VI. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
VACUATION and early treatment of men wounded in action, care and restoration to duty of the
normal sick, precautionary measures to prevent the spread of disease, – in a word, everything
necessary to preserve in fit condition and to return to duty the maximum number of men, – such
was the task of the wearers of the caduceus in the 90th Division.
The story of their activities is a chronicle of the fearlessness of the first-aid men, who, following
the assaulting waves, risked their own lives to save their comrades; of the devotion and daring of the
battalion and regimental surgeons, who pushed their first-aid stations forward under continuous fire; of
the nonchalance, courage, and hardships of the ambulance men; of the unending hours of toil and
nervous tension, at personal risk, on the part of the personnel of the field hospitals; and of the coolness,
foresight, and professional skill of the directing officers.
At the head of the Medical Department was the division surgeon, a position held by Colonel Paul
S. Halloran from the time the Division was organized until after the armistice, when Lieutenant-Colonel
E. L. Parmenter became acting division surgeon until the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel N. L.
McDiarmid. Colonel Halloran’s assistants were Captain (later Major) C. M. Beck, assistant division
surgeon; Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) C. M. Hendricks, division medical gas officer; Captain (later
Major) George A. MacIver, division psychiatrist; Captain (later Major) Paul V. Woolley, division
urologist; and Lieutenant (later Captain) R. K. Ghormley, division orthopedist. The regimental surgeons
during the battle period were Major Curtis Bland, 357th Infantry; Major Karl T. Brown, 358th Infantry;
Major Frank W. Van Kirk, 359th Infantry; Major Willard A. Phares, 360th Infantry; and Major R. D.
Alexander for the St. Mihiel offensive and Captain (later Major) Joseph A. Livingston for the Meuse-
Argonne offensive, 315th Engineers. Under each of the regimental surgeons were six battalion
surgeons. The dental service of the Division was in the hands of Major Richard Kiebler, division dental
surgeon. During the battle activities dental surgeons assigned to regiments acted as assistant battalion
surgeons, rendering invaluable aid in this capacity. The dental assistants acted as first-aid men. Major
Kiebler and Captain (later Major) Carver R. Brown acted as day and night regulating officers at the
Triage.
At the time of the organization of the Division the field hospital section and the ambulance
section operated separately, but on October 16, 1917, the two sections were put under one command,
and Lieutenant-Colonel (then Major) Parmenter was placed in charge of the combined 315th Sanitary
Train. During operations Major H. G. Garwood was director of field hospitals, and Colonel Parmenter
personally directed the ambulance companies.
When the 90th Division entered the line in relief of the 1st Division, headquarters of the sanitary
train and of the ambulance and field hospital sections were established at Rosieres-en-Haye; but prior to
the attack of September 12 all headquarters moved to Griscourt, where the Triage was operated by Field
Hospital No. 357, under the command of Major W. H. Hengstler. Field Hospital No. 359, under the
command of Major T. J. Strong, operated a semi-permanent hospital for sick at Rosieres-en-Haye; Field
Hospital No. 358, under command of Captain (later Major) Frank N. Gordon, was established at
Rogeville to treat gas cases; and Field Hospital No. 360, under command of Captain (later Major) Jesse
Ingram, was set up to treat contagious cases until September 13, when its personnel was assigned to duty
with No. 357 at the Triage.
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