National Naval Medical Center News: the weekly station paper of the National Naval Medical Center, Vol. I, No. 1-52; Vol. II, Nos. 1-5; [together with] Thanksgiving Day Nov. 25, 1943 menu, Christmas, 1943 Holiday Menu; [together with] an extraordinary section of photographs chronicling the activities, medical equipment, facilities, and personnel of the Medical Center, as well as celebrity visitors such as Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Harold Russell, President Truman, Irene Dunne, and others]. by [MEDICINE -- WORLD WAR II]. BYERS, John R. (Photographer & Editor) - 1943-1946.

Bethesda, MD: National Naval Medical Center, 1943-1946. Thick 4to. 8.75 x 11.5 x 4.75 in. [Approx. 456 pp (issues all separately paginated).], w/ 100s of photo and text illustrations, self-printed illustrated softcovers, all complete; [4]; [4] pp (unpaginated), colour lithograph covers; [164 pp (unpaginated).], on thick black paper stock, w/ 188 silver gelatin photographs sized from 1.5 in. by 3.25 in. up to 8 x 10 in., w/ the majority 3.5 x 4.5 in., and all mounted neatly on pages, w/ 92 filled. Original black cloth Multiple Binder, w/ all pieces carefully inserted and held by metal rods attached at head & foot of spine, rounded corners, gilt lettering stamped on front cover (minor wear, soiling front cover), still excellent copy, from the libraries of Rear Admiral Commanding, William Chambers, US Navy, commanding officer of Naval Medical Center beginning 1945, after commanding medical facilities in the Pacific theatre during World War II, and personally organizing evacuations of wounded from Bougainville & Charles Waite Orville Bunker (1882-1958), commanding officer of the Naval Medical School 1941-1942, and then National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda Feb., 1942-Oct., 1944, signatures of Rear Admiral Chambers, Captain Bozarth, and photographer John Byers, as well as signed photo of Irene Dunn visiting the troops. This extraordinary souvenir album incorporates not only the entire first 15 months of the weekly paper issued by the Naval hospital chronicling 1945 and 1946 events overseen by Rear Admiral Chambers, but also incorporates 188 photographs providing essential visual documentation. The National Naval Medical Center at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, former Secretary of the Navy, pressed for the construction of the facility which was dedicated and operating by the time the U.S. entered World War II, with Rear Admiral Bunker in command. Originally desinged to hold 1200 Beds, the Naval Medical School, the Naval Dental School, and the Naval Medical Research Institute, the facility quickly outgrew its’ space, and additional temporary buildings were added to accommodate over 2400 American sailors and Marines by the end of World War II. The photos document the celebrity visits by Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Irene Dunne who had appeared in My Favorite Wife, the Awful Truth and Anna and the King of Siam, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and others. In addition, there are photos of Harold Russell, double-amputee that won the best supporting actor Academy Award for “The Best Years of Our Loves.” Also included are photos of the WAVES Hospital Corps School participants, nurses, surgical facilities, hospital wards, patients, and much more. The facility pioneered comprehensive occupational therapy techniques, to rehabilitate injured Naval personnel and US Marines. Byers (b. 1901) was a lifelong Carroll County, Maryland resident who served in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1946, and afterwards was elected to the Westminster City Council in 1951, and also owned and operated the F.A. Sharrer Funeral Home. Although never operating a professional studio 1000s of his images preserved in the Historical Society of Carroll County chronicle Maryland life. No similar runs of the National Naval Medical Center News in Worldcat (Locates 3 libraries holding Medical News Letter issued from 1947-1969); See: Information Bulletin, Bureau of Naval Personnel, NAVPERS-0, No. 334, January, 1945; John Byers Collection, Historical Society of Carroll County (2020).