Dr. Tom Dooley: Model of Faith

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"I am not going to quit; I will continue to guide and lead my hospital until my back, my blood and my bones collapse."
-Dr. Tom Dooley
Thomas Anthony Dooley III was born January 17, 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended St. Louis University High School and, after graduation, he attended University of Notre Dame, and St. Louis University's Medical school. After his graduation in 1953, Dooley joined the United States Navy. In 1954, onboard the USS Montague, Dooley was sent to Vietnam to help with evacuating refugees. He helped with the evacuation of over 800,000 refugees and instituted public health reforms while in Vietnam. Dooley was selected as a symbol of Vietnamese-American cooperation. While in Vietnam, he not only helped people as a doctor, but also taught the refugees how to care for each other.
In 1957, back in America, Dooley started Medical International Cooperation Organization (MEDICO)to help train people to provide medical care and run hospitals for their own people. He wrote three books in an attempt to not only tell his story but also raise awareness for the needy, especially the Vietnamese refugees. The profits from the books were sent back to Laos to help the people. He has become known as the “jungle doctor” because of his efforts to supply medical aid to people in lesser developed countries. In late August of 1959, Dooley returned to New York for chest surgery for malignant melanoma, a rare and dangerous skin cancer. He returned to Laos in December of that year to continue his work. Dooley died on January 18, 1961 from cancer that had spread to his lungs, liver, spleen, heart, and brain; he had just turned 34. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his service to the people of Vietnam.
I see Dr. Tom Dooley as a model of faith. He selflessly gave up his life as a doctor in America to help the refugees who left North Vietnam because of the communists. He continued to serve the people, even when he, himself, was sick and dying of cancer. Dooley was also a religious man; he regularly attended Mass, recited the rosary, and had a devotion to the Little Flower. Dr. Thomas Dooley was one of the greatest humanitarians of the twentieth century. In 1961 Dr. Verne Chaney, Dooley's friend and colleague founded Intermed International in order to continue Dooley's work. Dooley's work is still continued today in Southeastern Asia through Intermed International and the service of many other humanitarians.

Images from www.congressionalgoldmedal.com
Sources:
http://www.dooleyintermed.org/dooley.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/169239/Thomas-Anthony-Dooley
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/tamborine/175/articles/DrTomDooley/LivesOfTomDooley.htm
http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/exhibits/dooley/dooleybio.htm
http://www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/cw_feb98/Dooley.html