LOMA LINDA>> Soon after the close of World War I, some of the younger physicians at the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists (CME) proposed that the College organize a Seventh-day Adventist-staffed, standby military hospital as a gesture of cooperation with United States government. Percy T. Magan, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, so liked the idea that he negotiated with officers of the Ninth Corps Area of the United States Army in San Francisco to establish the 47th General Hospital of the United States Army Medical Corps.
CME officially organized the hospital in 1926 when President Newton Evans, MD, became its commanding officer and assumed the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves. Shortly thereafter, Cyril B. Courville, MD, became the head of the 47th General Hospital. Dr. Courville's consistent devotion to the hospital built it into a highly efficient unit. Its staff included physicians, nurses, administrative officers, and physical therapists. The hospital included all of the medical and surgical services required by Army regulations. Its reserve officers spent a few days each year in active military training.
In order to make Seventh-day Adventist youth valuable as "medics" instead of combat soldiers, officers of the 47th General Hospital helped to train young men who were not otherwise medically oriented in the denominationally popular Medical Cadet Corps. Participants then offered needed services to their country without violating the Church's position on non-combatancy. The Medical Cadet Corps attracted favorable attention both from church members and the Surgeon General's Office.
In the spring of 1936, the idea was born, the concept of preparing civilians for medical military service by Medical Reserve Officers. Officers of the 47th General Hospital gave enthusiastic support. A request for permission for the program, forwarded to the Surgeon General, brought a prompt reply—with encouragement and assistance. A class in Principles and Methods of Military training” was organized by volunteers from local Seventh-day Adventist Churches. Then followed physical examinations, registrations, uniforms, practice, drill, sweat, and hard work by officers and men.
The Medical Cadet Corps became a denominational project. A slow start, but with increasing momentum, the effort rapidly spread nationwide. By the spring of 1943, some 5,000 cadets had been graduated.
Major General George Armstrong, retired Surgeon General of the United States Army, reported his experience with Seventh-day Adventist medical personnel around the world. “…it was my opportunity and privilege to personally observe literally hundreds of Seventh-day Adventists who served in the Army Medical Service between 1941 and 1955. I observed them in hospitals and other medical units in this country and abroad during World War II, and in this country and Korea…."
“I can say without equivocation that the work of the Seventh-day Adventists has been outstanding without one single exception so far as my personal knowledge is concerned. Their devotion to duty, their willingness to perform any and every assigned duty, has established a record which is unequaled in our Medical Military Annals."
“While Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, it was my good fortune to visit the Medical Cadet Corps training program at Camp Desmond Doss; Doss was the subject of the recent blockbuster Hacksaw Ridge at Grand Ledge, Michigan, and personally observe the training given there by Colonel Everett N. Dick and his associates. Never, in my observations of training activities, have I seen so much accomplished with trainees in such a short period of time. I attribute this accomplishment to the motivation of teachers and trainees. Secondarily, I am convinced that the training received at Grand Ledge and that in turn passed on to others in the various satellite camps, has been an important factor in the success attained by the Seventh-day Adventist personnel after entry into the active military service."
In January 1941, Dr. Magan reported that, due to a rapidly enlarging program in the Medical Department of the Army and the dire necessity of staffing other units, the military was rapidly pulling officers out of the 47th General Hospital. In 1943, the United States activated the hospital and Colonel Ben E. Grant, MD (CME Class of 1920), became commandant when Dr. Courville became disqualified unfortunately for health reasons. The S. S. West Point transported the 47th General Hospital to the South Pacific where CME officers helped construct the facility in Milne Bay, at the southern tip of Papua, New Guinea.