The USU Archives has a number of items relating to combat disorders and field medicine in both the manuscript and rare book collections. Combat disorders are defined by the National Library of Medicine as "Neurotic reactions to unusual, severe, or overwhelming military stress". Field medicine (also called combat casualty care) is the treatment of wounded individuals in areas of combat.
The University Archives for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences collects, preserves, and makes available rare university materials; historical military medical and public health collections; and personal papers of enduring value from administrators, faculty, and alumni for the research use of the university and the general public. The Archives collects manuscripts, oral histories, rare books, audio-visual materials, and artifacts relating to the history of the university and the history of military medicine.
Gulf War Syndrome, also called Gulf War Veterans’ Medically Unexplained Illnesses and Gulf War Illnesses, is a multisymptomatic disorder that affects veterans and civilians who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War.
The Gulf War Collection contains newspaper clippings, reports, and journal articles relating to the study of Gulf War Syndrome. This material was collected by Mary Dix, Special Assistant to the USU President, and donated to the USU Archives in 2006. The finding aid for the collection is linked below.
The LRC General and History Collections also contain material related to Gulf War Syndrome. The catalog records of selected materials are linked below. Additional material on this topic can be located by searching the LRC Catalog.
Manuscript Collection
LRC General Collection
LRC History Collection
This collection includes books scanned from the USU Archives' rare book collection from the World War I era. These books examine a soldier's physical or psychological reaction to the trauma of combat. During the World War I era, this disorder was called shell shock. Today, it is referred to as combat stress reaction (CSR), a precursor to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The links below are a selection of the books on this topic that have been scanned by the Archives. Other volumes can be viewed and downloaded by searching the Archives' digital collection under the heading Military Medical History Documents, and the rare book collection can be searched via the LRC Catalog.
Rare Book Collection
The USU Archives’ rare book collection contains several items that relate to surgery, amputations, patient care, and the use of chemical weapons during and after the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. Some of our materials include U.S. Government publications, field medicine manuals, a memoir by Dr. John H. Brinton, the biography of Dr. Lewis Atterbury Stimson, correspondence from the U.S. Surgeon General, and various publications by the United States Sanitary Commission.
The links below are a selection of the material on this topic that have been scanned by the Archives. Other volumes can be viewed and downloaded by searching the Archives' digital collection under the heading Military Medical History Documents, and the Rare Book Collection can be searched via the LRC Catalog.
Rare Book Collection
The following are links to other institutions with collections and exhibits that complement the material in the USU Archives.
National Library of Medicine
National Archives and Records Administration
