A Service Remembered

In 2004, at the age of 90, Dr. Leonard T. Saxon began to pen his memoirs about his service in the United States Army Medical Corps from 1942 to 1945, when he lived and worked on the island of Espiritu Santo in the South Pacific as a member of the 25th Evacuation Hospital, dedicated to his duty as an American soldier and as a doctor. The war years were tumultuous, exciting, demanding, tear-filled years, yet they remain some of Dr. Saxon''s most cherished memories. This is where he met his first wife, Lucille, his tent mate Nic, who would become his friend for life, and countless others who gave of themselves for their country. These were the years when he learned what it meant to serve. He begins his account as a young man of 28, fresh out of medical school, having grown up on Chicago''s west side, embarking on a journey to who-knows-where, a journey shared by millions of Americans across the country. "We walked slowly, with full packs, single file up the ramp, the nurses just steps behind us. There was a feeling in the air, unspoken but surely felt by us all-a sudden realization: "We are going to war. This is how it begins." A Service Remembered is the story of the 25th Evacuation Hospital and the men and women who willingly postponed their normal lives and careers in order to serve their country. Dr. Saxon''s personal experiences with the sick and the wounded are considered by him as service forever more and a tribute to all who served with him. The men and women of the 25th were, and remain, heroes in their own right and their story should not be forgotten.