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- Uniformed members of the 65th General Hospital (students, faculty, staff, or alumni) with tents and camping gear on Duke University's east campus parking lot. The Duke Chapel and other campus buildings are in the background. The idea for a Duke hospital army unit was born in October 1940, the brainchild of Wilburt C. Davison, then dean of the Duke University School of Medicine. The Army reserve unit's original core, activated in July 1924, consisted of male and female doctors and nurses who all had some connection to Duke University, creating a mix of faculty, medical and nursing school graduates, and current or former house staff. Members of the 65th handled a constant stream of front-line casualties from heavy bomber crews, acute diseases and emergency cases, and acted as a specialty center for neurosurgery, thoracic and plastic surgery, burns, and hand injuries. In all, the unit treated more than 17,250 patients during its time in England.
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