Hospital Corpsmen served on the beaches not onlyin the island campaigns of the Pacific, but in Europe aswell. Teams of Navy medical personnel formed aidstations with beach battalions at Sicily and Normandy,treating Army and allied wounded under fire. HospitalCorpsmen ensured the survival of these casualties untilthey could reach hospitals in England.Of all the Hospital Corpsmen in World War II,Fleet Marine Force personnel endured, perhaps, themost grueling side of war. As they swarmed numerousbeaches in the Pacific, they became targets themselvesas they braved fire to reach downed comrades. AtGuadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, Saipan, Tinian,Kwajalein, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, HospitalCorpsmen bled and died, often in greater numbers thanthe Marines for whom they cared. Hospital Corpscasualties in the 4th Marine Division at Iwo Jima, forexample, were 38 percent.Members of the Hospital Corps treated some150,000 combat casualties during the war. Thisnumber does not include thousands of others—thoseplagued by disease and injured in the line ofduty—who were aided by their medical shipmates.The cost of this service was high: 1,170 HospitalCorpsmen were killed in action and thousands morewere wounded. But their valor was rewarded.Hospital Corpsmen earned 7 Medals of Honor (almosthalf of those awarded to Sailors in the war), 66 NavyCrosses, 465 Silver Star Medals, and 982 Bronze StarMedals.A NEW HOSPITAL CORPSMassive reorganization of the armed forces tookplace after World War II. A new Department ofDefense was established, and the Army-Navy MedicalService Corps Act removed commissioned alliedhealth and medical administration officers from theHospital Corps. This law also provided for a separateDental Technician rating, which remained acomponent of the Hospital Corps until 1972. Womenin the Hospital Corps had previously been WAVES, aAI-6HM3FAI03Figure APP-I-3.—Women entered the Hospital Corps in World War II as WAVES.
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