The 48th Armored Medical Battalion was an American military medical/surgical unit attached to the 2nd Armored Division throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The 48th participated in the invasions of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. The unit was formed on July 15, 1940, under the command of Col. Abner Zehm. In February 1942, Major John S. Wier became the Battalion Commander. Major Wier requested surgical trucks for the unit. The army gave him six thousand dollars, enough for six ton trucks to be converted for medical use. On December 11, 1942, the 48th left

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

, New Jersey, for North Africa, landing at

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

on December 24, 1942. In the spring of 1943 they proceeded to

Arzew Arzew or Arzeu ( ar, أرزيو Berber; ) is a port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province. History Antiquity Like the rest of North Africa, the site of modern-day Arzew was orig ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, then on to

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. On to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and then to

Tidworth Camp Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison. History The Camp was established when the War Office acquired a 19th-century mansion – Tedw ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for an extended period of time. The battalion landed on

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

on June 9, 1944 ( D+3 at 13:00). The battalion stayed with the 2nd Armored Division throughout the advance on into Germany and then to Berlin. After the war the unit returned to

Camp Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters of ...

, Texas, for retraining before being disbanded. The Battalion's World War II unit insignia consisted of a

rod of Asclepius In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; grc, Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού, , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god A ...

crossed with a dagger, on a silver bordered, red shield, above the words "Humanity Marshalled". At a later date the 48th Medical Battalion was reformed, again as part of the 2nd Armored Division, serving until the divisions disbandment in 1991.

Notable members

* Medic Everett "Chris" Christenson – killed in action (January 12, 1945) * Doctor

Orvan Hess Orvan Walter Hess (June 18, 1906 – September 6, 2002) was an American physician noted for his early use of penicillin and the development of the fetal heart monitor. Hess was born in Lackawaxen Township, Pennsylvania, Baoba, Pennsylvania. At ...

– developed the fetal heart monitor after the war

Sources

* * * Military units and formations established in 1940 Battalions of the United States Army {{US-mil-unit-stub