It was one of the deadliest conflicts of all time-- new weaponry resulted in a scale and severity of injuries that was unprecedented. And the trauma of transporting these severely wounded to base hospitals became the weak link in the treatment chain. Relief came in the form of a medical unit from over 4,500 miles away; Mobile Hospital #1, aka Unit K, the Council Bluffs Unit, commanded by a former Council Bluffs mayor. Almost as astonishing as the novel concept of bringing care to the wounded on the battlefield was, the fact this milestone of military medicine pioneered by local doctors, nurses and support staff is today virtually unknown to Council Bluffs residents is even more surprising.

This podcast is first in a series called “Invisible Excellence,” which will explore the history of this remarkable unit. Our guest is local writer and researcher, Brian Mainwaring. Comments, questions, or information about WWI medicine from your family lore are all encouraged. You can contact us at information@TheHistoricalSociety.org.

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following:

Historical Society of Pottawattamie County

Jim McMullen and Kandis Kole-Skank of the Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society

Dr. David Holcomb

Dr. James Knott

The reference department at the Council Bluffs Public Library

References for more information:

"Hospital No. 1 Won War Cross," Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, July 26, 1936

"Glimpsing Modernity: Military Medicine in WWI," Chapter Five, by WIlliam Montgomery, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016

"Unit K the First MASH Unit," Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, May 20, 2016

"Iowa Hospital Corps Moved with WWI," Omaha World Herald, July 2, 2017

"Brief Hospital of Mobile Hospital No. 1," Journal of the Iowa State Medical Association, April 1920

"One Hundred Years of Iowa Medicine," Iowa State Medical Association, 1950

"The Great War: One Medic's Diary," Bob Reilly, Creighton University Magazine, Summer, 2001

"Joseph Marshall Flint," Samuel Clark Harvey, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine , March, 1945