WHERE SERVICE MEETS MEDICINE
These reflections on service were self-submitted by GLMS members. If you served in our armed forces and would like to write about your experience, please submit an article to kathryn. vance @ glms. org.
Timir Banerjee, MD
Branch of service: U. S. Navy Years served: 1981-1987
“ Resigned as Navy commander reserve. I did my ACDUTRA at Louisville, Memphis and San Diego at Bilbao. I learned a lot about our country, drank a lot of martinis, saw a lot of Army people because they didn’ t have a board-certified neurosurgeon, mostly had a lot of camaraderie.”
David E, Bybee, MD
Branch of Service: Lieutenant Commander, Medical Corps, U. S. Navy Years of Service: 1975-1979
“ I look at my military service as a gift to me. Stationed at the National Naval Medical Center for my entire term of service, I learned much and enjoyed a warm and caring family of colleagues”
Nemesio B. Bucayu, Jr., MD
Branch of Service: U. S. Navy Years served: 1970-1972, 1980-1983
“ I was drafted as a newly trained 33-year-old anesthesiologist, green card holder from the Philippines into the U. S. Navy Medical Corps in June of 1970. I was assigned to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, part of the U. S. Naval Base, District Four as a staff anesthesiologist, with the rank of Navy Lieutenant. When I reported for duty on July 1, 1970, I was made a Lieutenant Commander. My duties as a staff member were to provide anesthesia care to Vietnam casualties of all military branches – Navy, Marines, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard – who were from the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. We also provided elective anesthesia care for veterans and dependents. The hospital had multi-specialty medical providers and staff. Aside from treating traumatic emergencies, war casualties and elective surgeries in adults and children, we also mentored medical students and interns from the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson Medical Schools. I served two years of active duty and three months before I was ready to finish my military obligation, I was promoted to the rank of full Navy Commander. When I moved to Louisville in 1975, I joined an anesthesia practice group at St. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital where I retired in 2000. I also served in the U. S. Navy Reserve at the Naval Ordnance for three years( 1980-1983). I did weekend drills and served also two weeks active duty per year in various Navy hospitals in the country. Luckily, I was never deployed to Vietnam, maybe due to my having a family with two small children. In retrospect, I was glad and proud to serve my fellow citizens and share my medical expertise to those casualties of war. I became a naturalized American in October of 1970.”