LocumLife - February 2009 - (Page 20)

Dr. Feldman (second from left) with fellow veterans and Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts after being awarded the French Legion of Honor on July 14, 2008, from the French Consul General, François Gauthier. Normandy. “We climbed the hill where the DDay invasion had initially penetrated that previous June,” he notes. “A cemetery had been started and there were many white crosses on each side of the trail as we headed up to the hedgerows. We fought there a little and carried gasoline to General Patton, whose troops had been stalled due to resistance. Everyone “I was in danger every had thought the war would end very quickly since he had day for a continuous made it to the German border period, and it was so fast, but it did not turn out that way.” amazing that I survived In charge of caring for a because so many of my 70-man platoon, Dr. Feldman served under General Patton’s fellow soldiers did not.” Third Army during its effort to take the city of Metz, France. “We had to attack across minefields,” he recollects, “and half of our battalion was wounded or killed overnight. I suffered a leg wound, but I put a dressing on it and refused to be evacuated. The next morning, we were able to reorganize and take a small village with a destroyed farmhouse, 20 LocumLife FEBRUARY 2009 where a number of Germans were still resisting. We cleared them out and I set up an emergency medical aid station, as we could not transfer our wounded back across the field to the battalion surgeon. So, I sent a messenger to have the surgeon send me supplies, and I proceeded to care for 15 to 20 wounded soldiers on my own. The level of care each received was varied and included plasma transfusions. “Dawn finally came,” he continues, “and with the only weapons I had at the time—a pistol, knife, and a few grenades in my pocket—I took about 20 German prisoners and converted them to litter-bearers. I led them out of the farmhouse as we carried the wounded across the minefield to be evacuated for treatment.” Dr. Feldman would later receive the Bronze Star and his first Purple Heart for his heroism during those events, as well as a personal note from one of his former comrades. “Many years later, one of the wounded soldiers sent me a letter and thanked me for saving his life,” he says. “He told me he had gone back to Germany to visit that same area and found that the farmhouse had been rebuilt.” www.LocumLife.com http://www.LocumLife.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of LocumLife - February 2009

LocumLife - February 2009 Editorial Insights Contents From Nalto Stat! Money Matters Resources Last-Minute Luxury Opening the Door Med Ec-cerpts Winning the Battle Career Center Advertisers' Index Opportunities Direct Residency Corner Destinations Contest Rules Anyone's Guess La Vita Locum

LocumLife - February 2009

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