at the Proving Ground of the University of New Mexico under the supervision of the Department of Physics, which had been delegated by the OSRD. Dr. Milton Helpern, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, City of New York, performed the pathological examinations. Conclusions reached as a result of these studies were: 1. The size and shape of wounds made by high-energy projectiles and the special wound patterns which occur in different organs and body tissues can be understood through a combined knowledge of the general wounding mechanisms of projectiles and the special structure of the body regions involved. 2. Such an understanding will assist the physician in making rapid, useful predictions as to the total extent of a wound and the special injuries which may have occurred from an inspection of its superficial aspects. 3. A physician who understands the mechanism of wound formation and the properties of weapons in current use can make a general identification of the causative agent in the great majority of cases of individuals killed in action. The preceding survey of research activities, inadequate and brief though it may be, does nevertheless give some indication of the scope and extent of the investigations of the Aero Medical Laboratory and the School of Aviation. Medicine, during the war period, into the nature and characteristics of modern flying and the requirements for human survival under its demanding and perilous conditions. These studies, running the gamut of high-altitude problems, anthropometric researches necessary in designing equipment and modifying aircraft, to suit human somatic traits, investigations of the physiologic effects on the body of acceleration, and development of a preventive medicine regimen looking towards an optimum of physical fitness in the flyer, were motivated throughout by the stringent exigencies of modern warfare. They sought to increase the potential of military aircraft by reducing the hazards of high-altitude, high-speed flight. It is a tribute to human endeavors that, significant as these researches were for times of national peril, they bore, also, a residue of fruit for peace-time, commercial aviation and all the benefit that go with it. Nevertheless research in aviation medicine of the type described cannot be carried out without cost of human life. Individuals volunteering their services were heroes of the same caliber as those who willingly faced enemy bullets, and they lived daily with danger. Symbolic of those flight surgeons who willingly accepted the pattern of risk and sacrifice to the end that others might live were Lt. Col. William Randolph Lovelace, II (MC), Chief of the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field, and Lt. Col. Melbourne W. Boynton (MC), Chief of the Medical Division, Office of Flying Safety. Colonel Lovelace lived to tell his story; Colonel Boynton did not. The problem of high-altitude jumps was a very major one to the AAF in 1943. In June of that year Colonel Lovelace jumped from a height of 40,200 feet at Ephrata, Washington. This was the highest altitude jump ever attempted. He wore standard equipment and used standard equipment. When he landed, he was suffering from severe shock and with frost bitten hands and limbs. Out of this experiment was to come proof that the danger of shock from the opening of a parachute at an altitude in excess of 30,000 feet was far greater than those made closer to the ground. Colonel Boynton, vitally interested in the problem of parachute landings, in August 1944 undertook what he considered to be a continuation of the Lovelace experimentation in high-altitude jump. Son of a Baptist minister and himself a missionary to Rangoon and later a practicing obstetrician at Lying-in Hospital in Chicago, he had accepted a Reserve commission and entered the Service in April 1941. He completed the flight surgeon's course and also the parachute course at Fort Benning. Earlier experiments in which he participated had included both sea survival and altitude jumping. He had been one of the nine volunteers who went without food and water for ninety-six hours in a life raft in the Gulf of Mexico. At the U. S. Forest Service Parachute Training Center at Seely Lake, Montana, he made parachute jumps over the rocky hillsides and over the treed terrain; he had likewise made parachute jumps over the Gulf of Mexico. Thus, more than any other officer, he was particularly equipped, it would seem, to carry out the experimentation begun by Colonel Lovelace. On the Saturday afternoon of 19 August 1944 he prepared to make a jump at 43,000 feet with a free fall wherein he would open his parachute at 5,000 feet. He wore standard clothing and equipment. His jump was calculated to establish the characteristics of free fall and to determine the rate of deceleration and the path of fall. He hoped to develop procedures for aircrews bailing out at high altitudes. At 1313 he dropped through the bomb bay of a Flying Fortress which had taken off from the Clinton County Air Base near Wilmington, Ohio. Nearly a hundred spectators from nearby Wright Field watched him. Two minutes and fifteen seconds later he landed in a cornfield at the edge of the airbase. His parachute had failed to open. What had transpired in his eight-mile fall could never be known. It was found that his equipment was in satisfactory condition and that he had made no apparent attempt to open either of his parachutes. It would appear therefore that the accident was caused by some condition which caused human failure. Since Colonel Boynton had been both control officer and subject, the answer could not be known. This experience did, however, demonstrate the scientific requirement that the subject not control the experiment. NOTES TO CHAPTER IV 1H. G. Armstrong, Principles and Practice of Aviation Medicine, Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, Co., 1952, p. 47. Malcolm C. Grow, "Establishing the USAF Medical Service" in USAF Medical Service Digest, IV (Jul 53), p. 2. Interviews with General Grow by M. M. Link, 5 Jun 52. Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Hist. of Organ. and Admin. AAF Med. Serv. in the ZI, Vol. I, p. 284. Pages 272-360 are devoted to the AML and the following paragraphs unless otherwise specified, are based upon this source. 7 As of late September 1941 the staff of the laboratory consisting of the following specialists: Dr. F. G. Hall. Dr. G. Millikan. Dr. A. P. Gagge. Dr. E. J. Baldes. Dr. S. Robinson. Dr. E. Turrell. Dr. K. Penrod. Mr. S. Harvoth. Dr. F. A. Hartman. 8 Armstrong, op. cit. p. 48. 9 Duke University-aerombolism and acid base balance. Cornell Unversity-design of oximeter and of oxygen equipment. Yale University-evaluation of oxygen requirement in flight personnel. Mayo Clinic-acceleration (centrifuge) design. Ohio State University-fatigue and adrenal cortical hormones. Prepared by staff, Aero Medical Laboratory as part of official AAF medical history. Material in this section, except for minor editorial changes and additions, appeared in periodical form. See A. Damon and Frances E. Randall, "Physical Anthropology in the AAF," American Journal of Physical Anthropology II (Sep 44), pp. 293-315. 10 Nasion-menton length: distance from the tip of the chin to a point in the depression of the root of the nose. This is the anthropological face-height; that part of the forehead between the hairline and the eyebrows is anatomically a part of the skull cap (frontal bone) and does not belong to the face structure. Requirements for Gunner's Provisions in Local-Control Turrets, Technical Note TN-49–2, Armament Lab. Engr. Div., ATC, Wright Fld, Ohio, 8 Jan 44. 11 "Francis E. Randall, A. Damon, Robert S. Benton, and Donald I. Pat, Human Body Size in Military Aircraft and Personal Equipment, AAF Tech. Rpt. No. 5501, AML, Engr. Div., ATSC, Wright Fld, Ohio, 10 Jun 46. "L. D. Carlson, Application of Basic Physiological Data in the Design of AAF Oxygen Equipment, AML. Engr., Div., ATSC, Wright Fld, Ohio, 9 Nov 45. "L. D. Carlson, "A Concise Description of the Demand Oxygen System," The Air Surgeon's Bulletin, I (Jan 44), 14. 15 H. M. Sweeney, "Explosive Decompression," The Air Surgeon's Bulletin, I (Oct 44), 1. 16 Conventional quantitative terms used by aeronautical engineers. 17 "A. P. Gagge, Explosive Decompression-A Summary and Evaluation for Aircraft Designers, Memo. Rpt. No. TSEAL 3-695-29M, AML, Engr. Div., ATSC, Wright Fld, Ohio, 2 Jul 45. 18 George A. Hallenbeck, Design and Use of Anti-g Suits and Their Activating Values in World War II, AAF Tech Rpt. No. 5433, AML, Engr., Div., ATSC, Wright Fld, Ohio, 6 Mar 46. 19 W. R. Lovelace, Development of Webbing Strap Litter Support Installation for Cargo Aircraft. Memo Rpt. No. TSEAL-3–697–2JJJ, AML, Engr., Div., ATSC, Wright Fld, Ohio, 20 Sept 45. 20 This section is based on L. L. Sloan, et al., “Research in Ophthalmology," Rpt. No. 5, Professional History. 21 Richard G. Scobee, An analysis of the Ophthalmic Portion of the "64" Examination: Muscle Balance. AAFSAM Project No. 139-1, 1 Aug 45. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 24 R. G. Scobee, E. L. Green, and H. L. Moss, A Comparison of Tests for Heterophoria: Variations in the Screen-Maddox Rod Test Due to Ocular Dominance, Rod Color, and Screening, AAFSAM Project No. 375-4, 20 Jul 45. 28 William M. Rowland and Louise Sloan Rowland, A Comparison of Three Tests of Depth Perception, AAFSAM Project No. 238-1, 14 Mar 44. 67 Minutes and proceedings of the Army-Navy-OSRD Vision Committee, 11th meeting, Wash., D. C., Apr 45. 30 31 AR 40-110, Hq WD, Wash., D. C., 3 Dec 42. Louise Sloan Rowland and Pfc. Frederick V. Heagan, Frequency of Color Deficiency Among Air Corps Cadets, AAFSAM Project No. 314-1, 31 Aug 44. 32 "Ltr., TAS, Hq AAF, Wash., D. C., to Comdt. AAFSAM, 6 Jan 43. 33 L. S. Rowland, A Simple Anomaloscope for Detecting and Classifying Red-Green Color Deficiencies, AAFSAM Project No. 137-1, 29 Jul 43. 34 **L. S. Rowland, Intensity as a Factor in Recognition of Light Signals, AAFSAM, Projects Nos. 37-1, 21 Aug 42 and 97-1, 1 Jan 43. 35 "L. S. Rowland, Selection and Validation of Tests for Color Vision: The Color Threshold Lantern as a Quantitative Test for Red-Green Color Deficiencies, AAFSAM Project 137–5, 20 Oct 43. 36 L. S. Rowland, Selection of Battery of Color Vision Tests, AAFSAM Project No. 108-1, 19 Feb 43. 37 Med. Hist. of World War II, AAFCFTC, vol. 3, 1940-44, p. 95. 38 "Conference on Night Vision," 14 Dec 43. 39 Philip R. McDonald, The Reliability of the AAF Night-Vision Tester, AAFSAM Project No. 199-1, 10 Nov 43. 2. Wm. M. Rowland and Joseph Mandelbaum, A Comparison of Night-Vision Testers, AAFSAM Project No. 213-1, 22 Jan 44. 41 W. M. Rowland, A Study of Methods of Gun Sighting at Extremely Low Levels of Illumination, AAFSAM Project No. 82-1, 23 Sept 42. 42 Richard G. Scobee, The Efficacy of Penicillin in Uveitis Therapy, AAFSAM Project No. 250-1, 9 May 44. 43 Paul A. Campbell, Aircraft Obscuration by Sun Glare, AAFSAM Project No. 34–1, 7 Apr 42. "Francis C. Keil, The Effect of Oral Doses of Hyascine on Visual Efficacy, AAFSAM Project No. 1, 2 Jun 43. 2. Richard G. Scobee, Possible Effects of Small Daily Doses of Sulfadiazine on Flying Personnel, AAFSAM Project No. 293-1, Part 8, 29 Jul 44. 45 "This section is based on Col. P. A. Campbell, et al., "Research in Otolaryngology," Rpt. No. 23, Professional History. C. M. Kos, "Effect of Barometric Pressure Changes on Hearing," Arch Otolaryng. XLI (May 45), 322-326. 48 P. A. Campbell and J. Hargreaves, "Aviation Deafness-Acute and Chronic," Arch. Otolaryng. XXXII (May 1940), 417. |