JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) — Tears, prayers, well-wishes, hugs and kisses sent 24 Naval Hospital Jacksonville and Branch Medical Clinic personnel on their way as they boarded a bus in the early morning of Feb. 8, bound for deployment to the Middle East.
Capt. John Sentell, commanding officer, reminded the deploying personnel that Naval Medicine has made tremendous strides in battlefield medicine in recent years, and that these advances have paid off in Iraq.
“In past wars, those who died of wounds after reaching medical care were around 10 to 15 percent. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, that was cut to 3 percent,” noted Sentell. “The 2nd FSSG [Force Service Support Group] didn’t lose any wounded who made it to their care. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, if a wounded Soldier or Marine made it to our medical units, they all survived. That’s a tremendous accomplishment.”
I was wondering where the term “Devil Doc” came from and found the explanation for it at www.gruntdoc.com.
In WW I, at the battle of Belleau Wood, not only did the USMC distinguish itself in combat, but they won the grudging admiration of their German enemy, who reportedly stated they fought like ‘Teufelhunden’, or Devil Dogs. The Marines liked the sobriquet and adopted it as a nickname, often greeting each other as such. The Devil Docs is a natural extension, applied to the US Navy medical personnel who proudly serve in the Green Machine.
