Medical Care
All members of an infantry rifle squad carried a first aid kit for the immediate treatment of wounds or injuries received in the field. While all rifle companies had assigned medics, they were not always in the company of squads on patrol or deployed in forwarding positions. Nor was treating wounded their only duty, they were responsible for the overall health of the men in their company, treating them for dysentery, routine illnesses such as colds and flu, blisters, sprains and broken bones, and other miseries encountered by the men. In combat they treated the wounded in the field, wearing helmets which were clearly marked with a Red Cross. They did not carry weapons.
The infantryman of World War II had a much better chance of surviving some wounds which would have been fatal during previous wars. Treatment of wounds using sulfa drugs and powder and the growing use of penicillin to prevent and treat infections were on his side. So was the increasing use of forward-deployed ambulances, and forward treatment stations, surgeries, and evacuation hospitals. A system for the treatment and evacuation of wounded was developed in the Mediterranean theater before the Americans landed in France, and by the end of 1944, it worked smoothly and efficiently, applying the knowledge gained by experience.
Depending on the severity of a wound, an infantryman injured in combat could find himself directed to a medical facility which was established in five levels or echelons. Walking wounded were usually treated at aid stations manned by the medical personnel of their own unit. More severely wounded were sent, by ambulance or by rail, to forward surgical posts. Other severely wounded men and those recovering from surgery were sent, if necessary, to hospitals operated by the Army, the International Red Cross, or the medical services of the nation in which they were located. Some wounded received convalescent leave far behind the lines.
Those determined to be too severely wounded to continue their recovery in theater were sent to either England or the United States on hospital ships, and then routed to recovery hospitals on specially equipped hospital trains. Some of these men were discharged following recovery, while others remained in the service performing administrative or training duties. Their experience as front-line combat infantry was invaluable in training new recruits in what they could expect when it became their turn at the front.
Those who were killed in combat were identified by their dog tags, and buried by special details for the most part, although it was not uncommon for infantrymen to bury the dead of their units while on patrol, marking the location with a dog tag. That was the reason for two dog tags. One went back to headquarters to notify them of the death, the other remained at the grave so that the body could be identified. Infantrymen in France and Germany frequently encountered such temporary graves, most of which when found was opened and the body reinterred in cemeteries in Europe, where many still lie today.