As Phil’s spirits were refreshed and renewed, a thought formed in his mind. He wanted to make the military a career and pursue a return to active duty.[1]

That summer, he began a drive to stay in the Army by contacting various commands about working for them. Surely, with his vast experience on the field of battle, there was something he could do.

At the same time, he knew this would be an uphill battle.

U.S. Army policy stipulated that any officer suffering an amputation would, at the end of their rehabilitation, receive a medical discharge and be forced to leave the military.

Enlisted men were treated differently. Those with amputations could remain in the army if they convinced their superiors that they could still do the job.

But NOT officers. Phil thought this policy was inane, insane, and inhumane—simply put, he thought it unjust, unfair, and unethical.

He wrote this to his mother:

Wish you would look in the ’42 G.C.M.A. catalog and see if the PMS&T[2]i was Lt. Col. Howard Clark II and also look in the lower right-hand drawer of my desk and inside a little wooden box is a bunch of letters. One of them is a letter written by Col. Clark. I wish you would send that to me. I think Col. Clark commands a post not far from here, and if it is him, I want to go down to see him about a job.[3]

His mother also began a letter-writing campaign to support him. A letter from Memphis attorney Abe D. Waldauer to U.S. Congressman Cliff Davis wrote:

Captain Larimore … is an honest-to-goodness front-line soldier. He commanded a company at twenty years of age and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant before he was eighteen, having to wait until his eighteenth birthday to be sworn in. He has lost his right leg, which was amputated following wounds. He desires to remain in the service and does not wish to be discharged by reason of this disability.

Please look into the matter and ascertain whether or not it is the policy of the Army to keep in service those who are wounded in action. In the last war, they would have discharged a man with an amputation. But it occurs to me as possible and likely that in this war … the Government might find ways and means of retaining Captain Larimore’s service.[4,5]

~~~~~

[1] Larimore, At First Light, 277.

[2] PMS&T means Professor of Military Science & Tactics.

[3] The original letter is in the Philip B. Larimore archives at the LSU Military Museum in Baton Rouge.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Larimore, Ibid, 277-278.

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