(WORLD WAR TWO) Moorhead John J A Surgeons Prayer in Wartime

Sale 2533 - Lot 265

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Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

(WORLD WAR TWO.) Moorhead, John J. A Surgeon's Prayer in Wartime. Single typed mimeograph sheet, 11 x 8 inches; minor browning and wear at edges; inscribed at bottom "To Dr. M. Hunter, John J. Moorhead, Col. M.C. A.U.S." Honolulu, HI, 25 December 1941

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Colonel John J. Moorhead (1874-1957) was a prominent professor of clinical surgery in New York City who had run a military hospital during World War One. In December 1941, he arrived in Honolulu to deliver a series of lectures on traumatology for the Honolulu Medical Society. Sunday, 7 December was originally scheduled as an off day, but the series began a day late, so he began Sunday lecturing on "Burns." The sound of explosions interrupted his lecture, and he was told that a dozen surgeons were needed at Tripler Hospital immediately. In a sudden return to active duty, he spent the next three weeks treating the Pearl Harbor victims, and then resumed his lecture series. His story was told in Craig Nelson's 2016 book "Pearl Harbor" (page 331), and was covered extensively in the Hawaii newspapers both before and after the attack.
On Christmas night, still at Tripler Hospital, he wrote "A Surgeon's Prayer in Wartime," which begins "God of Battle, grant that the wounded may swiftly arrive at their hospital haven," and concludes "In the battles to be won, I too must play my part, to the glory of a great calling and as a follower of the Great Physician. Amen." The prayer was printed in numerous sources across the United States, including newspapers, magazines, and the Congressional Register--possibly first in the 3 January 1942 Honolulu Advertiser. OCLC lists a broadside printing by American Hospital in Chicago. However, we know of no other signed private printings.