Foreword
Few Army activities are subject to closer scrutiny than thoseof protecting the health of the troops and binding up the wounds of those whohave borne the battle. As in the matter of feeding and clothing, the generalpublic has well-established civilian standards against which it can measure theefficiency of those responsible for the Army's medical service. When conductedwith speed and professional competence this service is a source of comfort toboth the man in uniform and his family and friends; when it fails to equal orexcel the system of medical care to which American society is accustomed it issubject to immediate and strong protest from a people able and willing tocriticize. The successful conduct of a military medical service thereforerequires not only a knowledge of contemporary civilian medical practice but alsoadministrative talent capable of adjusting the demands of the public and themedical profession to the Army's needs in time of war with the minimum offriction.
This is the first volume of a series which relates thehospitalization and evacuation experience of the Army in World War II. It shouldprove enlightening both to military men directly or indirectly concerned withthe Army's medical service and to that large group of doctors and hospitaladministrators who daily face policy and management problems similar to thoserecounted here.
Washington, D. C. A. C. SMITH
25 June 1954 Major General, USA
Chief, Military History
