Dr. Logan W. Hovis parachuted onto Corregidor with the 503rd Regimental Combat Team. Dr. Jeremiah Henry Holleman served with the 89th Division all the way into Germany, liberating a concentration camp. Nurse Mary A. Breeding, five feet tall, 100 pounds, served with the 174th General Hospital in France. Dr. Vincent Stephen Conti was awarded a Bronze Star for fighting typhus in Naples, Italy. These accounts and 31 others covering the heroics of 44 individuals working in the Medical Corps are gathered here by editor Patricia W. Sewell. Firsthand accounts are given by doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, front-line medics, Navy corpsmen, medical personnel who served on air evacuation teams and hospital ships, and others who functioned in many different capacities. Autobiographies, interviews, letters and cassette tapes helped compose most of these narratives.

The Battle of the Bulge "...was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II and the second deadliest battle in American history..." (Wikipedia)Healers and Heroes is the riveting day-by-day account of the movements and actions of 22 men from the 26th (Yankee) Division rifle battalion aid station, from its landing on the French coast of Normandy in September 1944, through heavy combat in Lorraine, Eastern France, to its ultimate test in the Battle of the Bulge across the Ardenne during the winter of 1944-1945, followed by the final breakthrough into Germany and the end of World War II in Europe. The main narrator, Lt. Robert Marshall, was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry for his actions on January 9th, 1945 near North Nothum, Luxemburg. Following Marshall's wounding and evacuation, this narrative was completed by SSGT Walter German.

Dr. Logan W. Hovis parachuted onto Corregidor with the 503rd Regimental Combat Team. Dr. Jeremiah Henry Holleman served with the 89th Division all the way into Germany, liberating a concentration camp. Nurse Mary A. Breeding, five feet tall, 100 pounds, served with the 174th General Hospital in France. Dr. Vincent Stephen Conti was awarded a Bronze Star for fighting typhus in Naples, Italy. These accounts and 31 others covering the heroics of 44 individuals working in the Medical Corps are gathered here by editor Patricia W. Sewell. Firsthand accounts are given by doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, front-line medics, Navy corpsmen, medical personnel who served on air evacuation teams and hospital ships, and others who functioned in many different capacities. Autobiographies, interviews, letters and cassette tapes helped compose most of these narratives.

Ken Adams, as a trained medic, was sent out to the Far East and immediately saw action on the Malay Peninsula. Captured at Singapore he initially worked at Changi Hospital. Many moves and much worse capos in Thailand were to follow. He describes his life, work and the terrible conditions endured at the hands of the Japanese and Korea guards and worst of all, the Kempetai secret police. Illnesses such as dysentery, malaria, avitominosis, cholera and smallpox had to be treated with minimal or no medicines. Starvation was a fact of life. The author was frequently moved around and in 1945 took part in a march of many hundreds of miles which inevitably proved fatal to many of his fellow POWs. Liberation and repatriation are movingly described as, most significantly, is the whole process of settling back into normal life after so long in captivity of the worst kind. Healing in Hell is an exceptional account that demands reading.

Charles Willsher, who received the Distinguished Service Cross for his service during WWII, never fully recovered from his wounds. His wife and daughter became the victims of his inner war. In the 1980’s, he began his own healing journey by telling his story to others. At the same time, his daughter embarked on her journey to healing and reconciliation with her family. After his death, his daughter uncovered his memoir and decided to include it along with their family story in hopes that it would inform and inspire others who are also dealing with the trauma that war leaves behind.

Most of the histories of the West are obsessed with the shoot-em-ups. But what about the patch-em-ups? Who had to deal with all that famous carnage? With all the bloodletting depicted by pop culture historians, it almost seems a miracle anyone survived to settle the West. Prior to World War II regular, or allopathic, physicians trained in mainstream medicine were often outnumbered by alternative practitioners--folk curers, herbalists, faith healers, homeopaths, patent medicine promoters, and medicine showmen. Mystic Healers and Medicine Shows profiles many of the most significant of these healers as well as a few other colorful regular doctors.