of Louisville where his grandfather,
uncle and cousin had attended medical school.
“In those days, the Dean of the medical school selected the
students. With my family’s history at UofL, they were happy to
take me,” Dr. Ward explained. “Right as I began medical school,
the Korean War broke out, and the military’s biggest shortage was
doctors. So, if you were accepted to medical school and agreed to
serve, you received a four-year deferment and a one year internship.
I took that instead of going to Korea.”
Dr. Ward made quick work of medical school and his rotating
internship at the University of Pennsylvania which followed in
1954-55. At this opportune moment, the US Department of Defense
announced the “Berry Plan,” named after Assistant Secretary of
Defense Dr. Frank Berry. The Berry Plan allowed the armed forces
to take in a steady supply of trained professionals to fill out their