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Wakeman General
Hospital |
| Franklin Evening Star - 26
July 1945 Camp Atterbury Observes 170th Anniversary of Army's Medics WAKEMAN HOSPITAL CENTER, July 26.-Tomorrow marks the 170th anniversary of the Army Medical Department which is being observed by units of this Camp Atterbury installation under the command of Col. Frank L. Cole. Observance of the anniversary was made Wednesday afternoon from 2:30 until 2:45 during regular weekly Wakeman Highlights broadcast over radio station WIBC, Indianapolis, featuring Colonel Cole who gave a history of growth of the Center as a part of the Army Medical Department. The Army Medical Department was created on July 27, 1775 on the insistence of General George Washington, who recognized the urgent need for a medical organization to insure each man in his command laving medical treatment. From its beginning until the present time, : he Medical Department has made ready progress in military medicine and has made scientific discoveries that have benefited all mankind. As a result, the American soldier of today gets the best medical care that soldiers from any nation have ever received, Colonel Cole said. Today, 97 out of every 100 war causalities who reach Army hospitals are .wed, he pointed out. Wakeman Hospital Center, today the third largest such Army installation in the nation, had a modest beginning in July 1942 when it was opened as a Station hospital at! Camp Atterbury. In April of 1944 the increased need for medical facilities resulted in the installation being designated as a General Hospital to be known as Wakeman General Hospital and named in honor of Col. Frank B. Wakeman, Hoosier educated doctor, pharmacist, writer and instructor. Soon after the designation of Wakeman General Hospital the expanding convalescent service was moved to a `separate area and In September of 1944 the hospital was officially changed to Wakeman General and Convalescent Hospital. Capacity Is Increased More than 5,000 beds were available at this time for both General Hospital and reconditioning patients and then in January additional beds were authorized for the convalescent service to bring the total to more than 8,500 beds. On May 1, 1945 - just a little more than a year since the General Hospital had been designated-the installation was named by the Army as Wakeman Hospital Center - one of nine such centers in the United States. Composed of Wakeman General Hospital, commanded by Col Harry F. Becker; Wakeman Convalescent Hospital, commanded by Col. Charles T. Young; and the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School (WAC), commanded by Col. H. N. Ervin, the Center with its approximate 9,000 patients today still is continuing to expand with Medical Department proper. |
| Franklin Evening Star - 22
September 1945
Announce Wakeman Now Being Closed |
| Franklin Evening Star - 04
October 1945 Activities at Wakeman Agricultural School Farm End With Corn Harvest With the harvesting of over $5,000 worth of sweet corn, activities at the Wakeman Hospital agriculture school farm are coming to an end. Picking of a few other crops. including the third planting of radishes, will continue while the last ears of corn are served at Wakeman mess tables, but there will be no more large harvests until the turkeys raised by the school are ready for their "reward" on Thanksgiving. Started last spring by Lt. Michael E. Swinehart. the agriculture school was given 200 acres of land for a farm project. Corps grown on the farm were served at mess hall throughout the Camp Atterbury reservation. When the corn crops grew to too large proportions, what couldn't be used fresh was sent to a cannery. Excluding a dedication for the cost of processing and canning, the corn will return to Wakeman in tins. Other crops grown at Wakeman include two plantings of lettuce, tomatoes. cucumbers, watermelons. cantaloupes. peas and beans. Two thousand students lent a helping hand on the farm at one time or another. A large farm machinery repair department and a carpenter shop were operated by the students. At the termination of its farm activities. the agriculture school is looking forward to opening a horticultural department and the taking over of several orchards, numbering 400 trees. located in the camp. It will teach proper care of trees and whys to increase fruit productivity. |
| Franklin Evening Star - 16
October 1945 MAY BE PERMANENT INSTALLATION Only Ten of 78 General Convalescent Centers Will Remain Open At Year's End Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury probably will be one of the station hospitals which the War Department plats to continue as permanent installations, according to word received in Indianapolis today. The future of the Camp Atterbury hospital was thrown open to question when Congressman Louis Ludlow of Indianapolis, revealed that the army is considering closing Billings Hospital at Fort Benjamin Harrison. It was understood that only 10 of the general and convalescent hospitals out of the 78 now maintained by the war department would remain open after the end of the fiscal year. However, Brig. Gen. Raymond W. Bliss head of the hospital board of the surgeon general's office was quoted as saying: "We will maintain a considerable number of posts and station hospitals in addition to these. We will have at least 10 general and specialized army institutions. As the matter now stands, we will keep Wakeman as a station hospital to match the general plan." |
| Franklin Evening Star - 05
November 1945 Wakeman Convalescent Hospital to be closed December 15th. Senator Raymond D. Willis, was informed today that Wakeman Convalescent Hospital at Camp Atterbury will be closed not later than December 15th. The hospital has been declared, "In excess of Army needs". However Senator Willis was told that Wakeman General Hospital will continue to function for an indefinite period. |
| Franklin Evening News - 20
November 1945 ETO UNIT IS AT WAKEMAN Overseas Hospital Group Reports For Parallel Training Program The 80th Field Hospital, recently returned from overseas, has arrived at Wakeman Hospital Center from Camp Sibert, Ala., for an indefinite period of "parallel training." Maj. Arvin P. Fry is the commanding officer of the outfit which served in England, Belgium, France and Germany before returning to this country after the end of the war, In Europe the 80th served with the 15th Army. Personnel of the hospital includes 19 officers and 110 men. Barracks for the outfit are located adjoining the hospital detachments. At Wakeman under the parallel training system the field hospital medical corpsmen will work alongside the general hospital EM and Wacs in caring for patients. Members of the field hospital served eight months overseas, leaving last Christmas froth New York and returning froth Marseilles, France, Aug. 20 of this year. Many of the personnel have been changed since returning from Europe and new men added. |
| Franklin Evening Star - 22
November 1945 First Peace-Time Thanksgiving Is Held at Wakeman With much more than usual to be thankful for, Wakeman's patients and personnel today observed their first peace-time Thanksgiving in four years. Everywhere there was a profound feeling of thankfulness that the war had ended sooner than expected, and most personnel were deeply thankful that this would be the last Thanksgiving they would observe in uniform. A large number of patients were at home to observe Thanksgiving and eat dinner with their families. All patients who were physically able to travel and whose homes were close enough were given passes. For the patients who remained at the hospital all elaborate "spread" was planned. Tables were moved from the mess hall to the wards and Thanksgiving dinner was served in the wards in an atmosphere as near home-like as the hospital could make it. Wives of many patients attended the dinner parties. Special religious services were part of the Thanksgiving observance. A Protestant service was held in the general hospital chapel and Catholic mass was held there, also. The Red cross held open house and a canteen corps served refreshments. Thursday night a USO show, Russian Revels was scheduled for the hospital auditorium. The Thanksgiving menu included shrimp cocktail, roast turkey, sage dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green peas, peach and cottage cheese salad, pumpkin pie, fruit cake a la mode, coffee and milk. |
| Franklin Evening Star - 27
November 1945 COL. MOORE IS NEW HEAD OF HOSPITAL Successor To Col. Harry Becker As Commanding Officer At Wakeman General Hospital Col. Prentice L. Moore, a veteran of 21 years in the Army Medial Corps, has assumed command of Wakeman G e n e r a 1 Hospital succeeding Col. Harry F. Becker who is retiring from service. Col. Moore, who entered the Medical Corps in 1924, went overseas in World War II as commander of the 66th Medical Group and saw service in the ETD first with the 1st and then with the 3rd Army with which lie remained to the end of hostilities in Europe. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Col. Moore graduated from the University of Texas medical school. H^ interned at the Santa Rosa Hospital at San Antonio and remained at the hospital as resident physician before going into private practice at Marion, Texas. After four years, he entered the Medical Corps in 1924, Previously in World War I he served as an enlisted man. Col. Moore has traveled widely with the Army and has seen service at Ft. Omaha. Neb.; Ft. Snelling. Minn.; Panama Canal Zone, Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; and Carisle Barracks, Pa. "From the professional standpoint, the high type of specialization has been nothing short of marvelous at this hospital," Col. Moore said on assuming command. "There are specialists here who have no peers anywhere in the United States. "The work done along these lines here Is as good if not better than could be purchased if our patients had wealth and unlimited time at their disposal. Our government has set up the best possible facilities for patient care at this hospital." |
| Franklin Evening Star - 01
December 1945 Final steps are being taken to close Wakeman Convalescent Hospital here December 15th. 3 OTHER UNITS OF CENTER TO BE CONTINUED. Medical Technician School, General Hospital, 80th Field Hospital Are Not Affected. The largest unit of Wakeman Hospital Center, Wakeman Convalescent Hospital, will be discontinued December 15, and final steps for closing are now being made. Other units of the center, the Wakeman General Hospital. the Medical Technicians School and the 80th Field Hospital, will continue in operation. Once simply a part of the general hospital's reconditioning service in one of the wards, the convalescent reconditioning service, as it was known, started on the road to becoming a hospital in Itself when it moved to an area In the north section Camp Atterbury. Later it moved to the south end of the camp and at its peak cared for 6,000 patients with 1,000 assigned officers and enlisted men last summer. The hospital's education reconditioning section, at first nothing more than an expanded occupational therapy set-up, grew until it became a "GI" university of 33 schools. The staff of instructors swelled to over 100 for 3,700 patients-students to August of this year. In a year of operation several thousand patients have attended shops and Classes and many of them have returned to civilian life with a new skill or hobby, a re-awaking of old Interests, or had refresher training In former fields. Thirty odd high school courses and some - college credits through United States Armed Forces Institute accreditation Farm Project Large Enterprise Many Recreational Activities |
| Franklin Evening Star - 17
December 1945 Major Changes in Staff at Wakeman The closing of Wakeman Convalescent Hospital and Wakeman Hospital Center Saturday will result in three major staff changes in Wakeman General Hospital, which will continue in operation. Col. Frank L. Cole, who has commanded the center since last May, will assume command of the general hospital, and Col. Prentice L Moore, commanding officer of the general hospital, will become executive officer. Maj. Joe Bassett, who has: been center executive officer, will be assistant executive officer of the general hospital. The medical department enlisted technicians school will be attached to the general hospital and will continue to operate under the command of Col. Humphrey N. Ervin, it's resent commanding officer. |
| Franklin Evening Star - 31
December 1945 WAKEMAN WILL BE CONTINUED National Announcement Says Army Hospital To Be Maintained Interest to Edinburg business firms and residents generally is the announcement of the army and navy departments this morning regarding the future of Camp Atterbury and Wakeman Hospital Center. According to the announcement made in Washington, Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury is to be maintained as one of the army's big general hospitals. This statement was construed by Washington officials to mean that Camp Atterbury will continue in use as one of the nation's principal army bases. Another division of the camp's hospital center, that known as Wakeman Convalescent Hospital, is to be closed. It has been offered to the Veterans Administration but was tentatively rejected by that organization as unsuited to the continued housing of veteran patients, both for lack of personnel and because it is not a fire-proof building. This Washington announcement also included the planned future or disposition of all other Indiana military establishments, whether training posts, air fields, warehouses, or war manufacturing institution.. Those which were listed as "surplus" are to be disposed of within 90 days. With Wakeman General Hospital and Camp Atterbury continued on the active list, it would seem Edinburg's biggest military establishment is not doomed to become a "ghost city", for the present at least. |
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James D. West - Indiana Military Org All Rights Reserved Page Last Revised 12/17/2006 |