The Spring 2012 Edition of THE GROG Has Been Released

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we present to you the latest edition of THE GROG, A Journal of Navy Medical Culture and Heritage. In this issue, we offer you an exciting blend of original articles ranging in topic from the history of Navy dentistry, the Hospital Corps and military psychiatry to tales of forgotten naval hospitals and medical memorials. As always, we hope you enjoy this humble tour of Navy medicine's past.
THE GROG is accessible through the link below.  PDF versions are available upon request.

http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_spring_2012

Hospital Steward William Shacklette

William S. Shacklette was born 17 May 1880, in Delaplane, VA. At the time of action he was a Hospital Steward, USN. His citation reads, “For extraordinary heroism while serving on the USS Bennington at the time of the explosion of a boiler on that vessel at San Diego, California, 21 July 1905.” In performing the act of heroism Shacklette incurred third degree burns over a large part of his body and was discharged from the Navy as a result of his injuries. During World War I, Shacklette returned to duty in the U.S. Army as a Chaplain. After the war he left service and continued in his ministry which culminated with his nomination as the Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.

William Shacklette died on 12 February 1945. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery (Section 10, Lot 10688).

Shacklette Hall at the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth VA, was named in his honor.

Navy Medical School of Instruction, 1902

First Hospital Corps School Class Photograph, October 1902. This photograph shows students and instructors at the precursor of the Hospital Corps School and Medical Education and Training Command (METC). Known as the “Navy School of Instruction,” this institution opened in March 1902 in Norfolk, VA, and went far to mold the early Hospital Corpsmen. Of note is the School’s principal instructor Pharmacist Edward May, USN (top row, seventh from right). May fathered, counseled, and taught the first nine classes of the School (over 350 students). In 1905, May was stricken with typhoid fever, and died fifty days later on 28 October 1905. He was buried at Naval Hospital Portsmouth, VA. More information of the Navy Medical School of Instruction will be found in the Winter 2012 edition of THE GROG.