William James Mayo - Military Service

Military Service

Dr. William J. Mayo served in World War I at the rank of Colonel (O6), as chief adviser for U.S. Army surgical services in the office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General. His brother Charles was also a Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and alternated with William as the associate chief adviser for surgical care of U.S. Army soldiers. When President Woodrow Wilson organized the Committee of American Physicians for Medical Preparedness in 1916, William was named its chairman and Charles as one of its members. That committee subsequently became the General Medical Board of the Council for National Defense. William was made a member of its executive committee and Charles was his alternate.

During World War I, the Mayo Clinic continued to be busy. Many draftees were examined and war training classes were conducted for new physicians in the medical corps. William and Charles designed courses to educate military doctors on the latest scientific and surgical developments. The two brothers divided their time between Rochester and their duties in Washington, D.C. so that one of them would always be at the Clinic. This schedule took a toll on their health; Charles contracted pneumonia during one of his stints in Washington, and William developed hepatitis while in Rochester in 1918.

After hostilities ended in November 1918, both of the Mayo brothers were promoted to the rank of Brigadier General (O7) in the U.S. Army Reserve. In addition, they both received the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal for their wartime service to the country.

• Dr. William J. Mayo as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, 1917

• U.S. Distinguished Service Medal

• Letter from U.S. War Department to Dr. William Mayo for Distinguished Service Medal