Carl C. Bartels, M.D. [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Medicine] was born in Hamilton, Ohio in July 1917. The Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] was not too bad for his family since his father maintained his job with the Mosler Safe Company. Bartels graduated from high school and attended premed training at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Completing that work, he entered medical school at Northwestern University [Annotator's Note: in Evanston, Illinois] in 1940. He had accelerated training preparing him for military service. He joined the Navy as an ensign [Annotator's Note: lowest rank of commissioned officer in the US Navy and Coast Guard]. In 1944, he became a lieutenant. He was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois] to complete his training. He was married in March 1944. Shortly after, he was assigned to 20 corpsmen scheduled to board an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] bound from Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts] to Canada. Joining a large convoy of 150 ships, the group sailed 14 or 15 days. Sailing from Nova Scotia [Annotator's Note: Nova Scotia, Canada] to Southampton, England, the LST arrived too late for chow [Annotator's Note: slang for a scheduled time to eat] so the men ate K-rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals]. That caused severe sickness among the arriving troops. The men may have had salmonella [Annotator's Note: a type of bacteria that can cause serious illness and death]. The LST had a barge welded to its deck. The barge was called a rhino ferry [Annotator's Note: nickname for barges constructed of pontoons]. It was a big, pontoon barge with outboard engines to propel it. The LST released the barge and towed it to the beach on D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944].

Carl C. Bartels, M.D. [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Medicine] arrived at the beaches far enough away to see what was happening but not too close to draw fire [Annotator's Note: as a lieutenant physician on D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Large warships were firing on the enemy positions on shore. Once a target was located, fire was directed upon it until it was destroyed. Their barge [Annotator's Note: a self-propelled rhino-ferry which was a large, pontoon barge with outboard engines mounted to it] was unloaded and went to shore to load casualties. Ten to 12 wounded were returned to Bartels' LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. One of the injured had abdominal wounds. The medical contingent on the LST in addition to Bartels and his 20 corpsmen included an Army surgeon and his nurse. A successful surgery was performed on the wounded man with Bartels providing the anesthesia. The soldier was returned to England for recovery. The LST returned to the beachhead on the third day of the invasion. By that time, there were secured landing fields so severely injured casualties were flown back to England. It was quiet where Bartels landed at Normandy, so he was able to step off the ship onto the beach. Returning to England, he transited to Scotland on an LST and awaited return to the United States. He boarded a ship in July [Annotator's Note: July 1944] and returned to America in five days which was quite different that going over. He was assigned to a Naval facility in Columbus, Ohio where new fighter aircraft were being manufactured for delivery out west. One pilot had difficulty with his landing gear and had to belly land. Bartels had to be on standby to see what happened. It was an interesting time. After six weeks, he received word that he would be sent to a Navy base in Idaho that was suffering an epidemic of scarlet fever [Annotator's Note: type of infection]. The Native Americans who lived nearby were fearful. Bartels was there for six to eight weeks and then sent to Port Hueneme [Annotator's Note: Porte Hueneme, California]. His outfit was on a training mission when Bartels arrived. Finding a place for his wife to reside, he went to join his outfit. Upon return, Bartels discovered that his future wife had contracted scarlet fever and was in the county hospital. Bartels' wife had a mild case, was able to recover, and stayed with a nurse afterward. Bartels learned that he was to deploy with a large group to Hawaii. The staff was organized so only one individual had duty at a time. That enabled Bartels to go to the beaches and have a wonderful time there. Before being ordered to a base between Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and Japan, Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] decided to drop the bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] thus ending the war. Boarding an LST, he was sent to a port between Tientsin [Annotator's Note: Tientsin (Tianjin), China] and Beijing [Annotator's Note: Beijing, China]. Bartels was to support the effort of the Army in evacuating all the Japanese out of northern China. In March [Annotator's Note: March 1946], the Chinese Communists [Annotator's Note: Chinese Communist Party military forces] were coming from the north and the Americans evacuated the port facilities. Bartels met an Austrian during those months and maintained contact with the family through the years. Bartels voyaged back to the United States and landed in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. He was discharged, got married, and moved back to Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois].

Carl C. Bartels, M.D. [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Medicine] knew nothing about the invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. He only knew he was going to Omaha Beach [Annotator's Note: Omaha Beach, Normandy]. His ship was between the shore and the warships bombarding the German pillboxes [Annotator's Note: type of blockhouse, or concrete, reinforced, dug-in guard post, normally equipped with slits for firing guns]. He heard the heavy shells going overhead before landing onshore. Boats brought casualties to the LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] to be loaded aboard. A young soldier was significantly wounded, and his stretcher was lifted aboard the LST. Most of the other casualties involved simple bullet wounds where dressings had to be applied and pain medication administered. The wounded started arriving about noon and by five or six o'clock and they headed back to England with ten to 12 patients. The weather had been rough sailing to Normandy. The landing was not easy. Some men were weighed down with their equipment and drowned. With all the ships surrounding him, he felt confident the landing would be successful. He returned to Normandy and went ashore on the fifth or sixth day after the invasion commenced. It was his third trip to the beachhead. Like the second trip, there was nothing for the medical personnel to do. All the wounded had been removed from the beach. Plenty of debris from the landings remained.

Carl C. Bartels, M.D. [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Medicine] was part of a GROPAC Unit [Annotator's Note: GROPAC Units were US Navy port facilities in the Pacific established for unloading and loading supplies and any requisite storage facilities] initially assigned to an island between Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and Japan. One of Bartels' buddies on the LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] was a communications officer in charge of offloading equipment from the ship. The Marine airstrip they were assigned to would have likely been a hotspot; however, the two bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] terminating the need for the strip. The outfit was told that they would be going to northern China. The Army was removing Japanese troops from the area and the GROPAC Unit had the port facilities to maintain. The Japanese had already developed a well-built port facility there. The Americans took over the port including the medical facilities there. The attendants in the hospital were very happy to receive German and Japanese medical supplies that the Americans did not need. Groups of Japanese workers assisted around the base. They were good workers compared to their Chinese counterparts. The prisoners were very benign and provided no trouble. Bartels arrived in China in September or October [Annotator's Note: September or October 1945] and departed in April or March [Annotator's Note: April or March 1946]. The port was completely evacuated by April [Annotator's Note: April 1946] as the Communists [Annotator's Note: Chinese Communist Party military forces] approached. There were no real medical problems for the three medical officers. The Army base in Tientsin Tientsin (Tianjin), China sometimes required a physician to travel there. The base had water, sewage and heat and was quite well established by the Japanese. Bartels was discharged in March [Annotator's Note: March 1946].

Carl C. Bartels, M.D. [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Medicine] was changed by the war. It was an excellent experience. He did not see any damages except at the beach [Annotator's Note: Omaha Beach on D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. He did see film about the bombings of England and Germany. Bartels has visited the Holy Land [Annotator's Note: the area of Israel described in the Christian Bible] and knows of the history of that region where there has never been peace. The Second World War dispersed America. The G.I. Bill of Rights [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] was excellent. Bartels gained a residency under Doctor James Evans [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] after his service. Completing that term, he joined the Lahey Hospital [Annotator's Note: Lahey Hospital and Medical Center is in Burlington, Massachusetts] after talking with Doctor Lahey [Annotator's Note: Doctor Frank H. Lahey, M.D.]. Bartels helped establish the high blood pressure and vascular section at Lahey. Starting at a low salary by today's standards, his salary was raised, and he joined the staff with a handshake. Today's entry standards no longer trust people as was the norm in the 1940s. Bartels was on Lahey staff from 1946 until he retired in 1988. World War 2 changed the world with the damage done. Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] convinced people to destroy not only Jews but others he overran. The Germans were close to developing the atomic bomb, but scientists on the project may have slowed down realizing what the results would be. The atomic age creates a worrisome time for us today. The United States was generous in rebuilding Germany, Poland and other countries. The recipients have forgotten that over the years. The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] is interesting though Bartels' travel capability is limited. He may never have the opportunity to see it.