Good news arrived in early May when higher-ups approved Phil’s request for six months temporary duty with the proviso that in November 1946, he would return to an appropriate medical facility, likely Walter Reed General Hospital[1] in Washington, for reconsideration of his physical capacity for military duty.[2]

The news gladdened Phil, who suddenly felt more optimistic than ever about his prospects. That morning at Lawson, he visited the small hospital chapel for a moment of prayer and reflection. As he knelt in one of the pews, he realized that a new chapter was being written in his life. He was becoming a new man, a better man, a whole man.

The rest of the day, Phil packed and made the rounds, saying goodbye to his friends, as well as the staff and doctors. The following morning, he hopped in his car and began driving northbound for Fort Myer, Virginia, a 600-mile journey that represented a new future.

Would he win his appeal not to be honorably discharged from the Army because he was an officer with an amputated limb? No officer had ever made— much less won—that appeal, but he sensed a new wind blowing across the land of the free and the home of the brave.[3]

(TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW)

~~~~~

[1] The name of Walter Reed General Hospital was changed to Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in 1951. Named after yellow fever researcher Walter Reed, the medical facility was the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Walter Reed General Hospital closed in 2011 and was combined with the National Naval Medical Center to form the tri-service Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

[2] Larimore, At First Light, 304.

[3] Ibid.

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December 24, 1945M